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Dave Wiggins of the Asahi Shimbun has a profile of Atsuya Furuta, the new player-manager for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. Furuta was the head of the Japanese equivalent of the MLBPA except Japanese labor law required that an active player handle all the negotiating, so Furuta had no Marvin Miller or Don Fehr to guide him.
Wiggins states that Lou Boudreau is the only player-manager to win a World Series. However, several have pulled off the feat. Boudreau was just the last one. Before Boudreau, Mickey Cochrane was the player-manager for the 1935 Detroit Tigers, Frankie Frisch was the player-manger for the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals, Bill Terry was the player-manager for the 1933 New York Giants, Gabby Street appeared in one game for the 1931 Cardinals, Rogers Hornsby was a player-manager for the 1926 Cardinals, Bucky Harris was one for the 1924 Senators, Tris Speaker for the 1920 Indians, Bill Carrigan for the 1915 and 1916 Red Sox, Jake Stahl for the 1912 Red Sox, Fred Clarke for the 1909 Pirates, Frank Chance for the 1907 and 1908 Cubs, Fielder Jones for the 1906 White Sox, John McGraw played in 3 games for the 1905 Giants, and Jimmy Collins for the first World Series champs, the Boston AL squad of 1903.
The last player-manager in the majors who was a catcher was Luke Sewell who played in six games for the 1942 St. Louis Browns.
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