 But he would spend 19 seasons as a manager at the minor league level, beginning in 1940 with the Newport Canners of the Class D Appalachian League.He spent ten years (1946–55) as a pilot in the Boston Red Sox organization, beginning with the Oneonta Red Sox of the Class C Canadian–American League and ending with the Triple-A Louisville Colonels of the American Association.In 1956 he remained at the Louisville helm for a final half-season, even though the Red Sox no longer sponsored the Colonels.