Description: This is an original 7 X 9 1/8 inch photo of the 1947 Washington Nationals featuring Clark Griffith, Ossie Bluege, and other players. It captures a moment in sports history that will be cherished by collectors and fans alike. The photo is in great shape and is a perfect addition to any collection of vintage sports memorabilia. The photo is perfect for those interested in the history of baseball and the Washington Nationals. It is a great conversation starter and will be a prized possession for years to come. Don't miss out on the opportunity to own a piece of sports history. W-22560 "AQNE PHOTO"NAGHINCTONBUREAUAPRIL SHOWERS HALT 1947 BASEBALL OPENERWASHINGTON,D.C.:- A Steady, Rain That fellALL MORning anD continued after game Time, Forced2Postponement Of the 1947 Baseball Season's openingGAMEtween the New York Yankees and the Wash-INGOTNationals today, Apr.14th. Above, ownerCLUB((Left Satisfied with an umbrella,ANDagef YOssie Bluege of the NationalsCHECKE.St, beFore game Was called. 4/14/a7L#34TIn (ACME PHOTO) AMPlease Credit "Acme Photo"ACME NEWSPICTURESDIVISION OF NEA SERVICE, INC.1013 - 13тн ST…, N W. WASHINGTONTHIS PICTUREPUR _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Clark Calvin Griffith (November 20, 1869 – October 27, 1955, [1]), nicknamed "the Old Fox", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher, manager and team owner. He began his MLB playing career with the St. Louis Browns (1891), Boston Reds (1891), and Chicago Colts/Orphans (1893–1900). He then served as player-manager for the Chicago White Stockings (1901–1902) and New York Highlanders (1903–1907). He retired as a player after the 1907 season, remaining manager of the Highlanders in 1908. He managed the Cincinnati Reds (1909–1911) and Washington Senators (1912–1920), making some appearances as a player with both teams. He owned the Senators from 1920 until his death in 1955. Sometimes known for being a thrifty executive, Griffith is also remembered for attracting talented players from the National League to play for the upstart American League when the Junior Circuit was in its infancy. Griffith was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946. Early lifeClark Calvin Griffith was born on November 20, 1869, in Clear Creek, Missouri, to Isaiah and Sarah Anne Griffith. His parents were of Welsh ancestry. They had lived in Illinois before Clark Griffith's birth. The family took a covered wagon west toward the Oklahoma Territory. Along the way, the family encountered hungry and disenchanted people returning from the Oklahoma Territory, so they decided to settle in Missouri. Griffith grew up with five siblings, four of them older.[2] When Griffith was a small child, his father was killed in a hunting accident when fellow hunters mistook him for a deer.[3] Sarah Griffith struggled to raise her children as a widow, but Clark Griffith later said that his neighbors in Missouri had been very helpful to his mother, planting crops for her and the children. Fearing a malaria epidemic that was sweeping through the area, the Griffith family moved to Bloomington, Illinois.[4] A childhood incident taught him about the money side to baseball, Griffith recalled. When he was 13, he and a few other young boys had raised $1.25 to buy a baseball. They sent one of the boys 12 miles on horseback to make the purchase. The ball burst the second time that it was struck. Griffith later found out that the boy who purchased the ball only spent a quarter, keeping the leftover dollar.[5] At the age of 17, Griffith had made $10 pitching in a local baseball game in Hoopeston, Illinois.[6] Professional careerSt. Louis Browns and Boston Reds (1891)Griffith entered the American Association in 1891, pitching 226+1⁄3 innings and winning 14 games for the St. Louis Browns and Boston Reds. Chicago Colts / Orphans (1893–1900)Griffith began the following season with the Chicago Colts. In 1893, the pitchers box was moved back; it had been 55 feet from home plate and was moved to the modern distance of 60 feet, six inches. Following that change, offensive numbers increased across baseball and many pitchers had to adjust their approaches.[7] Griffith in 1903Cap Anson was the player-manager of the Colts during Griffith's tenure and he utilized a rotation of only three starting pitchers. Just before Griffith's arrival on the team, pitcher Bill Hutchison had thrown more than 600 innings in a single season for Anson, which may have contributed to a decline in Hutchison's career. Griffith tried a new pitch to increase his longevity. By modifying the grip of a curveball, he threw a pitch similar to the screwball that Christy Mathewson had developed. He also often scuffed balls with his spikes or rubbed them in the grass.[7] In 1894, Griffith began a string of six consecutive seasons with 20 or more victories, compiling a 21–14 record and 4.92 earned run average (ERA). Griffith lowered his ERA over the following years to a low of 1.88 in 1898, the lowest mark in the league. Managerial careerChicago White Stockings (1901–1902)When Ban Johnson, a longtime friend, announced plans to form the American League, Griffith was one of the ringleaders in getting National League players to jump ship. Using the cover of his post as vice president of the League Protective Players' Association (a nascent players' union), Griffith persuaded 39 players to sign on with the new league for the 1901 season. Griffith himself signed on with the Chicago White Stockings as player-manager. He won 20 games for the final time in his career and led the White Stockings to the first AL pennant with an 83–53 record. New York Highlanders (1903–1908) Griffith at Hilltop Park, 1909At Johnson's suggestion, Griffith left Chicago in 1903 to take over as manager of the New York Highlanders. The Highlanders had just moved from Baltimore, and Johnson knew that for the league to be successful, it needed a strong franchise in the nation's biggest city. Griffith's last year as a regular player was 1907 after he nearly suffered a breakdown from overwork in April 1907.[8] After a falling-out with the Highlanders' ownership, Griffith was fired during the 1908 season. The team had started strong, but the team's pitching faltered as the season progressed and Griffith was criticized for trading away Jimmy Williams in exchange for a disappointing prospect.[9] He made brief appearances as a player for the Reds (1909–1910) and Senators (1912, 1913 and 1914).[10] Cincinnati Reds (1909–1911)Griffith returned to the National League as manager of the Cincinnati Reds in 1909. Managers Griffith and ChanceWashington Senators (1912–1920)Late in the 1911 season, the American League's Washington Senators needed to raise money to pay for the construction of their new park, National Park, which had been hurriedly built just days before the start of the season after its predecessor, Boundary Park, burned down. Principal owner Thomas C. Noyes had been friends with Griffith, and asked one of his minority partners, Ed Walsh, to come to Washington as manager in 1912. At the same time, he also bought stock in the team as part of an effort to finance the construction of National Park. By selling the cattle on his Montana ranch, then mortgaging the ranch, Griffith was able to acquire a 10 percent stake in the Senators in two separate transactions totaling $27,000 ($852,455 in 2023 dollars), making him the team's largest single shareholder.[11] At the time, the franchise had little going for it other than star pitcher Walter Johnson. In the American League's first 12 years, the Senators had never had a winning record or finished higher than sixth. To entertain the fans, Griffith hired Nick Altrock as a first base coach in his first season with Washington. Described as a "natural buffoon", Altrock engaged in lighthearted fun while coaching first base. He wrestled with himself, copied the motions of the pitcher and made the fans laugh with other antics.[12] Griffith also engineered one of the biggest turnarounds in major league history, leading the Senators to second place. In nine years, his Washington teams only twice finished below fifth in the eight-team league. Through this time, Griffith frequently clashed with the Senators executives, who were sometimes unwilling to spend the money he felt necessary to make the team a consistent winner. Noyes had died in the middle of the 1912 season and was succeeded as president by Benjamin Minor. Unlike Noyes, Minor insisted that Griffith clear all transactions with him. Griffith began an effort to increase his interest in the team. Along the way, he used his ties with Secretary of War Newton D. Baker to keep the baseball season going past July after the government issued a "work or fight" order requiring all able-bodied men to either serve in the military or work in an essential occupation. Griffith persuaded Baker to allow ballplayers to perform military drills on the field with bats rather than rifles, allowing the season to go on through Labor Day.[11] In late 1919, frustrated by continued resistance on the board, Griffith joined forces with Philadelphia grain broker William Richardson, a close friend of Mack's, to buy controlling interest in the Senators.[11] Minor was more than willing to sell, believing he could no longer devote attention to the team.[13] Griffith boosted his holdings to 44 percent, while Richardson bought a 40.4 percent stake. Richardson and Griffith quickly came to an agreement that allowed Griffith to vote Richardson's shares as well, effectively giving Griffith a commanding 84 percent controlling interest.[11] This all but assured his election as team president that November. At the same time, the Senators' home park, National Park, was renamed Griffith Stadium. Griffith stepped down as manager after the 1920 season to devote all his energy to the front office. He finished his managerial career with a 1,491–1,367 record. His 1,491 wins ranked 19th all-time as of 2005. During his managing tenure, Griffith had a tradition of treating the fans to a farce game as the final game of the season. This tradition is a factor in the inflation of Walter Johnson's minuscule ERA from 1.09 to 1.14 in 1913. Harry Heilmann, in a poorly executed slide, is tagged out by Washington Senators' third baseman Howard Shanks, 1921.Griffith was known for running the Senators on a shoestring. This was almost out of necessity; unlike most other owners, he had no income other than the Senators and Griffith Stadium. However, the Washington Redskins (who moved into the stadium in 1937 from Boston) and other tenants enabled him to turn a profit for 21 straight years. He was known for his faith in young players. He twice entrusted 27-year-old players to manage his teams—Bucky Harris in 1924 and Joe Cronin in 1933. Griffith's wagers appeared to pay off, as the Senators won the pennant in both years under their new youthful managers. In Harris' case, they won the 1924 World Series. Cronin came to the team as a player when Griffith's friend Joe Engel, a former Senators pitcher, was placed in charge of the Chattanooga Lookouts at Engel Stadium. Engel was the first to scout Cronin for the club and said, "I knew I was watching a great player. I bought Cronin at a time he was hitting .221. When I told Clark Griffith what I had done, he screamed, "You paid $7,500 for that bum? Well, you didn't buy him for me. You bought him for yourself. He's not my ballplayer – he's yours. You keep him and don't either you or Cronin show up at the ballpark." Cronin later married Griffith's niece, Mildred June Robertson.[14] He also leaned heavily on Joe Cambria, a scout who frequently found talented Cuban players for Griffith.[11] Ironically given his faith in young players, Griffith either would not or could not spend money on a farm system, preferring to mine prospects from independent minor league teams. For a time, the Senators had only three minor league teams–the Class A1 (now Double-A) Lookouts, the Class B (equivalent to a short-season A team before 2021, and a Low-A team since 2021) Charlotte Hornets, and the Class D (equivalent to a Rookie-level team today) Orlando Senators. This was a major reason why the Senators were unable to put together a consistent winner, especially after World War II.[11] Through all of this, Griffith's hold on the team appeared secure. When Richardson died in 1942, his twin brother, George, inherited his stake and voiced full confidence in Griffith. However, George died in 1948, triggering a series of events that almost cost Griffith control of the team. In 1949, after a string of mostly humdrum seasons, the Richardson estate sold its stake to John Jachym, a businessman who had been a scout for the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers. Griffith long believed he had the right to match any offer made by the Richardson estate, and was surprised when Jachym arrived at Griffith Stadium as part-owner. Jachym had no intention of being a silent partner, but Griffith was able to persuade his board to rebuff Jachym's effort to have any say in team affairs. He was particularly angered when Jachym expressed his fondness for longtime Cardinals general manager Branch Rickey, whom Griffith had long detested. When Jachym proposed buying the Buffalo Bisons of the International League, which would have given the Senators a Triple-A team for the first time, Griffith turned the request down out of hand.[11] Frustrated at being shut out, Jachym sold his stake to H. Gabriel Murphy six months later.[11] However, Griffith understood that unless the team improved, the next vote would go against him. The 1937 All-Star game, played at Griffith Stadium, featuring seven Hall of Fame American League players. (Lou Gehrig, Joe Cronin, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Charlie Gehringer, Jimmie Foxx, and Hank Greenberg)To protect himself, Griffith persuaded Murphy to sell him enough stock to give him 52 percent of the club, making Griffith majority owner in name as well as in fact. In return, Griffith gave Murphy right of first refusal on his shares should the Griffiths ever decide to sell. However, Griffith stubbornly resisted all efforts to modernize. For example, it would be 1955 before he hired as manager anyone who wasn't a current Senators or ex-Senators player.[15] Additionally, he actively supported the St. Louis Browns' move to Baltimore, a mere 30 miles north, as the Baltimore Orioles, even though it would have almost certainly cut into the Senators' attendance.[11] Managerial recordTeamYearRegular seasonPostseasonGamesWonLostWin %FinishWonLostWin %ResultCWS19011368353.6101st in AL–––No postseasonCWS19021347460.5524th in AL––––CWS total270157113.58100–NYH19031347262.5374th in AL––––NYH19041519259.6092nd in AL––––NYH19051497178.4776th in AL––––NYH19061519061.5962nd in AL––––NYH19071487078.4735th in AL––––NYH1908562432.429fired––––NYH total789419370.53100–CIN19091537776.5034th in NL––––CIN19101547579.4875th in NL––––CIN19111537083.4586th in NL––––CIN total470222238.48300–WSH19121529161.5992nd in AL––––WSH19131549064.5842nd in AL––––WSH19141548173.5263rd in AL––––WSH19151538568.5564th in AL––––WSH19161537677.4977th in AL––––WSH19171537479.4845th in AL––––WSH19181287256.5633rd in AL––––WSH19191405684.4007th in AL––––WSH19201526884.4476th in AL––––WSH total1339693646.51800–Total[16]285814911367.52200–National Baseball Hall of Fame T206 Griffith baseball cardIn 1939, sportswriter Bob Considine expressed disappointment that Griffith had not already been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He referred to Griffith as "the real father of the American League", citing the fact that Griffith had been a key force in attracting National League players to join the American League teams in their initial years. He wrote that Griffith "belongs in any hall of fame where the elective body is composed of sports writers, for no other reason than that no sports writer ever came away from the old guy without a story. Some of them were even kindly stories."[17] Griffith had appeared on ballot for the second Baseball Hall of Fame election (1937), but he received 2% of the possible votes.[18] In 1938, he received votes on only 3.8% of the submitted ballots.[19] He received votes on 7.3% of ballots the next year.[20] The Hall of Fame held only triennial elections for a few years.[21] In 1942, 30.5% of voters submitted Griffith's name.[22] Griffith was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Old Timers Committee in 1946. He was honored at the induction ceremony the following year. According to author Dennis Corcoran, Griffith had attended the initial Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1939 but that there is no evidence that Griffith came to the 1947 induction or any other ceremony.[23] Death and legacy Memorial to Griffith at Tinker Field in OrlandoIn October 1955, Griffith was in the hospital with neuritis when he suffered a stomach hemorrhage.[24] Though he appeared to be improving, Griffith died a few days after he was hospitalized. He was nearing his 86th birthday.[25] After his death, newspaper accounts described Griffith's longtime relationships with U.S. presidents. During World War I, he successfully petitioned Woodrow Wilson to allow the continuation of baseball. He did the same with Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. He had also begun a tradition of presidents throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a season's first Opening Day game, which started with William Howard Taft.[25] When the Baseball Hall of Fame was being built and was looking for baseball memorabilia, Griffith donated several photographs of these presidential first pitches.[26] League president Will Harridge called Griffith "one of the game's all-time great figures."[27] Griffith was survived by his wife, who died of a heart attack two years later.[28] He and his wife had no children, but they raised several relatives.[29] One of those relatives was Calvin Griffith, who was informally adopted by Clark and Addie at the age of 11. Calvin took over the team after his uncle's death and led efforts to have the club moved to Minnesota and become the Twins. The younger Griffith held on to the team until 1984, when he sold it to Carl Pohlad–ending the Griffith family's 65-year ownership of the franchise. Another nephew, Sherry Robertson, played infield and outfield for the Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1940s and 1950s.[30] A monument was erected in honor of Griffith at Griffith Stadium. After the stadium was demolished in 1964, the obelisk was moved to Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, where the Washington Nationals played between 2005 and 2007.[31] A collegiate baseball league, the National Capital City Junior League, was renamed in honor of Griffith after his death.[32] The league suspended operations in 2010.[33] GalleryWoodrow Wilson opens the season at Griffith Stadium, April 20, 1916Woodrow Wilson opens the season at Griffith Stadium, April 20, 1916 Griffith presents President Franklin D. Roosevelt with a gold passGriffith presents President Franklin D. Roosevelt with a gold pass Clark Griffith as Manager of the Washington Senators, 1913Clark Griffith as Manager of the Washington Senators, 1913 W. M. Richardson, Judge Landis and Clark Griffith, 1924W. M. Richardson, Judge Landis and Clark Griffith, 1924 John F. Kennedy throws out the first ball, Opening Day, April 10, 1961 is incorrectly attributed to the original Senators, (Moved to MN, inaugural season was 1961) as the expansion Senators team who would become the Texas Rangers were in place.John F. Kennedy throws out the first ball, Opening Day, April 10, 1961 is incorrectly attributed to the original Senators, (Moved to MN, inaugural seaso The Washington Senators were one of the American League's eight charter franchises. Now known as the Minnesota Twins, the team was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1901 as the Washington Senators. The team was officially named the "Senators" during 1901–1904, the Nationals during 1905–1955 and the Senators again during 1956–1960, but nonetheless was commonly referred to as the Senators throughout its history (and unofficially as the "Grifs" during Clark Griffith's tenure as manager during 1912–1920).[1][2] The name "Nationals" appeared on the uniforms for only two seasons, and then was replaced with the "W" logo. However, the names "Senators," "Nationals" and shorter "Nats" were used interchangeably by fans and media throughout the team's history; in 2005, the latter two names were revived for the current National League franchise that had previously played in Montreal. For a time, from 1911 to 1933, the Senators were one of the more successful franchises in Major League Baseball. The team's rosters included Baseball Hall of Fame members Goose Goslin, Sam Rice, Joe Cronin, Bucky Harris, Heinie Manush and one of the greatest players and pitchers of all time, Walter Johnson. But the Senators are remembered more for their many years of mediocrity and futility, including six last-place finishes in the 1940s and 1950s. Joe Judge, Cecil Travis, Buddy Myer, Roy Sievers and Eddie Yost were other notable Senators players whose careers were spent in obscurity due to the team's lack of success.[3][4] HistoryA losing start for a charter franchiseWhen the American League declared itself a major league in 1901, the new league moved the previous minor league circuit Western League's Kansas City Blues franchise to Washington, a city that had been abandoned by the older National League a year earlier. The new Washington club, like the old one, was called the "Senators" (the second of three franchises to hold the name). Jim Manning moved with the Kansas City club to manage the first Senators team. The Senators began their history as a consistently losing team, at times so inept that San Francisco Chronicle columnist Charley Dryden famously joked, "Washington: First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League,"[5] a play on the famous line in Henry Lee III's eulogy for President George Washington as "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen". The 1904 Senators lost 113 games, and the next season the team's owners, trying for a fresh start, changed the team's name to the "Nationals" (and occasionally nicknamed the "Nats"). However, the "Senators" name remained widely used by fans and journalists — in fact, the two names were used interchangeably[6] — although "Nats" remained the team's nickname.[7] The Senators name was officially restored in 1956.[8] A new eraThe club continued to lose, despite the addition of a talented 19-year-old pitcher named Walter Johnson in 1907. Raised in rural Kansas, Johnson was a tall, lanky man with long arms who, using a leisurely windup and unusual sidearm delivery, threw the ball faster than anyone had ever seen. Johnson's breakout year was 1910, when he struck out 313 batters, posted an earned-run average of 1.36 and won 25 games for a losing ball club. Over his 21-year Hall of Fame career, Johnson, nicknamed the "Big Train", won 417 games and struck out 3,508 batters, a major-league record that stood for more than 50 years. In 1911, the Senators' wooden ballpark burned to the ground, and they replaced it with a modern concrete-and-steel structure on the same location. First called National Park, it later was renamed Griffith Stadium, after the man who was named Washington manager in 1912 and whose name became almost synonymous with the ball club: Clark Griffith. A star pitcher with the National League's Chicago Colts in the 1890s, Griffith jumped to the AL in 1901 and became a successful manager with the Chicago White Sox and New York Highlanders. Walter Johnson blossomed in 1911 with 25 victories, although the Senators still finished the season in seventh place.[9] In 1912, the Senators improved dramatically, as their pitching staff led the league in team earned run average and in strikeouts. Johnson won 33 games while teammate Bob Groom added another 24 wins to help the Senators finish the season in second place behind the Boston Red Sox.[10] The Senators continued to perform respectably in 1913 with Johnson posting a career-high 35 victories, as the team once again finished in second place, this time to the Philadelphia Athletics.[11] Starting in 1916, the Senators settled back into mediocrity. Griffith, frustrated with the owners' penny-pinching, bought a controlling interest in the team in 1920 and stepped down as field manager a year later to focus on his duties as team president. The minority interest was owned by William Richardson, who was content to remain in the background. The shares passed to his twin brother George on his death in 1942, and then to George's son William Richardson II in 1948. William Richardson II sold his shares to an unrelated party in 1949.[12] 1924: World champions Washington's Bucky Harris scores on his home run in the fourth inning of Game 7 of the 1924 World Series.In 1924, Griffith named 27-year-old second baseman Bucky Harris player-manager. Led by the hitting of Goose Goslin and Sam Rice, and a solid pitching staff headlined by the 36-year-old Johnson, the Senators captured their first American League pennant, two games ahead of Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees. The Senators faced John McGraw's heavily favored New York Giants in the 1924 World Series.[13] Despite Johnson losing both of his starts, the Senators kept pace to tie the Series at three games apiece and force Game 7. The Senators trailed the Giants 3–1 in the eighth inning of Game 7, when Bucky Harris hit a routine ground ball to third which hit a pebble and took a bad hop over Giants third baseman Freddie Lindstrom. Two runners scored on the play, tying the score at three.[14] In the ninth inning with the game tied, 3–3, Harris brought in an aging Johnson to pitch on just one day of rest – he had been the losing pitcher in Game 5. Johnson held the Giants scoreless into extra innings. In the bottom of the 12th inning, Muddy Ruel hit a high foul ball near home plate.[15] The Giants' catcher, Hank Gowdy, dropped his protective face mask to field the ball but, failing to toss the mask aside, stumbled over it and dropped the ball, thus giving Ruel another chance to bat.[15] On the next pitch, Ruel hit a double and, then proceeded to score the winning run when Earl McNeely hit a ground ball that took another bad hop over Lindstrom's head.[14][15] It was the only World Series triumph for the franchise during their 60-year tenure in Washington. Building a winning tradition On behalf of the Elks of Washington, Joe Judge (front left), captain of the Senators, was presented with a floral tribute for the team before the start of a game in 1929The Senators repeated as American League champions in 1925 but lost the World Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates. After Johnson's retirement in 1927, the Senators endured a few losing seasons until returning to contention in 1930, this time with Johnson as manager. But after the Senators finished third in 1931 and 1932, behind powerful Philadelphia and New York, Griffith fired Johnson, a victim of high expectations.[16] For his new manager in 1933, Griffith returned to the formula that worked for him in 1924, and 26-year-old shortstop Joe Cronin became player-manager. The change worked, as Washington posted a 99–53 record and swept to the pennant seven games ahead of the Yankees. But the Senators lost the World Series to the Giants in five games, and after that, the city would not host another World Series until 2019, when the Washington Nationals, its current National League team, defeated the Houston Astros. Fading fortunesThe Senators sank all the way to seventh in 1934. Attendance plunged as well, and after the season Griffith traded Cronin to the Red Sox for journeyman shortstop Lyn Lary and $225,000 in cash (even though Cronin was married to Griffith's niece, Mildred). Despite the return of Harris as manager in 1935–42 and 1950–54, Washington remained mostly a losing ball club for the next 25 years, contending for the pennant only in the talent-thin war years of 1943 and 1945. In the fall of 1953, the second major baseball franchise shift of the mid-20th century took place (after the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1952), with long suffering Baltimore civic and business interests purchasing the perennially cellar-dwelling St. Louis Browns from controversial but enterprising owner Bill Veeck and moving them 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Washington to the Chesapeake Bay port city. In the spring of 1954, the Browns moved to a newly renovated and modernized Memorial Stadium on the site of their former northeastern city collegiate football bowl, and replacing the earlier minor league level "Triple A" "Orioles" (also sometimes nicknamed the "Birds") of the International League where they had been consistent champions since the 1910s. The additional competition in the same League for Maryland and Virginia area baseball fans added to the complexion around the nation's capital for the rest of the 1950s as the new "Baltimore Orioles" swiftly built their team prospects with astute trades and farm system output during the rest of the decade, finally becoming pennant contenders by 1960. They continued their winning ways as one of the most dominant teams in professional baseball for the next two decades overpowering even the hapless third Senators franchise in 1961–1971. The Senators were also the butt of many nationwide jokes during the 1950s, with the debut and running of a Broadway musical play in 1955 in New York City called "Damn Yankees" (based on an earlier best-selling novel and later movie in 1958), which followed a hapless elderly D.C. fan being given a "Faustian" or "devil's bargain," selling his soul to transform the team by becoming a young powerful new Senators player (played in the movie version by heart-throb leading-man actor Tab Hunter) and lead the lowly team to a pennant versus the Yankees. In 1954, Senators farm system director Ossie Bluege signed a 17-year-old Harmon Killebrew. Because of his $30,000 signing bonus, an enormous amount for that time, baseball rules required Killebrew to spend the rest of 1954 with the Senators as a "bonus baby." Killebrew bounced between the Senators and the minor leagues for the next few years. He became the Senators' regular third baseman in 1959, leading the League with 42 home runs and earning a starting spot on the American League All-Star team. RelocationClark Griffith died in 1955, and his nephew and adopted son Calvin took over the team presidency. He sold Griffith Stadium to the city of Washington and leased it back, leading to speculation that the team was planning to move, as the Boston Braves, St. Louis Browns and Philadelphia Athletics had done in the early 1950s, and the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers would do later in the decade. After an early flirtation with San Francisco (with a "Triple A" Pacific Coast League team, the San Francisco Seals), by 1957 Griffith was courting Minneapolis–St. Paul in the Upper Midwest state of Minnesota, a prolonged process that resulted in his rejecting the Twin Cities' first offer[17] before agreeing to relocate. The American League opposed the move at first, but in 1960, in the face of the Continental League's proposed Minnesota franchise, a deal was reached. The Senators moved and were replaced with an expansion Washington Senators team for 1961. The old Washington Senators became the new Minnesota Twins; the expansion Senators would become the Texas Rangers in 1972, and baseball would not return to the city until 2005, when the former Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals. PhotosThe Washington Senators led by star Walter Johnson and owner Clark Griffith hoist their championship banner at the 1925 opening day.The Washington Senators led by star Walter Johnson and owner Clark Griffith hoist their championship banner at the 1925 opening day. Washington Senators in the 1920sWashington Senators in the 1920s Washington Senators team picture in the early 1930sWashington Senators team picture in the early 1930sThe Washington Senators in popular cultureThe longtime competitive struggles of the team were fictionalized in the 1954 book The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, which became the 1955 Broadway musical Damn Yankees and the 1958 film starring then "heart-throb" leading-man actor Tab Hunter. The plot centers on Joe Boyd, a middle-aged real estate salesman and long-suffering fan of the Washington Senators baseball club. In this musical comedy-drama of the Faust legend, Boyd sells his soul to the Devil and becomes slugger Joe Hardy, the "long ball hitter the Senators need that he'd sell his soul for" (as spoken by him in a throwaway line near the beginning of the drama). His hitting prowess enables the Senators to win the American League pennant over the then-dominant Yankees. One of the songs from the musical, "Heart", is frequently played at baseball games. The (expansion) Washington Senators were mentioned several times in Tom Clancy's book Without Remorse. As they performed even worse than the team they replaced, they were the subject of an updated joke: "Washington: First in war, first in peace, and still last in the American League." When the current Nationals had their own struggles, the joke was updated once again, this time to "Washington: First in war, first in peace, and last in the National League." Oswald Louis Bluege (/ˈbluːɡiː/; October 24, 1900 – October 14, 1985) was an American third baseman, manager, coach and front-office executive in Major League Baseball who spent his entire playing career with the Washington Senators franchise from 1922 to 1939. He would remain on the team's payroll in key on- and off-field capacities until 1971, long after it became the Minnesota Twins. Bluege was the last surviving member of the Senators' 1924 World Series championship team, the franchise's only world champion before it relocated to Minnesota in 1961. He threw and batted right-handed, stood 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighed 162 pounds (73 kg). Early lifeBluege was born in Chicago and raised in the city's Goose Island area. A younger brother, Otto, an infielder, played in 109 games for the 1932–1933 Cincinnati Reds and had a 13-year playing career in professional baseball. Ossie Bluege, a graduate of the Luther Institute of Business Administration in 1915, found a job as an accountant at International Harvester.[1] He honed his baseball skills as a member of local sandlot teams. Playing careerBluege was discovered by baseball promoter Joe Engel, who operated the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern Association and scouted for Washington owner Clark Griffith. He made his Major League debut on April 24, 1922, and played his final game on July 13, 1939, spending his 18-year, 1,867-game playing career with the Senators. In addition to the 1924 world champions, Bluege also was the team's starting third baseman for its pennant-winning 1925 and 1933 editions. Bluege was chiefly known for his defensive ability, leading American League third basemen in double plays in three different seasons. His moonlighting, off-season job earned him the nickname "The Accountant" from teammates. Bluege's only All-Star appearance, in 1935, came in a year which saw him primarily play shortstop for Washington. In his 18-year major league career, spanning 1,867 games, Bleuge posted a .272 batting average (1,751-for-6,440) with 883 runs, 276 doubles, 67 triples, 43 home runs, 848 RBI, 140 stolen bases, 723 base on balls, .352 on-base percentage and .356 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .961 fielding percentage. In 17 games played during his three World Series, he hit .200 (12-for-60) with five runs scored and five runs batted in. Coach, manager, executiveAfter retiring in 1939, Bluege coached for Washington (1940–1942) before taking over as manager of the Senators from 1943 through 1947. He compiled a career managerial record of 379–394, with two second-place finishes (in 1943 and 1945). In 1948, Bluege was named the club's farm system director, where his greatest scouting coup was a young Harmon Killebrew. In 1958 he became the Senators' comptroller—the team's chief accountant—shortly before the club's relocation to Minneapolis–Saint Paul as the Minnesota Twins. He remained the Twins' comptroller until his retirement in 1971, having served the organization for 50 years. Bluege died of a stroke in 1985 in Edina, Minnesota, ten days before his 85th birthday. The previous week, he had attended a ceremony in Washington, D.C., at halftime of a Washington Redskins football game, where Bluege was honored by being inducted in the Washington stadium's "Hall of Stars". See alsoList of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds records for wins (3,731), losses (3,948), and games managed (7,755), with his victory total being almost 1,000 more than any other manager. Mack managed the Philadelphia Athletics for the club's first 50 seasons of play, starting in 1901, before retiring at age 87 following the 1950 season, and was at least part-owner from 1901 to 1954. He was the first manager to win the World Series three times, and is the only manager to win consecutive Series on separate occasions (1910–11, 1929–30); his five Series titles remain the third most by any manager, and his nine American League pennants rank second in league history. However, constant financial struggles forced repeated rebuilding of the roster, and Mack's teams also finished in last place 17 times. Mack was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York in 1937. Contents1Early life2Baseball career2.1Playing2.2Managing2.2.1Managerial career2.2.2Managerial record2.3Owner3Personality4Legacy5Family6See also7References8Sources9External linksEarly lifeMack was born Cornelius McGillicuddy in Brookfield, Massachusetts, in what is now East Brookfield on December 22, 1862.[1] He did not have a middle name, but many accounts erroneously give him the middle name "Alexander"; this error probably arose because his son Cornelius McGillicuddy Jr. took Alexander as his confirmation name. As with many Irish immigrants whose names began with "Mc", the McGillicuddys were often referred to as "Mack", except for official and legal documents.[2] His parents, Michael McGillicuddy and Mary McKillop, were both immigrants from Ireland.[3] Michael McGillicuddy's father was named Cornelius McGillicuddy, and by tradition, the family named at least one son in each generation Cornelius.[4] "Connie" is a common nickname for Cornelius, so Cornelius McGillicuddy was called "Connie Mack" from an early age.[5] Connie Mack never legally changed his name; on the occasion of his second marriage at age 48, he signed the wedding register as "Cornelius McGillicuddy".[6] His nickname on the baseball field was "Slats", for his height of 6 feet 2 inches and thin build.[7] Mack's father became a wheelwright. During the American Civil War, he served with the 51st Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment.[4] Michael McGillicuddy suffered from several ailments as the result of his military service; he was able to work only infrequently and drew a disability pension.[8] Mack was educated in East Brookfield, and began working summers in local cotton mills at age 9 to help support his family.[9] He quit school after completing the eighth grade at age 14, intending to work full-time to contribute to the family's support, as several of his siblings had done.[10] He clerked at a store, worked on local farms, and worked on the production lines of the shoe factories in nearby towns.[11] Mack was also a good athlete and frequently played baseball and some of its predecessor games with local players in East Brookfield.[12] In 1879 his skills landed him a place on East Brookfield's town team, which played other town teams in the area. Though younger than his teammates by several years, Mack was the team's catcher and de facto captain.[13] Baseball careerPlaying Connie Mack 1887 baseball cardBeginning in 1886, Mack played 10 seasons in the National League and one in the Players' League, for a total of 11 seasons in the major leagues, almost entirely as a catcher. Beginning in 1884, he played on minor league teams in the Connecticut cities of Meriden and Hartford before being sold to the Washington Nationals (sometimes called the Statesmen or the Senators) of the National League in 1886.[14] In the winter of 1889, he jumped to the Buffalo Bisons of the new Players' League, investing his entire life savings of $500 in shares in the club.[15] But the Players' League went out of business after only a year, and Mack lost his job and his whole investment. In December 1890 Mack signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League and remained with them for the rest of his career as a full-time player.[16] As a player, Mack was "a light-hitting catcher with a reputation as a smart player, but didn't do anything particularly well as a player."[17] Mack was one of the first catchers to position himself directly behind home plate instead of in front of the backstop. According to Wilbert Robinson, "Mack never was mean ... [but] if you had any soft spot, Connie would find it. He could do and say things that got more under your skin than the cuss words used by other catchers." In addition to verbally needling batters to distract them, he developed skills such as blocking the plate to prevent base runners from scoring and faking the sound of a foul tip. (He was probably responsible for the 1891 rule change requiring that a batter must have two strikes against him in order to be called out if the catcher caught a foul tip.)[18] Besides tipping bats to fake the sound of a foul tip, Mack became adept at tipping bats to throw off the hitter's swing. ("Tipping" a bat is to brush it with the catcher's mitt as the batter swings, either delaying the swing or putting it off course, so that the batter misses the ball or doesn't hit it solidly. If the umpire is aware that a bat has been tipped, whether intentionally or unintentionally, he calls catcher's interference.) Mack never denied such tricks: Farmer Weaver was a catcher-outfielder for Louisville. I tipped his bat several times when he had two strikes on him one year, and each time the umpire called him out. He got even, though. One time there were two strikes on him and he swung as the pitch was coming in. But he didn't swing at the ball. He swung right at my wrists. Sometimes I think I can still feel the pain. I'll tell you I didn't tip his bat again. No, sir, not until the last game of the season and Weaver was at bat for the last time. When he had two strikes, I tipped his bat again and got away with it.[19] ManagingManagerial career Connie Mack in 1911Mack's last three seasons in the National League were as a player-manager with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1894 to 1896, with a 149–134 (.527) record. Fired on September 21, 1896,[20] he retired as a full-time player and accepted a deal from Henry Killilea to act as manager and occasional backup catcher for the minor league Milwaukee Brewers. He agreed to a salary of $3,000 (equivalent to $90,000 in 2019) and 25% of the club.[21] He managed the Brewers for four seasons from 1897 to 1900, their best year coming in 1900, when they finished second. It was in Milwaukee that he first signed pitcher Rube Waddell, who would follow him to the big leagues. In 1901 Mack became manager, treasurer and part owner of the new American League's Philadelphia Athletics.[22] He managed the Athletics through the 1950 season, compiling a record of 3,582–3,814 (.484) when he retired at 87. Mack won nine pennants and appeared in eight World Series, winning five. Mack's 50-year tenure as Athletics manager is the most ever for a coach or manager with the same team in North American professional sports, and has never been seriously threatened. A few college coaches had longer tenures: John Gagliardi was a head football coach from 1949 to 2012, ending with 60 seasons at Saint John's of Minnesota; Eddie Robinson was head football coach at Grambling State for 57 seasons, from 1941 (when it was known as the Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute) to 1997; and the upcoming 2018–19 season will be the 52nd for Herb Magee as head men's basketball coach of the institution now known as Jefferson (1967–present). Joe Paterno, with 62 seasons as a college football coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions also surpassed Mack, although Paterno was head coach in only 46 of those years. College football pioneer Amos Alonzo Stagg also surpassed Mack in overall tenure, though not in tenure for a single employer; he was a head coach for 55 seasons in all (1892–1946), with the first 41 at Chicago (1892–1932). Mack was widely praised in the newspapers for his intelligent and innovative managing, which earned him the nickname "the Tall Tactician". He valued intelligence and "baseball smarts," always looking for educated players. (He traded away Shoeless Joe Jackson despite his talent because of his bad attitude and unintelligent play.[23]) "Better than any other manager, Mack understood and promoted intelligence as an element of excellence."[24] He wanted men who were self-directed, self-disciplined and self-motivated; his ideal player was Eddie Collins.[25] According to baseball historian Bill James, Mack was well ahead of his time in having numerous college players on his teams. Several of his players went on to become well-respected college coaches. Jack Coombs, the ace of Mack's 1910-11 champions, became the longtime coach at Duke. Andy Coakley, who won 20 games for Mack's 1905 pennant winners, coached for over 30 years at Columbia, where he was the college coach for Lou Gehrig. Dick Siebert, longtime coach at Minnesota, played for Mack from 1938 to 1945. James believed that Mack's influence on the game, as great as it was, would have been even greater had the college game been more popular during the 1920s and 1930s, when Mack was at his peak.[26] According to James, Mack looked for seven things in his players--"physical ability, intelligence, courage, disposition, will power, general alertness and personal habits."[24] As a result of Mack's striving to have his players become better people as well as baseball players, he created a Code of Conduct following the 1916 season:[27] I will always play the game to the best of my ability.I will always play to win, but if I lose, I will not look for an excuse to detract from my opponent's victory.I will never take an unfair advantage in order to win.I will always abide by the rules of the game—on the diamond as well as in my daily life.I will always conduct myself as a true sportsman—on and off the playing field.I will always strive for the good of the entire team rather than for my own glory.I will never gloat in victory or pity myself in defeat.I will do my utmost to keep myself clean—physically, mentally, and morally.I will always judge a teammate or an opponent as an individual and never on the basis of race or religion.He also looked for players with quiet and disciplined personal lives, having seen many players in his playing days destroy themselves and their teams through heavy drinking. Mack himself never drank; before the 1910 World Series he asked all his players to "take the pledge" not to drink during the Series. When Topsy Hartsel told Mack he needed a drink the night before the final game, Mack told him to do what he thought best, but in these circumstances "if it was me, I'd die before I took a drink."[28] In any event, his managerial style was not tyrannical but easygoing.[29] He never imposed curfews or bed checks, and made the best of what he had. Rube Waddell was the best pitcher and biggest gate attraction of Mack's first decade as the A's manager, so he put up with his drinking and general unreliability for years, until it began to bring the team down and the other players asked Mack to get rid of Waddell.[30] Mack's strength as a manager was finding the best players, teaching them well and letting them play. "He did not believe that baseball revolved around managerial strategy."[24] He was "one of the first managers to work on repositioning his fielders" during the game, often directing the outfielders to move left or right, play shallow or deep, by waving his rolled-up scorecard from the bench.[24] After he became well known for doing this, he often passed his instructions to the fielders by way of other players, and simply waved his scorecard as a feint.[31] An unusual setting: the Tall Tactician in the grandstand, not the dugout, 1916James summed up Mack's managerial approach as follows: he favored a set lineup, did not generally platoon hitters; preferred young players to veterans and power hitters to those with high batting averages; did not often pinch-hit, use his bench players or sacrifice much (even so, the A's led the league in sacrifice bunts in 1909, 1911 and 1914); believed in "big-inning" offense rather than small ball; and very rarely issued an intentional walk.[32] Over the course of his career, he had nine pennant-winning teams spanning three peak periods or "dynasties." His original team, with players such as Rube Waddell, Ossee Schrecongost, and Eddie Plank, won the pennant in 1902 (when there was no World Series) and 1905. They lost the 1905 World Series to the New York Giants (four games to one, all shutouts, with Christy Mathewson hurling three shutouts for a record 27 scoreless innings in one World Series). During that season, Giants manager John McGraw said that Mack had "a big white elephant on his hands" with the Athletics. Mack defiantly adopted the white elephant as the team's logo, which the Athletics still use today. As that first team aged, Mack acquired a core of young players to form his second great team, which featured Mack's famous "$100,000 infield" of Eddie Collins, Home Run Baker, Jack Barry and Stuffy McInnis. These Athletics, captained by catcher Ira Thomas, won the pennant in 1910, 1911, 1913 and 1914, beating the Cubs in the World Series in 1910 and the Giants in 1911 and 1913, but losing in 1914 in four straight games to the "Miracle" Boston Braves, who had come from last place in late July to win the National League pennant by 6 1/2 games over the Giants. That team was dispersed due to financial problems, from which Mack did not recover until the 20s, when he built his third great team. The 1927 Athletics featured several future Hall of Fame players including veterans Ty Cobb, Zack Wheat and Eddie Collins as well as young stars like Mickey Cochrane, Lefty Grove, Al Simmons and rookie Jimmie Foxx. That team won the pennant in 1929, 1930 and 1931, beating the Chicago Cubs in the 1929 World Series (when they came from 8–0 behind in Game 4, plating a Series record ten runs in the seventh inning and winning the game, 10–8, and then from two runs down in the bottom of the ninth in Game 5 for a walk-off Series win) and easily defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in 1930. The following year, St. Louis beat the A's in seven games led by Pepper Martin. That team was dispersed after 1932 when Mack ran into financial difficulty again. By 1934, the A's had fallen into the second division. Although Mack intended to rebuild for a third time, he would never win another pennant. The Athletics' record from 1935 to 1946 was dismal, finishing in the basement of the AL every year except a 5th-place finish in 1944. World War II brought further hardship due to personnel shortages. In 1938, Mack in his middle seventies successfully battled a blood infection caused when a batted ball injured one of his shinbones. He stopped for treatment at the Medical and Surgical Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, where he was in passage on a train.[33] In addition, as Mack entered his 80s, his once-keen mind began fading rapidly. Mack would make strange decisions (which his coaches and players usually overruled), make inexplicable outbursts, and call for players from decades earlier to pinch-hit. He spent most games asleep in the dugout, leaving his coaches to run the team most of the time.[34] According to outfielder Sam Chapman, "He could remember the old-timers, but he had a hard time remembering the names of the current players." Shortstop Eddie Joost said "He wasn't senile, but there were lapses." Despite growing speculation he would step down, Mack brushed it all off and stated simply that he would keep managing as long as he was physically able to do so.[35] According to Bill James, by the time Mack recovered again financially, he was "old and out of touch with the game, so his career ends with eighteen years of miserable baseball."[36] It was generally agreed that he stayed in the game too long, hurting his legacy.[37] He was unable to handle the post-World War II changes in baseball, including the growing commercialization of the game. His business style was no longer viable in post-World War II America due to various factors, including the increased expense of running a team. For instance, he never installed a telephone line between the bullpen and dugout. Despite the circumstances, the octogenarian Mack led the team to three winning seasons in 1947–49 (including a fourth-place finish in 1948). With the A's unexpected resurgence in 1947-49, there was hope that 1950—Mack's 50th anniversary as A's manager—would bring a pennant at last. However, the A's never recovered from a dreadful May in which they only won five games. By May 26, the A's were 11-21, 12 games out of first, and it was obvious the season was a lost cause. On that date, his sons Earle, Roy and Connie, Jr. persuaded their father to promote Jimmy Dykes, who had been a coach since 1949, to assistant manager for the remainder of the season. Dykes became the team's main operator in the dugout, and would take over the managerial reins in his own right in 1951. At the same time, Cochrane was named general manager—thus stripping Connie, Sr. of his remaining authority.[34] Six weeks after his mid-season retirement, Mack was honored by baseball when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the 1950 All-Star Game. Toward the end he was old and sick and saddened, a figure of forlorn dignity bewildered by the bickering around him as the baseball monument that he had built crumbled away."[38] At the time of his retirement, Mack stated: I'm not quitting because I'm getting old, I'm quitting because I think people want me to."[39] Managerial recordTeamFromToRegular season recordPost–season recordWLWin %WLWin %Pittsburgh Pirates18941896149134.527—Philadelphia Athletics1901193728142678.5122419.558Philadelphia Athletics1938193978136.364—Philadelphia Athletics194019506901000.408Total37313948.4862419.558Reference:[40]OwnerThe American League's white knight, Charles Somers, provided the seed money to start the Athletics and several other American League teams. However, plans called for local interests to buy out Somers as soon as possible. To that end, Mack persuaded sporting goods manufacturer Ben Shibe, a minority owner of the rival Philadelphia Phillies, to buy a 50 percent stake in the team—an offer sweetened by Mack's promise that Shibe would have the exclusive right to make baseballs for the American League. In return, Mack was allowed to buy a 25 percent stake, and was named treasurer of the team. Two local sports writers, Frank Hough and Sam Jones, bought the remaining 25 percent, but their involvement was not mentioned in the incorporating papers; in fact, no agreement was put on paper until 1902. Mack and Shibe did business on a handshake.[22][41] A 1904 Connie Mack cardIn 1913, Hough and Jones sold their 25 percent to Mack, making him a full partner in the club with Shibe; Mack actually borrowed the money for the purchase from Shibe.[42] Under their agreement, Mack had full control over baseball matters while Shibe handled the business side. When Shibe died in 1922, his sons Tom and John took over management of the business side, with Tom as team president and John as vice president. Tom died in 1936, and John resigned shortly thereafter, leaving Mack to take over the presidency. John Shibe died in 1937, and Mack bought 141 shares from his estate, enough to make him majority owner of the A's. However, he had been operating head of the franchise since Ben Shibe's death. Such an arrangement is no longer possible in current times, as major-league rules do not allow a coach or manager to own any financial interest in a club. Mack's great strength as an owner was his huge network of baseball friends, all of whom acted as scouts and "bird-dogs" for him, finding talented players and alerting Mack. "Mack was better at that game than anybody else in the world. People liked Mack, respected him, and trusted him. ... Mack answered every letter and listened patiently to every sales job, and ... he got players for that reason."[43] Mack saw baseball as a business, and recognized that economic necessity drove the game. He explained to his cousin, Art Dempsey, that "The best thing for a team financially is to be in the running and finish second. If you win, the players all expect raises." This was one reason he was constantly collecting players, signing almost anyone to a ten-day contract to assess his talent; he was looking ahead to future seasons when his veterans would either retire or hold out for bigger salaries than Mack could give them. Unlike most baseball owners, Mack had almost no income apart from the A's. Even when he collected rent from the Phillies, he was often in financial difficulties. Money problems—the escalation of his best players' salaries (due both to their success and to competition from a new, well-financed third major league of the Federal League in 1914-1915), combined with a steep drop in attendance due to World War I—led to the gradual dispersal of his second championship team, the 1910–1914 team, who he sold, traded, or released over the years 1915–1917. The war hurt the team badly, leaving Mack without the resources to sign valuable players. His 1916 team, with a 36–117 record, is often considered the worst team in American League history, and its .235 winning percentage is still the lowest ever for a modern-era (since 1900) major league team. The team's 117 losses set a modern era record and at the time was the second most losses behind the Cleveland Spiders' 130 in 1899. As of 2012 that record has been topped only twice, with the 1962 New York Mets breaking that record with 120 losses in their inaugural season and the 2003 Detroit Tigers surpassing it with 119 although those teams played 162 game schedules, not 154 like the Athletics. All told, the A's finished dead last in the AL seven years in a row from 1915 to 1921, and would not reach .500 again until 1926. The rebuilt team won back-to-back championships in 1929–1930 over the Cubs and Cardinals, and then lost a rematch with the latter in 1931. As it turned out, these were the last postseason appearances for the A's not only in Philadelphia, but for another four decades. Unlike with the breakup of his second great team, the A's didn't tumble out of contention right away. They remained fairly competitive for most of the first half of the 1930s. However, after 1933, they would only tally four more winning seasons during their stay in Philadelphia—which would be the franchise's only winning seasons for 35 years. Senators' manager Bucky Harris and Mack, Opening Day, April 13, 1926, Griffith Stadium, D.C.; Senators won in the 9th, 1–0With the 1929 onset of the Great Depression, Mack struggled financially again, and was forced to sell the best players from his second great championship team, such as Lefty Grove and Jimmie Foxx, to stay in business. Although Mack wanted to rebuild again and win more championships, he was never able to do so owing to a lack of funds. Even before then, he either did not (or could not) invest in a farm system. Mack celebrated his 70th birthday in 1932, and many began wondering if his best days were behind him. Even as bad as the A's got during the next two decades, he stubbornly retained full control over baseball matters long after most teams had hired a general manager. This continued even after he became majority owner, despite calls both inside and outside Philadelphia to step down.[34] Indeed, one of the few times that Mack considered giving up even some of his duties was in the 1934-35 offseason—when the A's were still not far removed from what would be their last great era. He briefly entertained replacing himself as manager with Babe Ruth, but ruled that idea out, saying that the Babe's wife, Claire, would be running the team inside of a month.[44] In the early 1940s, Mack gave a minority stake in the team to his three sons, Roy, Earle, and Connie, Jr. Although Roy and Earle had never gotten along with Connie, Jr., who was more than 20 years younger than them, Connie, Sr. intended to have all three of them inherit the team after his death or retirement. This strategy backfired when Roy and Earle refused to consider Connie, Jr.'s demands to end the team's bargain-basement way of doing business. One of the few things on which they agreed was that it was time for their father to step down. Connie, Jr. was only able to force through other minor improvements to the team and the rapidly crumbling Shibe Park through an alliance with the Shibe heirs. When it became apparent that his older brothers weren't willing to go further, Connie, Jr. and the Shibes decided to sell the team. However, Roy and Earle countered by buying out their younger brother, persuading their father to support them. In order to pull off the deal, however, they mortgaged the team to the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company (now part of CIGNA). Yearly payments of $200,000 drained the team of badly needed capital, and ended any realistic chance of the A's winning again under the Macks' stewardship.[34] When Mack resigned as manager, he largely withdrew from active control of the team. Over the next five years, the team crumbled to the bottom of the American League. Although reduced to a figurehead, Mack continued to be treated with awe and reverence by players who considered him living history. His sons handled his correspondence by 1953 as he had become too frail by that point to do it himself. Statue of Mack in South PhiladelphiaAs that year ended, the A's were dangerously close to bankruptcy. The other American League owners had been concerned for some time about the situation in Philadelphia, since the crowds at Shibe Park had dwindled to the point that visiting teams couldn't meet their expenses for traveling there. The 1954 A's attracted only 304,000 people, nowhere near enough to break even. The other owners, as well as league president Will Harridge, wanted the Athletics sold off to a new owner. The Yankees in particular lobbied for it to be Chicago businessman Arnold Johnson (1906-1960), who had recently bought both Yankee Stadium as well as Blues Stadium in Kansas City, home to the Yankees' top Triple AAA farm team in the second American Association. Roy and Earle Mack did not want to move the team, but pressure from the Yankees and blowback from several bad business decisions finally moved their hand and they agreed to the sale. A final attempt to sell the A's to Philadelphia car dealer John Crisconi briefly gained Mack's support, but collapsed at the eleventh hour—reportedly due to behind-the-scenes intrigue by the Yankees. When that deal collapsed, a bitter Mack wrote a letter blasting his fellow owners for sinking the Crisconi deal. However, he admitted that he didn't have nearly enough money to run the A's in 1955, and conceded that the Johnson deal was the only one with a chance of approval.[34] In early November, Mack agreed to sell the A's to Johnson for $1.5 million. When the AL owners met in New York to discuss the sale to Johnson, they voted 5-3 to approve the sale. Johnson immediately requested permission to move to Kansas City, which was granted after Detroit's Spike Briggs switched his vote.[34] Although Mack had long since conceded that his 55 years in the American League were over, his doctor reported that the nonagenarian owner suffered a sudden sharp drop in blood pressure and almost expired upon learning that his team was gone.[45] The A's sold Shibe Park, now renamed Connie Mack Stadium, to the Phillies. Mack was still chauffeured around to games by his caretaker. He attended the 1954 World Series and the occasional regular season game, but in October 1955, he fell and suffered a hip fracture. Mack underwent surgery on October 5, missing the World Series that week for the first time ever. He remained wheelchair-bound after that point, celebrating his 93rd birthday in November. The end came at his daughter's house on the afternoon of February 8, 1956. According to his doctor, he'd been fine until the 7th when he "just started to fade away". Officially, it was announced that he died of "old age and complications from his hip surgery"[46] Mack's funeral was held in his parish church, St. Bridget's, and he was buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Cheltenham Township just outside Philadelphia, with baseball Commissioner Ford Frick, the AL and NL presidents, and all 16 MLB owners serving as pallbearers. Personality This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "Connie Mack" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)Mack was quiet, even-tempered, and gentlemanly, never using profanity. He was generally addressed as "Mr. Mack". He always called his players by their given names. Chief Bender, for instance, was "Albert" to Mack. Perhaps due to his great longevity in the game, he appeared to have a kind of saintly image; his long-time friends objected to the image of him as "the bloodless saint so often painted, a sanctimonious old Puritan patting babies".[47] His friend Red Smith called him "tough and warm and wonderful, kind and stubborn and courtly and unreasonable and generous and calculating and naive and gentle and proud and humorous and demanding and unpredictable".[47] Connie Mack, Time magazine, 1927Beginning as far back as his first managing job in the 19th century, Mack drew criticism from the newspapers for not spending enough money. Some writers called him an outright miser, accusing him of getting rid of star players so he could "line his own pockets" with the money. However, his biographer Norman Macht strongly defends Mack on this question, contending that Mack's spending decisions were forced on him by his financial circumstances, and that nearly all the money he made went back to the team. Mack himself was upset by these allegations: when some writers accused him of deliberately losing the second game of the 1913 World Series in order to extend the series and make more money in ticket sales, he uncharacteristically wrote an angry letter to the Saturday Evening Post to deny it, saying "I consider playing for the gate receipts ... nothing short of dishonest." With the Athletics leading the Series three games to one, several New York writers predicted that the Athletics would deliberately lose Game Five in New York so that Mack would not have to refund the $50,000 in ticket sales for Game Six in Philadelphia. After reading this, Mack told his players that if they won Game Five he would give them the team's entire share of the Game Five gate receipts — about $34,000. The Athletics won the Game and the series, and Mack gave out the money as promised.[48] Mack supported a large extended family and was generous to players in need, often finding jobs for former players. For instance, he kept Bender on the team payroll as a scout, minor league manager or coach from 1926 until Mack himself retired as owner-manager in 1950. Simmons was a coach for many years after his retirement as a player. Mack lived through the entire era of racially segregated baseball (the early days of the game in his youth sometimes featured black players, but this ended by the 1890s and the major leagues remained white-only until Jackie Robinson broke down the color barrier in 1947), and even afterwards never displayed any serious interest in signing blacks. According to those who knew him, Mack was not a racist by the standards of his day and had no particular objection to a player's skin color.[citation needed] However, he did not want to cross the dictatorial commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis who represented the majority of MLB owners that opposed integrated baseball.[citation needed] I shall never forget Connie Mack's gentleness and gentility.—Ty Cobb, The New York Times[49]Legacy The Grave of Connie Mack, located at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Glenside, Pennsylvania.The Philadelphia stadium, originally called Shibe Park, was renamed Connie Mack Stadium in 1953. Starting in 1909, it was home to the Athletics, and starting 1938, it was also home to the Phillies, then from 1955 to 1970 was home to the Phillies alone, after the Athletics moved to Kansas City. He is mentioned in the poem Line-Up for Yesterday by Ogden Nash: Line-Up for YesterdayQ is for Don QuixoteCornelius Mack;Neither Yankees nor yearsCan halt his attack.—Ogden Nash, Sport magazine (January 1949)[50]Family Opening Day, April 18, 1938, Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C. Home of Connie Mack on Cliveden Avenue in Northwest PhiladelphiaOn November 2, 1887, Mack married Margaret Hogan, whom the Spencer Leader described as having "a sunny and vivacious disposition." They had three children, Earle, Roy, and Marguerite. Margaret died in December 1892 after complications from her third childbirth. Mack married a second time on October 27, 1910. His second wife was Catherine (or Katharine) Holahan (or Hoolahan) (1879–1966); the census records have various spellings (the wedding register reads "Catarina Hallahan"). The couple had four daughters and a son, Cornelius Jr. A faithful Catholic his entire life, Mack was also a longtime member of the Knights of Columbus (Santa Maria Council 263 in Germantown, which moved to Flourtown, Pennsylvania in the 1980s).[51] Mack's son Earle Mack played several games for the A's between 1910 and 1914, and also managed the team for parts of the 1937 and 1939 seasons when his father was too ill to do so. In more recent years, his descendants have taken to politics: Mack's grandson Connie Mack III was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida (1983–89) and the United States Senate (1989–2001); and great-grandson Connie Mack IV served in the U.S. House of Representatives (2005–13), representing Florida's 14th congressional district. See alsoMajor League Baseball all-time managerial winsList of Major League Baseball player–managersConnie Mack Stadium (Shibe Park) Clark Calvin Griffith (November 20, 1869 – October 27, 1955[1]), nicknamed "The Old Fox", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher, manager and team owner. He began his MLB playing career with the St. Louis Browns (1891), Boston Reds (1891), and Chicago Colts/Orphans (1893–1900). He then served as player-manager for the Chicago White Stockings (1901–1902) and New York Highlanders (1903–1907). He retired as a player after the 1907 season, remaining manager of the Highlanders in 1908. He managed the Cincinnati Reds (1909–1911) and Washington Senators (1912–1920), making some appearances as a player with both teams. He owned the Senators from 1920 until his death in 1955. Sometimes known for being a thrifty executive, Griffith is also remembered for attracting talented players from the National League to play for the Senators when the American League was in its infancy. Griffith was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946. Contents1Early life2Major league career2.1As a pitcher and player-manager2.2As a manager and owner2.3Managerial record3Hall of Fame candidacy4Death and legacy5Gallery6See also7Notes8References9External linksEarly lifeGriffith was born in Clear Creek, Missouri, to Isaiah and Sarah Anne Griffith. His parents were of Welsh ancestry. They had lived in Illinois prior to Clark Griffith's birth. The family took a covered wagon west toward the Oklahoma Territory. Along the way, the family encountered hungry and disenchanted people returning from the Oklahoma Territory, so they decided to settle in Missouri. Griffith grew up with five siblings, four of them older.[2] When Griffith was a small child, his father was killed in a hunting accident when fellow hunters mistook him for a deer.[3] Sarah Griffith struggled to raise her children as a widow, but Clark Griffith later said that his neighbors in Missouri had been very helpful to his mother, planting crops for her and the children. Fearing a malaria epidemic that was sweeping through the area, the Griffith family moved to Bloomington, Illinois.[4] A childhood incident taught him about the money side to baseball, Griffith recalled. When he was 13, he and a few other young boys had raised $1.25 to buy a baseball. They sent one of the boys 12 miles on horseback to make the purchase. The ball burst on the second time that it was struck. Griffith later found out that the boy who purchased the ball only spent a quarter, keeping the leftover dollar.[5] At the age of seventeen, Griffith had made ten dollars pitching in a local baseball game in Hoopeston, Illinois.[6] Major league careerAs a pitcher and player-managerGriffith entered the American Association in 1891, pitching 226 1⁄3 innings and winning 14 games for the St. Louis Browns and Boston Reds. He began the following season with the Chicago Colts. In 1893, the pitchers box was moved back; it had been 55 feet from home plate and was moved to the modern distance of 60 feet, six inches. Following that change, offensive numbers increased across baseball and many pitchers had to adjust their approaches.[7] Griffith in 1903Cap Anson was the player-manager of the Colts during Griffith's tenure and he utilized a rotation of only three starting pitchers. Just before Griffith's arrival on the team, pitcher Bill Hutchinson had thrown more than 600 innings in a single season for Anson, which may have contributed to a decline in Hutchinson's career. Griffith tried a new pitch to increase his longevity. By modifying the grip of a curveball, he threw a pitch similar to the screwball that Christy Mathewson had developed. He also often scuffed balls with his spikes or rubbed them in the grass.[7] In 1894, Griffith began a string of six consecutive seasons with 20 or more victories, compiling a 21–14 record and 4.92 earned run average (ERA). Griffith lowered his ERA over the following years to a low of 1.88 in 1898, the lowest mark in the league. When Ban Johnson, a longtime friend, announced plans to form the American League, Griffith was one of the ringleaders in getting National League players to jump ship. Using the cover of his post as vice president of the League Protective Players' Association (a nascent players' union), Griffith persuaded 39 players to sign on with the new league for the 1901 season. Griffith himself signed on with the Chicago White Stockings as player-manager. He won 20 games for the final time in his career and led the White Stockings to the first AL pennant with an 83–53 record. Griffith at Hilltop Park, 1909At Johnson's suggestion, Griffith left Chicago in 1903 to take over as manager of the New York Highlanders. The Highlanders had just moved from Baltimore, and Johnson knew that for the league to be successful, it needed a strong franchise in the nation's biggest city. Griffith's last year as a regular player was 1907, though he made brief appearances as a player for the Reds (1909–1910) and Senators (1912, 1913 and 1914). After a falling-out with the Highlanders' ownership, Griffith was fired during the 1908 season.[8] The team had started strong, but the team's pitching faltered as the season progressed and Griffith was criticized for trading away Jimmy Williams in exchange for a disappointing prospect.[9] As a manager and ownerGriffith returned to the National League as manager of the Cincinnati Reds in 1909. In 1912, again at Johnson's suggestion, he returned to the American League as manager of the Washington Senators. Managers Griffith and ChanceWhen Griffith took over as manager of the Senators, he also bought a 10% interest in the team. At the time, the franchise had little going for it other than star pitcher Walter Johnson. In the American League's first 12 years, the Senators had never had a winning record or finished higher than sixth. To entertain the fans, Griffith hired Nick Altrock as a first base coach in his first season with Washington. Described as a "natural buffoon", Altrock engaged in lighthearted fun while coaching first base. He wrestled with himself, copied the motions of the pitcher and made the fans laugh with other antics.[10] Griffith also engineered one of the biggest turnarounds in major league history, leading the Senators to second place. In nine years, his Washington teams only twice finished below fifth in the eight-team league. In 1919, Griffith joined forces with Philadelphia grain broker William Richardson to buy controlling interest in the Senators. Griffith boosted his share to 19%, while Richardson bought a 40% interest. Richardson and Griffith quickly came to an agreement that allowed Griffith to vote Richardson's shares as well. This all but assured his election as team president that November. At the same time, the Senators' home park, National Park, was renamed Griffith Stadium. Griffith stepped down as manager after the 1920 season to devote all his energy to the front office. He finished his managerial career with a 1,491–1,367 record. His 1,491 wins ranked 19th all-time as of 2005. During his managing tenure, Griffith had a tradition of treating the fans to a farce game as the final game of the season. This tradition is a factor in the inflation of Walter Johnson's minuscule ERA from 1.09 to 1.14 in 1913. Harry Heilmann, in a poorly executed slide, is tagged out by Washington Senators' third baseman Howard Shanks, 1921.Griffith was known for running the Senators on a shoestring. This was almost out of necessity; even with Richardson's assistance, he was forced to mortgage his Montana ranch to raise the money he needed to buy control of the team. Unlike most other owners, he had no income other than the Senators and Griffith Stadium. However, the Washington Redskins (who moved into the stadium in 1937 from Boston) and other tenants enabled him to turn a profit for 21 straight years. He was known for his faith in young players. He twice entrusted 27-year-old players to manage his teams—Bucky Harris in 1924 and Joe Cronin in 1933. Griffith's wagers appeared to pay off, as the Senators won the pennant in both years under their new youthful managers. In Harris' case, they won the 1924 World Series. Cronin came to the team as a player when Griffith's friend Joe Engel was placed in charge of the Chattanooga Lookouts at Engel Stadium. Engel was the first to scout Cronin for the club and said, "I knew I was watching a great player. I bought Cronin at a time he was hitting .221. When I told Clark Griffith what I had done, he screamed, "You paid $7,500 for that bum? Well, you didn't buy him for me. You bought him for yourself. He's not my ballplayer – he's yours. You keep him and don't either you or Cronin show up at the ballpark." Cronin later married Griffith's niece, Mildred June Robertson.[11] In 1949, after a string of mostly humdrum seasons, Griffith almost lost control of the team when the Richardson estate sold its stake to John Jachym, who in turn sold his shares six months later to H. Gabriel Murphy when he could not obtain a voice in the team's affairs. Griffith was reelected team president, but it was understood that unless the team improved, the next vote would go against him. Griffith proceeded to buy stock from Murphy until he owned 52% of the club. The 1937 All-Star game, played at Griffith Stadium, featuring seven Hall of Fame American League players. (Lou Gehrig, Joe Cronin, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Charlie Gehringer, Jimmie Foxx, and Hank Greenberg)Managerial recordTeamFromToRecordWLWin %Chicago White Sox19011902157113.581New York Highlanders19031908419370.531Cincinnati Reds19091911222238.483Washington Senators19121920693646.518Total14911367.522Ref.:[12] Hall of Fame candidacy T206 Griffith baseball cardIn 1939, sportswriter Bob Considine expressed disappointment that Griffith had not already been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He referred to Griffith as "the real father of the American League", citing the fact that Griffith had been a key force in attracting National League players to join the American League teams in their initial years. He wrote that Griffith "belongs in any hall of fame where the elective body is composed of sports writers, for no other reason than that no sports writer ever came away from the old guy without a story. Some of them were even kindly stories."[13] Griffith had appeared on ballot for the second Baseball Hall of Fame election (1937), but he received 2% of the possible votes.[14] In 1938, he received votes on only 3.8% of the submitted ballots.[15] He received votes on 7.3% of ballots the next year.[16] The Hall of Fame held only triennial elections for a few years.[17] In 1942, 30.5% of voters submitted Griffith's name.[18] Griffith was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Old Timers Committee in 1946. He was honored at the induction ceremony the following year. According to author Dennis Corcoran, Griffith had attended the initial Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1939 but that there is no evidence that Griffith came to the 1947 induction or any other ceremony.[19] Death and legacy Memorial to Griffith at Tinker Field in OrlandoIn October 1955, Griffith was in the hospital with neuritis when he suffered a stomach hemorrhage.[20] Though he appeared to be improving, Griffith died a few days after he was hospitalized. He was nearing his 86th birthday.[21] After his death, newspaper accounts described Griffith's longtime relationships with U.S. presidents. During World War I, he successfully petitioned Woodrow Wilson to allow the continuation of baseball. He did the same with Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. He had also begun a tradition of presidents throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a season's first Opening Day game, which started with William Howard Taft.[21] When the Baseball Hall of Fame was being built and was looking for baseball memorabilia, Griffith donated several photographs of these presidential first pitches.[22] League president Will Harridge called Griffith "one of the game's all-time great figures."[23] Griffith was survived by his wife, who died of a heart attack two years later.[24] He and his wife had no children, but they raised several relatives.[25] A nephew who became his adopted son, Calvin Griffith, took over the team after his death and led efforts to have the club moved to Minnesota and become the Twins. The younger Griffith held on to the team until 1984, when he sold it to Carl Pohlad–ending the Griffith family's 65-year ownership of the franchise. Another nephew, Sherry Robertson, played infield and outfield for the Senators and the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1940s and 1950s.[26] A monument was erected in honor of Griffith at Griffith Stadium. After the stadium was demolished in 1964, the obelisk was moved to Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, where the Washington Nationals played between 2005 and 2007.[27] A collegiate baseball league, the National Capital City Junior League, was renamed in honor of Griffith after his death.[28] The league suspended operations in 2010.[29] Gallery Woodrow Wilson opens the season at Griffith Stadium, April 20, 1916 Griffith presents President Franklin D. Roosevelt with a gold pass Clark Griffith as Manager of the Washington Senators, 1913 W. M. Richardson, Judge Landis and Clark Griffith, 1924 John F. Kennedy throws out the first ball, Opening Day, April 10, 1961 See alsoBiography portaliconBaseball portalList of Major League Baseball career wins leadersList of Major League Baseball annual ERA leadersList of Major League Baseball player-managersList of Major League Baseball managers by winsList of Major League Baseball career hit batsmen leaders
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