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Connie Mack (baseball)
Encyclopedia
Cornelius McGillicuddy, Sr. (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball
player, 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. He managed the Philadelphia Athletics
for the club's first 50 seasons of play 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 Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937.
and one in the Players League
, for a total of 11 seasons in the Major Leagues, almost entirely as a catcher
.
After serving as captain of the East Brookfield town team, he played on minor-league teams in the Connecticut
cities of Meriden
and Hartford before signing with the Washington, DC team of the National League (variously called the Statesmen, Nationals, or Senators) in 1886. In the winter of 1889, he jumped to the Buffalo
team of the new Players League, the Bisons, investing his entire life savings of five hundred dollars in shares of the club. However, 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.
As a player, Mack was "a light-hitting catcher, had a reputation as a smart player, but didn't do anything particularly well as a player."
Mack was one of the first catchers to move up to play directly behind the plate, instead of back by the backstop. He developed strengths such as blocking the plate, or faking the sound of a foul tip (he was probably responsible for the 1891 rule change to make a batter not out if the catcher caught a foul tip with fewer than two strikes.) He would also needle batters to distract them. 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." Another skill was tipping bats to throw off a player's swing. He never denied such tricks.
Mack'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. After the 1896 season, 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 $3000 and 25% of the club. 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, he became manager, treasurer, and part owner of the new American League's Philadelphia Athletics
. Mack managed the Athletics through the 1950
season, for a record of 3,582–3,814 (.484) when he retired at age 87. His 50-year tenure as Athletics manager is the most ever for a coach or manager with the same team in North American professional sports; only Joe Paterno
with 62 seasons as a football coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions
, has surpassed Mack even in the collegiate ranks, though only 46 of those years have been as the head coach. Mack won nine pennants and appeared in eight World Series
, winning five.
He 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.) "Better than any other manager, Mack understood and promoted intelligence as an element of excellence." Mack wanted men who were self-directed, self-disciplined, and self-motivated; his ideal player was Eddie Collins
.
Mack also looked for players with quiet and disciplined personal lives, having seen many players destroy themselves and their teams through heavy drinking in his playing days. 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."
However, he was not a tyrant; he was an easygoing manager and never imposed curfews or bed checks. He made the best of what he had; Rube Waddell was his best pitcher and biggest gate attraction, so Mack 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 him.
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." 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 scorecard from the bench. 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.
Baseball historian Bill James
sums up Mack's managerial approach as follows: he favored a set lineup; did not generally use a platoon
approach; preferred young players to veterans; preferred hitters with power who got on base a lot to high-batting-average players; did not often send in a pinch-hitter; did not often use his bench players; did not often employ the sacrifice bunt (even so, the A's led the league in sacrifice bunts in 1909, 1911, 1914); believed in "big-inning" offense rather than small ball; and very rarely issued an intentional base on balls
.
Over the course of his career he had three pennant-winning teams. His original team, with players like Rube Waddell
, Ossee Schreckengost
, and Eddie Plank
, won the pennant in 1902 and 1905, losing the 1905 World Series to the New York Giants
. During that season, New York's manager John McGraw said that Mack had "a big white elephant
on his hands" with the Athletics. Mack adopted a white elephant as the team's logo, which the Athletics still use today.
As his 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 beating the Giants in 1911 and 1913, and losing to the Boston Braves
in 1914.
That team was dispersed due to financial problems, from which Mack did not recover until the twenties, 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 players in their prime such as 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 World Series in 1929 and beating the St. Louis Cardinals
in 1930. The Athletics lost to the Cardinals in 1931.
That team was dispersed after 1932 when Mack ran into financial difficulty again. By 1934, the A's had fallen into the second division
. Apart from three straight winning records from 1947 to 1949, he would never field another winning team, and he never won the pennant again.
According to Bill James, by the time he recovered financially, he was "old and out of touch with the game, so his career ends with eighteen years of miserable baseball." It was generally agreed that he stayed in the game too long, which hurt his legacy.
, 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.
In 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. 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 (he died in 1937), leaving Mack as sole owner.
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."
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, so he was often in financial difficulties. Money problems – the escalation of his best players' salaries (due both to their success and to competition from the new, well-financed Federal League
), 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 the event of the World Series in 1903) major league team. 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 WS titles and pennants the Athletics would win in Philadelphia or for another four decades.
With the 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. Mack celebrated his 70th birthday in 1932, and many began wondering if his best days were behind him. He stubbornly maintained total control over the day-to-day operations of the Athletics both as owner and manager long after most teams had ceased this practice. The Athletics' record from 1935-46 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, but the octogenarian Mack somehow got the team to three winning seasons in 1947-49 before they sunk back into the basement in 1950.
In 1950, Mack (now 88) was persuaded by his sons Earle
and Roy
to relinquish his duties as manager after half a century at the helm. As he entered his 80s, he found himself unable to handle the post-World War II changes in baseball, including the growing commercialization of the game.
After he retired from active management of the Athletics, the team crumbled to the bottom of the American League, nearly going bankrupt as the crosstown Phillies contested their second World Series in 1950. In 1954, the despondent Mack finally sold his beloved team to Midwestern businessman Arnold Johnson
who promptly moved them to Kansas City, Missouri
. He died two years later on February 8, 1956 at the age of 93.
, for instance, was "Albert" to Mack. Perhaps due to his great longevity in the game, there grew up around him 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." 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."
Beginning as far back as his first managing job in the nineteenth 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 did win, and Mack gave out the money as promised.
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.
In addition to his Hall of Fame election in 1937
, in 2008, Connie Mack was the first person inducted into the New York City
-based Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame
. He is mentioned in the poem "Line-Up for Yesterday
" by Ogden Nash
:
After Mack's retirement in 1950, Major League Baseball
passed two rules that would have affected Mack today. The first rule prohibited managers to have any financial stake in the team they are managing. This would later come to light on May 11, 1977, when Atlanta Braves
owner Ted Turner
sent manager Dave Bristol
on a "scouting trip" so he could manage the Braves himself. He only ran the team for one game (a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates
) before National League
president Chub Feeney
told him that managers are not allowed to own financial interest in their club.
Another rule also required managers to wear a baseball uniform
if they are to be in the dugout
; Mack always wore a business suit
instead, which is more common for head coaches in ice hockey
and basketball
. Although MLB would allow managers to wear suits if they stay out of the dugout, the fact that they are needed in the dugout frequently effectively bans them from wearing a suit.
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 from 1983 to 1989 and the United States Senate
from 1989 to 2001, and great-grandson Connie Mack IV
currently serves in House, representing Florida's 14th congressional district
.
to Irish immigrants, Michael McGillicuddy and Mary McKillop. 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.
In 1877, Mack left school at the age of fourteen after finishing the eighth grade. Partly this was because he needed to help support his large extended family, since his father, whose health had been ruined in the Civil War
, was an alcoholic and no longer worked. Mack always regretted his lack of education and advised college players to finish their degrees before they began their baseball careers.
On November 2, 1887, he 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.
He married a second time on October 27, 1910. His second wife was Catherine (or Katharine) Holahan (or Hoolahan); the census records disagree. (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 Flourtown, Pennsylvania).
From early on in life he was known as "Mack", as his father had been. However, he never formally changed his name. On the occasion of his second marriage, at age 48, he signed the wedding register "Cornelius McGillicuddy". His nickname on the field was "Slats."
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player, manager
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
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. He managed the Philadelphia Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
for the club's first 50 seasons of play 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
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
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
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
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 Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937.
Playing
Beginning in 1886, Mack played 10 seasons in the National LeagueNational League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
and one in the Players League
Players League
The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League , was a short-lived but star-studded professional American baseball league of the 19th century...
, for a total of 11 seasons in the Major Leagues, almost entirely as a catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
.
After serving as captain of the East Brookfield town team, he played on minor-league teams in the Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
cities of Meriden
Meriden, Connecticut
Meriden is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 59,653.-History:...
and Hartford before signing with the Washington, DC team of the National League (variously called the Statesmen, Nationals, or Senators) in 1886. In the winter of 1889, he jumped to the Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
team of the new Players League, the Bisons, investing his entire life savings of five hundred dollars in shares of the club. However, 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
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
of the National League and remained with them for the rest of his career as a full-time player.
As a player, Mack was "a light-hitting catcher, had a reputation as a smart player, but didn't do anything particularly well as a player."
Mack was one of the first catchers to move up to play directly behind the plate, instead of back by the backstop. He developed strengths such as blocking the plate, or faking the sound of a foul tip (he was probably responsible for the 1891 rule change to make a batter not out if the catcher caught a foul tip with fewer than two strikes.) He would also needle batters to distract them. According to Wilbert Robinson
Wilbert Robinson
Wilbert Robinson , nicknamed "Uncle Robbie", was an American catcher, coach and manager in Major League Baseball...
, "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." Another skill was tipping bats to throw off a player's swing. He 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. After he had two strikes, I tipped his bat again and got away with it."
Managing
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
from 1894 to 1896, with a 149–134 (.527) record. After the 1896 season, he retired as a full-time player and accepted a deal from Henry Killilea
Henry Killilea
Henry J. Killilea was one the five men who founded baseball's American League as a major league in 1899. The other members of the group were his brother Matthew Killilea, Connie Mack, Charles Comiskey, and the leader of the effort, Ban Johnson. Their first meeting was held in Killilea's Milwaukee...
to act as manager and occasional backup catcher for the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers. He agreed to a salary of $3000 and 25% of the club. 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
Rube Waddell
George Edward Waddell was an American southpaw pitcher in Major League Baseball. In his thirteen-year career he played for the Louisville Colonels , Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Orphans in the National League, and the Philadelphia Athletics and St. Louis Browns in the American League...
, who would follow him to the big leagues.
In 1901, he became manager, treasurer, and part owner of the new American League's Philadelphia Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
. Mack managed the Athletics through the 1950
1950 Philadelphia Athletics season
The Philadelphia Athletics season involved the A's finishing 8th in the American League with a record of 52 wins and 102 losses. It would be 88-year-old Connie Mack’s 50th and last as A’s manager, a North American professional sports record...
season, for a record of 3,582–3,814 (.484) when he retired at age 87. His 50-year tenure as Athletics manager is the most ever for a coach or manager with the same team in North American professional sports; only Joe Paterno
Joe Paterno
Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno is a former college football coach who was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years from 1966 through 2011. Paterno, nicknamed "JoePa," holds the record for the most victories by an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football coach with...
with 62 seasons as a football coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions
Penn State Nittany Lions football
The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It is one of the most tradition-rich and storied college football programs in the...
, has surpassed Mack even in the collegiate ranks, though only 46 of those years have been as the head coach. Mack won nine pennants and appeared in eight World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
, winning five.
He 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
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Joseph Jefferson Jackson , nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American baseball player who played Major League Baseball in the early part of the 20th century...
, despite his talent, because of his bad attitude and unintelligent play.) "Better than any other manager, Mack understood and promoted intelligence as an element of excellence." Mack wanted men who were self-directed, self-disciplined, and self-motivated; his ideal player was Eddie Collins
Eddie Collins
Edward Trowbridge Collins, Sr. , nicknamed "Cocky", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman, manager and executive...
.
"Mack looked for seven things in a young player: physical ability, intelligence, courage, disposition, will power, general alertness, and personal habits."
Mack also looked for players with quiet and disciplined personal lives, having seen many players destroy themselves and their teams through heavy drinking in his playing days. 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
Topsy Hartsel
Tully Frederick "Topsy" Hartsel was an outfielder in Major League Baseball. He was born in Polk, Ohio, and played for the Louisville Colonels , Cincinnati Reds , Chicago Orphans , and the Philadelphia Athletics who he won the World Series with in 1910. Having a keen eye, Hartsel led the league in...
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."
However, he was not a tyrant; he was an easygoing manager and never imposed curfews or bed checks. He made the best of what he had; Rube Waddell was his best pitcher and biggest gate attraction, so Mack 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 him.
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." 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 scorecard from the bench. 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.
Baseball historian Bill James
Bill James
George William “Bill” James is a baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics...
sums up Mack's managerial approach as follows: he favored a set lineup; did not generally use a platoon
Platoon system
The platoon system in baseball is a method of designating two players to a single defensive position—usually one right-handed and one left-handed. Typically the right-handed half of the platoon is played on days when the opposing pitcher is left-handed and the left-handed player is played otherwise...
approach; preferred young players to veterans; preferred hitters with power who got on base a lot to high-batting-average players; did not often send in a pinch-hitter; did not often use his bench players; did not often employ the sacrifice bunt (even so, the A's led the league in sacrifice bunts in 1909, 1911, 1914); believed in "big-inning" offense rather than small ball; and very rarely issued an intentional base on balls
Base on balls
A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...
.
Over the course of his career he had three pennant-winning teams. His original team, with players like Rube Waddell
Rube Waddell
George Edward Waddell was an American southpaw pitcher in Major League Baseball. In his thirteen-year career he played for the Louisville Colonels , Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Orphans in the National League, and the Philadelphia Athletics and St. Louis Browns in the American League...
, Ossee Schreckengost
Ossee Schreckengost
Ossee Freeman Schreckengost was a Major League Baseball catcher and first baseman...
, and Eddie Plank
Eddie Plank
Edward Stewart Plank , nicknamed "Gettysburg Eddie", was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He is the first left-handed pitcher to win 200 games and then 300 games, and now ranks third in all-time wins among left-handers with 326 career victories and first all-time in career shutouts by a...
, won the pennant in 1902 and 1905, losing the 1905 World Series to the New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
. During that season, New York's manager John McGraw said that Mack had "a big white elephant
White elephant
A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable but burdensome possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth...
on his hands" with the Athletics. Mack adopted a white elephant as the team's logo, which the Athletics still use today.
As his 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
Frank Baker
John Franklin "Home Run" Baker was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball from 1908 to 1922, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. As a member of the famed $100,000 infield, Baker helped the Philadelphia Athletics win the 1910, 1911 and 1913 World Series...
, Jack Barry
Jack Barry (baseball)
John Joseph "Jack" Barry was an American shortstop, second baseman, and manager in Major League Baseball, and later a college baseball coach...
and Stuffy McInnis
Stuffy McInnis
John Phalen "Stuffy" McInnis was a first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball.McInnis gained his nickname as a youngster in the Boston suburban leagues, where his spectacular playing brought shouts of "that's the stuff, kid".From 1909-27, McInnis played for the Philadelphia Athletics ,...
. These Athletics, captained by catcher Ira Thomas
Ira Thomas
Ira Felix Thomas was an American professional baseball player. He played all or part of ten in Major League Baseball, all in the American League, with the New York Highlanders , Detroit Tigers , and Philadelphia Athletics , primarily as a catcher.Thomas was born in Ballston Spa, New York, and...
, won the pennant in 1910, 1911, 1913, and 1914, beating the Cubs in the World Series in 1910 and beating the Giants in 1911 and 1913, and losing to the Boston Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
in 1914.
That team was dispersed due to financial problems, from which Mack did not recover until the twenties, when he built his third great team. The 1927 Athletics featured several future Hall of Fame players including veterans Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...
, Zack Wheat
Zack Wheat
Wheat played his first full season in . He played every game for the Superbas that season as the regular left fielder, leading the league in games played. He batted .284 that season, the second-lowest average of his career, which led the team, and was among the league leaders in hits, doubles, and...
, and Eddie Collins
Eddie Collins
Edward Trowbridge Collins, Sr. , nicknamed "Cocky", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman, manager and executive...
as well as players in their prime such as Mickey Cochrane
Mickey Cochrane
Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane was a professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers...
, Lefty Grove
Lefty Grove
Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove was a professional baseball pitcher. After having success in the minor leagues during the early 1920s, Grove became a star in Major League Baseball with the American League's Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox, winning 300 games in his 17-year MLB career...
, Al Simmons
Al Simmons
Aloysius Harry Simmons , born Aloisius Szymanski in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was an American baseball player. He played for two decades in the major leagues as an outfielder, and had his best years as a member of Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics during the 1930's...
, and rookie Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx
James Emory "Jimmie" Foxx , nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was a right-handed American Major League Baseball first baseman and noted power hitter....
. That team won the pennant in 1929, 1930, and 1931, beating the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
in the World Series in 1929 and beating the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
in 1930. The Athletics lost to the Cardinals in 1931.
That team was dispersed after 1932 when Mack ran into financial difficulty again. By 1934, the A's had fallen into the second division
First division (baseball)
First division is a term that has had various meanings, at various times, in the sport of baseball, but originally referred to the rankings within a league...
. Apart from three straight winning records from 1947 to 1949, he would never field another winning team, and he never won the pennant again.
According to Bill James, by the time he recovered financially, he was "old and out of touch with the game, so his career ends with eighteen years of miserable baseball." It was generally agreed that he stayed in the game too long, which hurt his legacy.
Owner
The American League's white knight, Charles SomersCharles Somers
Charles Somers aka Charles W. Somers, was an American executive in Cleveland, Ohio's coal industry who also achieved prominence in Major League Baseball...
, 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
Ben Shibe
Benjamin Franklin Shibe was an American sporting goods and baseball executive who, along with his sons John and Tom, was half-owner of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League from 1901 until his death. He is credited with the invention of the automated stitching machinery to make...
, a minority owner of the rival Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
, 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.
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."
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, so he was often in financial difficulties. Money problems – the escalation of his best players' salaries (due both to their success and to competition from the new, well-financed Federal League
Federal League
The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that operated as a "third major league", in competition with the established National and American Leagues, from to...
), combined with a steep drop in attendance due to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
— led to the gradual dispersal of his second championship team, the 1910
1910 Philadelphia Athletics season
The Philadelphia Athletics season was a season in American baseball. The team finished first in the American League with a record of 102 wins and 48 losses, winning the pennant by 14½ games over the New York Highlanders...
–1914
1914 Philadelphia Athletics season
The Philadelphia Athletics season was a season in American baseball. It involved the A's finishing first in the American League with a record of 99 wins and 53 losses...
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
1916 Philadelphia Athletics season
The 1916 Philadelphia Athletics season involved the A's finishing 8th in the American League with a record of 36 wins and 117 losses. The 1916 team is often considered by baseball historians the worst team in American League history, and its .235 winning percentage is still the lowest ever for a...
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 the event of the World Series in 1903) major league team. All told, the A's finished dead last in the AL seven years in a row from 1915 to 1921
1921 Philadelphia Athletics season
The Philadelphia Athletics season involved the A's finishing 8th in the American League for the seventh time in a row with a record of 53 wins and 100 losses.- Roster :- Starters by position :...
, 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 WS titles and pennants the Athletics would win in Philadelphia or for another four decades.
With the onset of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Mack struggled financially again, and was forced to sell the best players from his second great championship team, such as Lefty Grove
Lefty Grove
Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove was a professional baseball pitcher. After having success in the minor leagues during the early 1920s, Grove became a star in Major League Baseball with the American League's Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox, winning 300 games in his 17-year MLB career...
and Jimmie Foxx
Jimmie Foxx
James Emory "Jimmie" Foxx , nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was a right-handed American Major League Baseball first baseman and noted power hitter....
, 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. Mack celebrated his 70th birthday in 1932, and many began wondering if his best days were behind him. He stubbornly maintained total control over the day-to-day operations of the Athletics both as owner and manager long after most teams had ceased this practice. The Athletics' record from 1935-46 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, but the octogenarian Mack somehow got the team to three winning seasons in 1947-49 before they sunk back into the basement in 1950.
In 1950, Mack (now 88) was persuaded by his sons Earle
Earle Mack
Earle Thaddeus Mack, born Earle Thaddeus McGillicuddy , was an American player and coach in Major League Baseball, and, during parts of two seasons, manager of the Philadelphia Athletics when his father, Connie Mack, was too ill to manage. He also became a part-owner of the franchise. His nephew...
and Roy
Roy Mack
Roy Mack was the co-owner of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League with his brother Earle Mack from through . In 1954, the brothers sold the Athletics to Arnold Johnson, who moved the team to Kansas City, Missouri one season later. Mack was the son of Hall of Fame manager and former...
to relinquish his duties as manager after half a century at the helm. As he entered his 80s, he found himself unable to handle the post-World War II changes in baseball, including the growing commercialization of the 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."
After he retired from active management of the Athletics, the team crumbled to the bottom of the American League, nearly going bankrupt as the crosstown Phillies contested their second World Series in 1950. In 1954, the despondent Mack finally sold his beloved team to Midwestern businessman Arnold Johnson
Arnold Johnson
Arnold M. Johnson was an American industrialist, businessman and sportsman, who purchased the storied but financially unsound Philadelphia Athletics baseball club and moved it to Kansas City, Missouri, in the autumn of 1954...
who promptly moved them to Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. He died two years later on February 8, 1956 at the age of 93.
Personality
Mack was a quiet, even-tempered, and gentlemanly man. He was generally addressed as "Mr. Mack." He always called his players by their given names. Chief BenderChief Bender
Charles Albert "Chief" Bender was a pitcher in Major League Baseball during the first two decades of the 20th century...
, for instance, was "Albert" to Mack. Perhaps due to his great longevity in the game, there grew up around him 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." His friend Red Smith
Red Smith
Red Smith may refer to:* Red Smith , 1910s baseball third baseman* Red Smith , Pittsburgh Pirates catcher, 1917–1918* Red Smith , MLB shortstop in the 1925 season...
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."
Beginning as far back as his first managing job in the nineteenth 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 did win, and Mack gave out the money as promised.
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.
Legacy
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.In addition to his Hall of Fame election in 1937
Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1937
The 1937 process of selecting inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame was markedly different from the initial elections the previous year. As only half of the initial goal of 10 inductees had been selected in 1936, members of the Baseball Writers Association of America were once again given...
, in 2008, Connie Mack was the first person inducted into the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame
Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame
The Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame was established in 2008. It is located at Foley's NY Pub & Restaurant, 18 West 33rd Street, New York, New York ....
. He is mentioned in the poem "Line-Up for Yesterday
Line-Up for Yesterday
Line-Up for Yesterday: An ABC of Baseball Immortals is a poem written by Ogden Nash for the January 1949 issue of SPORT Magazine. In the poem, Nash dedicates each letter of the alphabet to an iconic Major League Baseball player...
" by Ogden Nash
Ogden Nash
Frederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".-Early life:Nash was born in Rye, New York...
:
After Mack's retirement in 1950, Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
passed two rules that would have affected Mack today. The first rule prohibited managers to have any financial stake in the team they are managing. This would later come to light on May 11, 1977, when Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
owner Ted Turner
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television...
sent manager Dave Bristol
Dave Bristol
James David Bristol is a former manager in Major League Baseball in the 1960s and 1970s. He managed the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, and San Francisco Giants during this period....
on a "scouting trip" so he could manage the Braves himself. He only ran the team for one game (a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
) before National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
president Chub Feeney
Chub Feeney
Charles Stoneham "Chub" Feeney was an American front office executive in Major League Baseball and president of the National League during a 40-plus year career in baseball....
told him that managers are not allowed to own financial interest in their club.
Another rule also required managers to wear a baseball uniform
Baseball uniform
A baseball uniform is a type of uniform worn by baseball players. Most baseball uniforms have the names and uniform numbers of players who wear them, usually on the backs of the uniforms to distinguish players from one other. Baseball shirts , pants, shoes, socks, caps, and glove are parts of...
if they are to be in the dugout
Dugout (baseball)
In baseball, the dugout is a team's bench area and is located in foul territory between home plate and either first or third base. There are two dugouts, one for the home team and one for the visiting team. In general, the dugout is occupied by all players not prescribed to be on the field at that...
; Mack always wore a business suit
Suit (clothing)
In clothing, a suit is a set of garments made from the same cloth, consisting of at least a jacket and trousers. Lounge suits are the most common style of Western suit, originating in the United Kingdom as country wear...
instead, which is more common for head coaches in ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
and basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
. Although MLB would allow managers to wear suits if they stay out of the dugout, the fact that they are needed in the dugout frequently effectively bans them from wearing a suit.
Family
Mack's son Earle MackEarle Mack
Earle Thaddeus Mack, born Earle Thaddeus McGillicuddy , was an American player and coach in Major League Baseball, and, during parts of two seasons, manager of the Philadelphia Athletics when his father, Connie Mack, was too ill to manage. He also became a part-owner of the franchise. His nephew...
played several games for the A's between 1910 and 1914, and also managed the team for parts of the 1937
1937 Philadelphia Athletics season
The Philadelphia Athletics season involved the A's finishing 7th in the American League with a record of 54 wins and 97 losses.- Offseason :...
and 1939
1939 Philadelphia Athletics season
The 1939 Philadelphia Athletics season involved the A's finishing seventh in the American League with a record of 55 wins and 97 losses.- Offseason :...
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
Connie Mack III
Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy III , popularly known as Connie Mack, is a former Republican politician. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Florida from 1983 to 1989 and then as a Senator from 1989 to 2001. He served as chairman of the Senate Republican...
was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida from 1983 to 1989 and the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from 1989 to 2001, and great-grandson Connie Mack IV
Connie Mack IV
Cornelius Harvey McGillicuddy IV popularly known as Connie Mack IV is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes Fort Myers and Naples....
currently serves in House, representing Florida's 14th congressional district
Florida's 14th congressional district
Florida's 14th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida. The district is located in the Gulf Coast region in Southwestern Florida and includes all of Lee County and portions of Charlotte and Collier counties...
.
Personal life
He was born in East Brookfield, MassachusettsEast Brookfield, Massachusetts
East Brookfield is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,183 at the 2010 census.For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place East Brookfield, please see the article East Brookfield , Massachusetts.- History :East Brookfield was...
to Irish immigrants, Michael McGillicuddy and Mary McKillop. 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
Confirmation (Catholic Church)
Confirmation is one of the seven sacraments through which Catholics pass in the process of their religious upbringing. According to Catholic doctrine, in this sacrament they receive the Holy Spirit and become adult members of the Catholic Church....
name.
In 1877, Mack left school at the age of fourteen after finishing the eighth grade. Partly this was because he needed to help support his large extended family, since his father, whose health had been ruined in the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, was an alcoholic and no longer worked. Mack always regretted his lack of education and advised college players to finish their degrees before they began their baseball careers.
On November 2, 1887, he married Margaret Hogan, whom the Spencer Leader described as having "a sunny and vivacious disposition." They had three children, Earle
Earle Mack
Earle Thaddeus Mack, born Earle Thaddeus McGillicuddy , was an American player and coach in Major League Baseball, and, during parts of two seasons, manager of the Philadelphia Athletics when his father, Connie Mack, was too ill to manage. He also became a part-owner of the franchise. His nephew...
, Roy
Roy Mack
Roy Mack was the co-owner of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League with his brother Earle Mack from through . In 1954, the brothers sold the Athletics to Arnold Johnson, who moved the team to Kansas City, Missouri one season later. Mack was the son of Hall of Fame manager and former...
, and Marguerite. Margaret died in December 1892 after complications from her third childbirth.
He married a second time on October 27, 1910. His second wife was Catherine (or Katharine) Holahan (or Hoolahan); the census records disagree. (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
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded in the United States in 1882, it is named in honor of Christopher Columbus....
(Santa Maria Council 263 in Flourtown, Pennsylvania).
From early on in life he was known as "Mack", as his father had been. However, he never formally changed his name. On the occasion of his second marriage, at age 48, he signed the wedding register "Cornelius McGillicuddy". His nickname on the field was "Slats."
See also
- List of All-Time Managerial WinsMajor League Baseball all-time managerial winsThis article contains a list of all Major League Baseball managers with at least 1,000 career regular-season wins through the close of the 2011 regular season, as well as a list of the managers who have win percentages greater than .540 and have managed at least 600 games.Connie Mack, who managed...
Sources
- Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball, by Norman L. Macht (University of Nebraska Press). Nominee for the 2007 CASEY AwardCASEY AwardThe CASEY Award has been given to the best baseball book of the year since . The honor was begun by Mike Shannon and W.J. Harrison, editors and co-founders of “Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine.”-CASEY Award recipients:...
(see The Casey Award; Roy Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf).
External links
- Connie Mack at Find a GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...
- Baseball-Reference.com – career managing record and playing statistics
- Photograph of Benjamin Shibe, Connie Mack and others at the groundbreaking of Shibe Park, later Connie Mack Stadium, in 1908 courtesy Temple University Libraries