Larry MacPhail
Encyclopedia
Leland Stanford "Larry" MacPhail, Sr. (February 3, 1890 – October 1, 1975) was an American lawyer, and an executive and innovator in Major League Baseball
.
in 1882 as well as twenty other small banks in that state. Larry MacPhail obtained a LL.B. from the George Washington University Law School where he became friends with Branch Rickey
. He worked for a time with a Chicago law firm. Prior to World War I
Larry MacPhail was an executive of a department store in Nashville
, Tennessee
and during World War I
, he served as an artillery
captain in France and Belgium. He accompanied his commander, Colonel
Luke Lea
, on an unsanctioned mission to Amerongen in the Netherlands in January 1919 to attempt to arrest the exiled German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, and bring him to the Paris Peace Conference
to be tried for war crimes. MacPhail would also serve in World War II, resigning on September 23, 1942 as president of the Brooklyn Dodgers to accept a commission in the United States Army
. By war's end, MacPhail held the rank of Colonel
.
After his discharge from military service, MacPhail opened a law office in Columbus, Ohio
where he would eventually purchase an interest in the Columbus Red Birds
, a minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals
. That was short lived, but in 1933 he was hired by the Cincinnati Reds
and became its chief executive and general manager
. He went on to serve as president/general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers
and the New York Yankees
. MacPhail's innovations include nighttime baseball, regular game televising and the flying of teams between games.
He was pivotal in the development of pioneering sportscaster Red Barber
, who announced Reds and Dodgers games for MacPhail and whom he tried unsuccessfully to recruit to the Yanks when he became the Bronx team's co-owner in 1945. (Barber joined the Yankees crew in 1954, years after MacPhail sold his share in the club.)
MacPhail's career as a major-league owner ended after the Yankees clinched the 1947 World Series
, when he got into confrontations at the team's post-game celebrations at Yankee Stadium and then in Manhattan
. Though he had already quit as chief executive in the Yankee locker room, books by Roger Kahn and others indicate MacPhail's behavior at the victory parties led to co-owners Dan Topping
and Del Webb
buying out his share of the ballclub.
MacPhail was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
in 1978; his son Lee MacPhail
was elected to the Hall in 1998, making them the only father and son inductees. His other son Bill MacPhail
was president of CBS Sports
and later was President of CNN Sports, brought on by Reese Schonfeld
to create the department upon the network's launch. Larry's grandson Andy MacPhail
is the former general manager of the Minnesota Twins
and Chicago Cubs
and the former president of baseball operations for the Baltimore Orioles
. A great-grandson and namesake, Lee MacPhail IV, is the Orioles' director of professional scouting.
racehorses, his colt
General Staff won the 1952 Narragansett Special
. In March 1952, MacPhail was appointed President of Bowie Race Track
in Bowie, Maryland
. He held the position for thirrteen months.
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...
.
Biography
MacPhail's father founded State Savings Bank of Scottville, MichiganScottville, Michigan
Scottville is a city located in the north west of the U.S. state of Michigan in rural Mason County.On July 23, 2007 Governor Jennifer Granholm announced Scottville as the community chosen by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority to take part in the Cool Cities Michigan Main Street program...
in 1882 as well as twenty other small banks in that state. Larry MacPhail obtained a LL.B. from the George Washington University Law School where he became friends with Branch Rickey
Branch Rickey
Wesley Branch Rickey was an innovative Major League Baseball executive elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967...
. He worked for a time with a Chicago law firm. Prior 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...
Larry MacPhail was an executive of a department store in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
and during 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...
, he served as an artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
captain in France and Belgium. He accompanied his commander, Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Luke Lea
Luke Lea (1879–1945)
Luke Lea was a Democratic United States Senator from Tennessee from 1911 to 1917.-Biography:Lea was the great-grandson of an earlier Luke Lea who was a two-term Congressman from Tennessee in the 1830s...
, on an unsanctioned mission to Amerongen in the Netherlands in January 1919 to attempt to arrest the exiled German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, and bring him to the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
to be tried for war crimes. MacPhail would also serve in World War II, resigning on September 23, 1942 as president of the Brooklyn Dodgers to accept a commission in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. By war's end, MacPhail held the rank of Colonel
Colonel (United States)
In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...
.
After his discharge from military service, MacPhail opened a law office in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
where he would eventually purchase an interest in the Columbus Red Birds
Columbus Red Birds
The Columbus Red Birds was the name of a top-level minor league baseball team that played in Columbus, Ohio, in the American Association from 1931 through 1954. The Columbus club, a member of the Association continuously since 1902, was previously known as the Columbus Senators — a typical...
, a minor league affiliate of 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...
. That was short lived, but in 1933 he was hired by the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
and became its chief executive and general manager
General manager (baseball)
In Major League Baseball, the general manager of a team typically controls player transactions and bears the primary responsibility on behalf of the ballclub during contract discussions with players....
. He went on to serve as president/general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
and the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
. MacPhail's innovations include nighttime baseball, regular game televising and the flying of teams between games.
He was pivotal in the development of pioneering sportscaster Red Barber
Red Barber
Walter Lanier "Red" Barber was an American sportscaster.Barber, nicknamed "The Ol' Redhead", was primarily identified with radio broadcasts of Major League Baseball, calling play-by-play across four decades with the Cincinnati Reds , Brooklyn Dodgers , and New York Yankees...
, who announced Reds and Dodgers games for MacPhail and whom he tried unsuccessfully to recruit to the Yanks when he became the Bronx team's co-owner in 1945. (Barber joined the Yankees crew in 1954, years after MacPhail sold his share in the club.)
MacPhail's career as a major-league owner ended after the Yankees clinched the 1947 World Series
1947 World Series
The 1947 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning the Series in seven games for their first title since , and the eleventh championship in team history...
, when he got into confrontations at the team's post-game celebrations at Yankee Stadium and then in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Though he had already quit as chief executive in the Yankee locker room, books by Roger Kahn and others indicate MacPhail's behavior at the victory parties led to co-owners Dan Topping
Dan Topping
Daniel Reid Topping was a part owner and president of the New York Yankees baseball team from 1945 to 1964. Daniel Reid Topping was the son of Rhea Reid and Henry J. Topping. Rhea Reid, the daughter of Daniel G. Reid, known as the "Tinplate King" for his vast wealth in the tin industry, was the...
and Del Webb
Del Webb
Delbert Eugene Webb was an American construction magnate, real estate developer and sports-team owner, who is most significant for founding and developing the retirement community of Sun City, Arizona.-Early life:...
buying out his share of the ballclub.
MacPhail was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
in 1978; his son Lee MacPhail
Lee MacPhail
Leland Stanford MacPhail, Jr. is an American retired front-office executive in Major League Baseball...
was elected to the Hall in 1998, making them the only father and son inductees. His other son Bill MacPhail
Bill MacPhail
William "Bill" Curtis MacPhail was a pioneer television sports executive.-Early career:MacPhail worked his way up in the front office of several minor league teams...
was president of CBS Sports
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is a division of CBS Broadcasting which airs sporting events on the American television network. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.CBS...
and later was President of CNN Sports, brought on by Reese Schonfeld
Reese Schonfeld
Maurice "Reese" Schonfeld is an American television journalist who was co-founder of CNN and the Food Network.Schonfeld grew up in Newark, New Jersey, graduated from Dartmouth College and received an M.A. and a law degree from Columbia University....
to create the department upon the network's launch. Larry's grandson Andy MacPhail
Andy MacPhail
Andy MacPhail is the former president of baseball operations for the Baltimore Orioles. He was the president/CEO of the National League Chicago Cubs from September 9, 1994 until October 1, 2006...
is the former general manager of the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
and 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...
and the former president of baseball operations for the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
. A great-grandson and namesake, Lee MacPhail IV, is the Orioles' director of professional scouting.
Thoroughbred racing
Larry MacPhail owned a 400 acres (1.6 km²) farm near Bel Air, Maryland. An owner/breeder of ThoroughbredThoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
racehorses, his colt
Colt (horse)
A colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age....
General Staff won the 1952 Narragansett Special
Narragansett Special
The Narragansett Special was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Narragansett Race Track in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. At the time of its inaugural running in 1935, the Narragansett Special offered a purse of $25,000 making it New England's richest horse race Open to horses age three...
. In March 1952, MacPhail was appointed President of Bowie Race Track
Bowie Race Track
The Bowie Race Track was a horse racing track located just outside the city limits of Bowie, Maryland. Opened October 1, 1914 by the Southern Maryland Agricultural Society, the racetrack was a major attraction in the area, serving the now defunct WB&A Railroad that drew passengers from New York,...
in Bowie, Maryland
Bowie, Maryland
Bowie is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 54,727 at the 2010 census. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous city and third largest city by area in the state of...
. He held the position for thirrteen months.
External links
- Baseball Library – biography and career highlights
- March 24, 2001 Ludington Daily News profile of Larry MacPhail
- Larry MacPhail at Findagrave