Connie Mack

Connie Mack

Yesterday marked the anniversary of the death in 1956 of one of the greatest names in American professional baseball.  You might not recognize the name Connie Mack (Cornelius McGillicuddy), because he wasn’t an on-the-field player.  He was, rather, a team manager.  He was the longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history.  He holds a record of 3,731 wins, 3,948 losses and managed 7,755 games. He was the first manager to win the World Series three times.  In the interest of transparency, Mack held controlling interest in the Philadelphia Athletics from 1940 until his retirement following the 1950 season.

Connie Mack was the last major-league manager to manage in street clothes rather than wearing a team uniform.  The photos of him in a three-piece suit and straw hat in the dugout seem odd today.  But Mack began in a different era and held over the practice of his youth.

Connie Mack hoped to make his players not only exceptional athletes, but exemplary human beings.  He developed a code of conduct for his players:

• 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.

I’ll not bother to comment on the contrast between Connie Mack’s code and the behavior of some modern-day professional athletes.

Shibe Park, the home stadium of the Philadelphia Athletics and later the Philadelphia Phillies, was renamed Connie Mack Stadium in 1953.  It remained the home of the Phillies until it closed in 1970.  I remember the Phillies playing there when I watched/listened to ballgames as a youth.

Many depictions of Connie Mack show him with a rolled-up scorecard that he used to direct the positioning of players on the field.  One seldom saw Mack during games without that rolled-up card in his hand.