Arthur H. Ehlers (January 22, 1897 – February 7, 1977) was an American front office executive in

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and

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

. He was the first

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

in the history of the modern

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

, serving as their front-office boss during their return to the

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as the former

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

. A former minor league player and a

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native, Ehlers began his front office career as an executive with several minor league teams and circuits, including a stint as part-owner of the Reading Chicks of the Class B Interstate League, president of the Interstate loop (1941–45) and promotions director of the

National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

Executive with Philadelphia Athletics

From to , Ehlers served as the farm system director of the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

. In September

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

, a tumultuous year for that franchise, Ehlers succeeded

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catcher

Mickey Cochrane Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane (April 6, 1903 – June 28, 1962), nicknamed "Black Mike", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and De ...

as general manager of the Athletics upon an ownership reorganization involving two warring branches of the

Connie Mack Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. Mack holds records for the most wins (3,731), losses (3,948), ties (76), and ga ...

family. As a consequence of that restructuring, Cochrane, GM for only four months, stepped down; Connie Mack Jr. and his mother, the elder Mack's second wife, lost their bid for control of the franchise to Roy and

Earle Mack Earle Thaddeus McGillicuddy (February 1, 1890 – February 4, 1967), known as Earle Mack, was an American player and coach in Major League Baseball, and, during parts of two seasons, manager of the Philadelphia Athletics when his father, Co ...

, Connie Sr.'s children from his first marriage; and the elder Mack, 87 years of age and celebrating his 50th year at the helm of the A's, was forced into retirement. Ehlers ran the Athletics' front office from to , with veteran

Jimmy Dykes James Joseph Dykes (November 10, 1896 – June 15, 1976) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a third and second baseman from through , most notably as a member of the Philadelp ...

as his manager. Dykes and American League

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Bobby Shantz wrung one last over-.500 season out of the club in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

, but the Athletics lacked both talent and financial backing and had been supplanted by the National League

Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

as Philadelphia's top baseball team.

First Orioles' general manager

After the 1953 campaign, the newly relocated Orioles lured Ehlers and Dykes to

as general manager and field manager. Each lasted only one season,

, in which the Orioles lost 100 out of 154 games and finished seventh in the AL—ahead of only one club, the Philadelphia Athletics. Paul Richards, skipper of the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

, was hired to replace both Ehlers and Dykes on September 14, 1954. Dykes became a coach for the

Cincinnati Redlegs Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, while Ehlers remained in Baltimore as Richards' assistant general manager. He eventually became a

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for the Orioles, retiring in 1973. Ehlers died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

, age 80, in Baltimore on February 7, 1977.

References

*https://web.archive.org/web/20061112231738/http://www.thedeadballera.com/Obits/Ehlers.Arthur.Obit.html *

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

Executive Database *Spink, J.G. Taylor, ed., ''The 1950 Official Baseball Guide.'' St. Louis:

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, 1951. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ehlers, Arthur 1897 births 1977 deaths Baltimore Orioles executives Baltimore Orioles scouts Deaths from cancer in Maryland Major League Baseball farm directors Major League Baseball general managers Minor league baseball executives Philadelphia Athletics executives Sportspeople from Baltimore