John Joseph McHale (September 21, 1921 – January 17, 2008) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

player and executive. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB) as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

during the 1940s, and later served as the

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 ...

of the Tigers, Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves, and

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in ...

. He was the first president and executive director of the Expos during their maiden years in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

, and owned ten percent of the team. His son John McHale Jr. became an MLB executive vice president.

Detroit Tigers' player and executive

McHale was born in the city of

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, and attended

Detroit Catholic Central High School Detroit Catholic Central High School, commonly known as Catholic Central (CC), is a private, Catholic, all-male, college preparatory high school in Novi, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1928 in Detroit, Michigan by the Archdiocese of Detro ...

(Class of 1938) and the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed, stood tall, and his weight was . He signed with his hometown Tigers in 1941 and two years later made his first MLB appearance. In five seasons and 64 games with the Tigers (1943–45, 1947–48), McHale compiled a batting average of .193 with 22

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

. He was hitless in three

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s in the

1945 World Series The 1945 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1945 season. The 42nd edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Detroit Tigers against the National League champion Chicago Cubs. Th ...

, in which Detroit defeated the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

. Defensively, he recorded a .995

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, di ...

as a first baseman with only one error in 214

total chances In baseball statistics, total chances (TC), also called ''chances offered'', represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is the sum of putouts plus assists plus errors. ''Chances accepted'' refers to the total ...

. After the 1948 season, McHale, who had recently married a niece of team owner

Walter Briggs Sr. Walter Owen Briggs Sr. (February 27, 1877 – January 17, 1952) was an American entrepreneur and professional sports owner. He was part-owner of the Detroit Tigers in Major League Baseball from to , and then sole owner from 1935 to his death in ...

, retired from the field for a job in the Tiger front office as assistant

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

director. In 1953, he became director of minor league operations for the Tigers and was named general manager early in the season at the young age of 35. But after less than two full seasons, he was recruited by the defending NL champion Braves, where he succeeded John J. Quinn as general manager in January . Three years later, he added the title of club president.

Career in Milwaukee and Atlanta

As it turned out, McHale presided over the slow decline of the Braves on the field. While superstar

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...

was in the prime of his career, eventual

Hall of Famers A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Warren Spahn Warren Edward Spahn (April 23, 1921 – November 24, 2003) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). A left-handed pitcher, Spahn played in 1942 and then from 1946 until 1965, most notabl ...

and

Eddie Mathews Edwin Lee Mathews (October 13, 1931 – February 18, 2001) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman. He played 17 seasons for Boston / Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1952–1966); Houston Astros (1967) and Detroit Tigers (1967� ...

—along with

Del Crandall Delmar Wesley Crandall (March 5, 1930May 5, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He was born in Ontario, California. Crandall played as a catcher in Major League Baseball and spent most of his career with the Boston / ...

, Lew Burdette,

Joe Adcock Joseph Wilbur Adcock (October 30, 1927 – May 3, 1999) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1950 to 1966, most prominently as a member of the Milwaukee Braves teams ...

and other stars of the Braves' 1957–58 NL championship clubs—aged and fell off in production. Meanwhile, the young players developed by the team's

could not pick up the slack. However, according to an April 8, 1963 article in Sports Illustrated, it was McHale himself who disposed of young talent and decimated the farm system: "With General Manager John McHale trading away brilliant young pitchers (Joey Jay and Juan Pizarro) and solid everyday performers like Billy Bruton and Joe Adcock, and then unloading over half the once fertile farm clubs, Bragan will have to depend on old Braves who may prefer peace to war." As the Braves slipped into the middle ranks of the National League, attendance at

Milwaukee County Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Opened in 1953, it was primarily a baseball park for Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Braves and later the Milwaukee Brewers. It was also used for Green Bay Packers f ...

declined precipitously. In , the club was sold to a group of Chicago-based investors. By , the Braves were rumored (correctly) to be moving to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. In , during their lame-duck season in Milwaukee, McHale was the figurehead for a supremely unpopular ownership. In , the Atlanta Braves' first year, the club started slowly. McHale was replaced as general manager in mid-season by Paul Richards, a former Tiger teammate of McHale's and a legend in Georgia's capital since his days as playing manager of the

Atlanta Crackers The Atlanta Crackers were Minor League Baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966. History Atlanta played its first ...

of the

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cla ...

from 1938 to 1942. After the season, McHale left the Braves to replace

Lee MacPhail Leland Stanford MacPhail Jr. (October 25, 1917 – November 8, 2012) was an American front-office executive in Major League Baseball. MacPhail was a baseball executive for 45 years, serving as the director of player personnel for the New York Ya ...

as the chief aide to Baseball Commissioner William Eckert.

Candidacy for Baseball Commissioner

In , the year before the National League expanded to 12 teams, McHale was named president of the newly born Montreal Expos by their owner,

Seagrams The Seagram Company Ltd. (which traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian whisky based in Waterloo, Ontario, it was once (in the 1990s) the lar ...

heir

Charles Bronfman Charles Bronfman, (born June 27, 1931) is a Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist and is a member of the Canadian Jewish Bronfman family. With an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion (as of 2021), Bronfman was ranked by '' Forbes'' ...

. A few weeks after McHale's appointment, Eckert was fired as commissioner and McHale emerged as a leading contender to succeed his former boss, along with executives Michael Burke of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

and

Chub Feeney Charles Stoneham "Chub" Feeney (August 31, 1921January 10, 1994) was an American front office executive in Major League Baseball. Feeney was vice president of the San Francisco Giants, president of the National League (NL), and president of the ...

of the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

. He had strong support in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

, but NL owners—who wanted McHale's experienced hand turned toward the fledgling Expo franchise—intervened and McHale's candidacy was halted. (The commissionership eventually went to National League attorney

Bowie Kuhn Bowie Kent Kuhn (; October 28, 1926 – March 15, 2007) was an American lawyer and sports administrator who served as the fifth Commissioner of Major League Baseball from February 4, 1969, to September 30, 1984. He served as legal counsel for M ...

Founding president of the Montréal Expos

Putting the commissioner election behind him, McHale focused on building the first MLB franchise located in Canada. While McHale concentrated on upper management responsibilities during his first decade with the Expos, he eventually assumed their general manager portfolio as well, and it was during his watch (as GM from 1978 to 1984) that the Expos achieved their only playoff appearance, in . McHale resigned as general manager in favor of Murray Cook at the close of the season, then stepped down from the club presidency in ; he was succeeded in the latter post by Claude Brochu. McHale was also the last non-Hall of Fame member of the Hall's Veterans Committee, having been grandfathered in when the structure of the committee was updated in 2001. He died in

Stuart, Florida Stuart is a city in and the seat of Martin County, Florida, United States. Located on Florida's Treasure Coast, Stuart is the largest of four incorporated municipalities in Martin County. The population is 17,425 according to the 2020 United St ...

, at age 86.

References

External links