Francis Joseph "Shag" Shaughnessy (April 8, 1883 – May 15, 1969) was an American athlete and sports executive. Shaughnessy played both

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and was an executive in baseball, football and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

. He was born in the United States and moved to Canada in the 1910s, where he was involved with football and ice hockey teams in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. He was later president of the International League of baseball. His son Frank Shaughnessy Jr. also played football and ice hockey, and played ice hockey for the United States in the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936, were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 February 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Nazi Ger ...

College

Shaughnessy played football and baseball at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

from 1901 to 1904, serving as football captain his senior year.

Baseball

Shaughnessy had brief Major League baseball appearances with the Washington Senators in 1905 and 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 1908. Shaughnessy was a minor league manager for 19 years between 1909 and 1936, compiling a 1148–1012 record. He was General Manager of the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club ( Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...

from 1932 to 1934, and a coach 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 club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

in 1928. He served as President of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

from 1936 to 1960, and invented a playoff system known as the Shaughnessy playoffs. In, 1947, he was inducted in the International League Hall of Fame, and in 1953 he was presented with the King of Baseball award given by Minor League Baseball.

Football

He introduced the option play to American football while coaching at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. He also was football and baseball coach at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

, and football coach at

Washington and Lee University Washington and Lee University (Washington and Lee or W&L) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. Established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, it is among ...

. Shaughnessy was the first professional coach hired in Canadian university football and his full-time appointment at Montreal's

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

in 1912 was not well received by the other teams in the league. In each of his first two years, McGill won the Yates Cup football championship. He coached McGill to a 34–34–2 regular season record in 17 seasons. The 34 victories stood until 1979 as the most by a McGill football coach. Shaughnessy played baseball during the summer in

, where he met his wife. He became involved in Ottawa sports, and was coach of the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded on September 19, 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup cham ...

for the 1915 season. A football innovator, Shaughnessy introduced the forward pass to Canadian university football when McGill played

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

in an experimental game held on November 5, 1921, at

Percival Molson Memorial Stadium Percival Molson Memorial Stadium (also known in French as ''Stade Percival-Molson''; commonly referred to as Molson Stadium in English or Stade Molson in French) is an outdoor football and multi-purpose stadium in Downtown Montreal, on the slopes ...

in Montreal. In spite of this, the forward pass was not officially allowed in Canadian football rules until 1929. He was the first football coach in Canada to introduce "X" and "Y" strategic formations and "secondary defence". In 1969, the Shaughnessy Cup was first presented for the rivalry between McGill and Loyola College. Since 1975, the Cup has been fought for between McGill and

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

. Shaughnessy was inducted as a builder into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about the CFL, ...

in 1963, the

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum () is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates the great players, teams, and events from Canadian baseball history. History The museum was founded in November 1982 in ...

in 1983, its inaugural induction year, and the McGill University Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.

Ice hockey

While living in Ottawa, Shaughnessy served from 1914 until 1916 as the manager of the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

. Shaughnessy coached the McGill women's hockey team and was appointed men's hockey coach in 1919, guiding the Redmen to a 61–56–2 record until stepping down in 1927. The 61 victories established a McGill record and since then, has only been surpassed by four other McGill hockey coaches.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaughnessy, Frank 1883 births 1969 deaths People from Amboy, Illinois Baseball players from Lee County, Illinois Players of American football from Lee County, Illinois Ice hockey people from Illinois Baseball players from Montreal Bradford Drillers players Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Clemson Tigers baseball coaches Clemson Tigers football coaches Cornell Big Red football coaches Detroit Tigers coaches Fort Wayne Railroaders players McGill Redbirds football coaches Academic staff of McGill University Minor league baseball executives Montgomery Senators players Montreal Royals managers Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Ottawa Rough Riders coaches Philadelphia Athletics players 20th-century American sportsmen Reading Pretzels players Roanoke Tigers players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Sioux City Soos players South Bend Greens players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Washington and Lee Generals football coaches Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Wellsville Rainmakers players Yale Bulldogs football coaches Baseball coaches from Illinois Freeport Pretzels players Shamokin (minor league baseball) players Warren Warriors players