Bill McKechnie

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bill McKechnie baseball card, 1912

William Boyd McKechnie (August 7, 1886 - October 29, 1965) was a Major League Baseball player and manager. Nicknamed "Deacon" because he sang in his church choir and generally lived a quiet life, his 1892 wins as a manager ranks 11th all-time.

Born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, McKechnie made his major league debut in 1907 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, appearing in 3 games, before reemerging with the team in 1910 in a more substantial role. A utility infielder, McKechnie played with the Pirates (1907, 1910-1912, 1918, 1920), Boston Braves (1913), New York Yankees (1913), Indianapolis Hoosiers (1914), Newark Peppers (1915), New York Giants (1916) and Cincinnati Reds (1916 - 1917). His best offensive season came in 1914 with the Hoosiers, in which he scored 107 runs, batted .304 and stole 47 bases.

McKechnie (left), and the Dodgers' Max Carey watch as John H. McCooey throws out the first ball of Brooklyn's 1932 season

Bill McKechnie is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame

McKechnie got his first taste of managerial duties in 1915 when he managed 102 games for the Newark Pepper, leading the team to a 54-45 record. Shortly after retiring as a player in 1920, McKechnie returned to manage full time, assuming the helm of the Pirates in 1922. Managing the Pirates (1922 - 1926), St. Louis Cardinals (1928 - 1929), Boston Braves (1930 - 1937) and Cincinnati Reds (1938 - 1946), he compiled 1896 wins and 1723 losses for a .524 winning percentage. His teams won four National League pennants (1925, 1928, 1939 and 1940) and two World Series championships (1925 and 1940), and he remains the only manager to win National League pennants with three different teams (Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Cincinnati). His 1896 wins ranks 11th all-time among major league managers.

McKechnie was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1967.

The Pirates spring training home, McKechnie Field in Bradenton, Florida, is named after him.

McKechnie did not do as well with Boston as with the other NL teams, but he managed to finish "fourth or fifth with teams that should have been eighth," according to Lee Allen in The National League Story (1961). The only year in which the Braves did not even do moderately well during McKechnie's time as manager was in 1935, when Babe Ruth was with the team. Ruth's presence made it impossible, Allen says, for the manager to enforce discipline; the faded star drew a huge salary, and lived apart from the team on the road. He lasted only about a month and hit .181. The Braves won 38 games that year and lost 115, finishing dead last.

According to one baseball reference work, McKechnie had a poor sense of direction, which did not improve when, as the Reds' manager, he began traveling by plane. He arrived in an airport when the Reds were to play the Pittsburgh Pirates in Forbes Field. He hailed a taxi and asked the driver to take him to the Schenley Hotel. "I never heard of it," said the driver. Bill gave him the names of the nearby streets,. "Never heard of them either," the cabbie said. "How long have you been driving a cab here? the manager asked. "Twenty-five years and then some," said the driver, "But so help me I never heard of the Schenley Hotel! You must be in the wrong town! Where do you think you are?" "Pittsburgh," Bill said. "Pittsburgh, hell! retorted the driver. "You're really lost. This is Detroit!"

[edit] Stats

[edit] External links

• Baseball Hall of Fame
• Baseball-Reference.com - career managing record and playing statistics
• BaseballLibrary.com