| Ed Barrow | |
|---|---|
 Barrow in 1903 | |
| Manager /Executive | |
| Born: May 10, 1868 Springfield, Illinois, U.S. | |
| Died: December 15, 1953(1953-12-15) (aged 85) Port Chester, New York, U.S. | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Managerial record | 310–320 |
| Winning % | .492 |
Managerial record atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| As manager As executive | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Member of the National | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 1953 |
| Election method | Veterans Committee |
Edward Grant Barrow (May 10, 1868 – December 15, 1953) was an Americanmanager andfront office executive inMajor League Baseball. He served as the field manager of theDetroit Tigers andBoston Red Sox. He served as business manager (de factogeneral manager) of theNew York Yankees from 1921 to 1939 and as team president from 1939 to 1945, and is credited with building the Yankeedynasty.[citation needed] Barrow was elected to theBaseball Hall of Fame in 1953.
Born in acovered wagon inSpringfield, Illinois, Barrow worked as ajournalist and soap salesman before entering the business of baseball by sellingconcessions at games. From there, Barrow purchasedminor league baseball teams, also serving as team manager, and served as president of theAtlantic League. After managing the Tigers in 1903 and 1904 and returning to the minor leagues, Barrow became disenchanted with baseball, and left the game to operate a hotel.
Barrow returned to baseball in 1910 as president of theEastern League. After a seven-year tenure, Barrow managed the Red Sox from 1918 through 1920, leading the team to victory in the1918 World Series. When Red Sox ownerHarry Frazee began to sell his star players, Barrow joined the Yankees. During his quarter-century as their baseball operations chief, the Yankees won 14AL pennants and 10World Series titles.
Edward Grant Barrow was born on May 10, 1868, inSpringfield, Illinois, the oldest of four children, all male, born to Effie Ann Vinson-Heller and John Barrow.[1][2] Barrow's father fought in theOhio Volunteer Militia during theAmerican Civil War.[2][3] Following the war, Barrow's parents, with John's mother, brothers, and sisters, traveled in acovered wagon toNebraska; Barrow was born on ahemp plantation belonging to relatives during the trip.[2] The Barrows lived in Nebraska for six years before moving toDes Moines, Iowa.[1] His middle name, Grant, was bestowed on him in honor ofUlysses S. Grant, the Civil Wargeneral.[2]
Barrow worked as mailing clerk for theDes Moines News in 1887, receiving a promotion to circulation manager within a year.[3] He became a reporter for theDes Moines Leader after graduating from high school.[4] He became city editor, earning $35 a week ($1,225 in current dollar terms).[5] In his last two years living in Des Moines, Barrow established a baseball team, which included future baseball starsFred Clarke,Ducky Holmes, andHerm McFarland.[3][6]
Barrow moved toPittsburgh in 1889, where he worked as a soap salesman,[3][5] believing there was money in this business.[7] However, Barrow lost all of money in this business, and went to work as a desk clerk in a Pittsburgh hotel.[7]
Barrow partnered withHarry Stevens in 1894 to sellconcessions at baseball games.[7] He helpedGeorge Moreland form theInterstate League, a Class-Cminor league, in 1894.[3] Barrow, with Stevens andAl Buckenberger, purchased theWheeling Nailers of the Interstate League in 1896.[3] Barrow served asfield manager until the collapse of the league that season.[1] The team continued in theIron and Oil League for the rest of the year.[3]
Barrow then bought thePaterson Silk Weavers of the Class-AAtlantic League, managing them for the rest of the 1896 season.[1] Barrow discoveredHonus Wagner throwing lumps of coal at a railroad station in Pennsylvania, and signed him to his first professional contract.[1][4][8] Barrow sold Wagner to theLouisville Colonels of theNational League (NL) for $2,100 the next year ($79,372 in current dollar terms).[1] With poor attendance, Barrow brought in professionalboxers as a draw: he hadJames J. Corbett play first base whileJohn L. Sullivan andJames J. Jeffriesumpired.[9] He also hiredLizzie Arlington, the first woman in professional baseball, to pitch a few innings a game.[9]
From 1897 through 1899, Barrow served as president of the Atlantic League.[1] During this time, in the winter of 1898–99, Barrow andJake Wells established amovie theater inRichmond, Virginia.[3] Barrow managed Paterson again in 1899, but the league folded after the season.[1]
With the money earned from the sale of the Richmond movie theater, Barrow purchased a one-quarter share of theToronto Maple Leafs of the Class-AEastern League in 1900 fromArthur Irwin,[3] and served as the team's manager.[1] Irwin, hired to be the manager of theWashington Senators of the NL, brought his most talented players with him.[3] Rebuilding the Maple Leafs, Barrow acquired talented players, such asNick Altrock, and the team improved from a fifth-place finish in 1899, to a third-place finish in 1900, and a second-place finish in 1901.[3] The Maple Leafs won the league championship in 1902, even though they lost many of their most talented players, including Altrock, to the upstartAmerican League (AL).[1]
Barrow managed in the major leagues with theDetroit Tigers of the AL in 1903, finishing fifth, a 13-game improvement from their 1902 finish.[1] With the Tigers, Barrow feuded withshortstopKid Elberfeld.[1] Tigers' ownerSam Angus sold the team toWilliam H. Yawkey before the 1904 season.[1] Barrow managed the Tigers again in 1904, but unable to coexist withFrank Navin, Yawkey's secretary-treasurer, Barrow tendered his resignation.[1] He then managed theMontreal Royals of the Eastern League for the rest of the season.[1] He managed theIndianapolis Indians of the Class-AAmerican Association in 1905 and Toronto in 1906.[1] Disheartened with baseball after finishing in last place, Barrow hiredJoe Kelley to manage Toronto in 1907, and after signing the rest of the team's players, became manager of theWindsor Arms Hotel in Toronto.[1][3]
Barrow returned to baseball in 1910, managing Montreal.[1] The Eastern League hired Barrow as its president the next year, giving him an annual salary of $7,500 ($253,098 in current dollar terms).[10][11] He served in this role from 1911 through 1917, and engineered the name change to "International League" before the 1912 season.[1] As league president, he contended with the creation of theFederal League in 1914, which competed as a major league, and established franchises in International League cities, includingNewark, New Jersey,Buffalo, New York, andBaltimore,Maryland.[3] He attempted to gain major league status for the league in 1914, but was unsuccessful.[1] When the Federal League collapsed, Barrow was the only league president to forbid the outlaw players from playing in his league.[3]
After the 1917 season, Barrow attempted to organize the "Union League", to compete against the AL and NL as a third major league, by merging four International League clubs with four teams from the American Association.[12] Several International League owners opposed Barrow's policies, including his attempt to form the Union League, and felt he was too close personally to Ban Johnson.[13] When the league's owners voted to cut his pay to $2,500 after the 1917 season ($61,357 in current dollar terms), Barrow resigned.[1][13]
Barrow became manager of theBoston Red Sox in 1918. As the team lost many of its better players duringWorld War I, Barrow encouraged ownerHarry Frazee to purchaseStuffy McInnis,Wally Schang,Bullet Joe Bush, andAmos Strunk from thePhiladelphia Athletics for $75,000 ($1,567,865 in current dollar terms).[7] During the season, Barrow feuded with hisassistant,Johnny Evers, who undermined Barrow's leadership.[14] The Red Sox won the1918 World Series. Recognizing that starpitcherBabe Ruth was also a greatpower hitter, Barrow had Ruthpinch hit on days when he wasn't scheduled to pitch.[7] When Ruth told Barrow that he could only pitch or hit, Barrow decided that Ruth's bat was more useful than his pitching, and transitioned him from a pitcher into anoutfielder.[7][15]
After the 1918 season, Frazee, now in debt, began selling the contracts of star players. He tradedDutch Leonard,Duffy Lewis, andErnie Shore to theNew York Yankees, obtainingRay Caldwell,Slim Love,Frank Gilhooley,Roxy Walters, and cash.[16] Frazee soldCarl Mays to the Yankees during the 1919 season.[17] The Red Sox struggled in 1919, finishing sixth in the AL.[18] Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees after the season, against Barrow's warnings.[1] The Red Sox finished in fifth in 1920.[19]
To date, Barrow is the only manager to win a World Series without previously playing in organized baseball, whether in the minors or majors.
After the 1920 season, Barrow resigned from the Red Sox to become the business manager of the Yankees, replacing the deceased Harry Sparrow.[1][20] He took control of building the roster, which was usually the field manager's responsibility in those days. With the Yankees, Barrow handled the signing of player contracts, although ownerJacob Ruppert personally handled the contracts of Ruth andLou Gehrig.[15]
Barrow installed himself in the Yankees' infrastructure between co-ownerTillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston and managerMiller Huggins, as Huston frequently criticized Huggins. Barrow told Huggins: "You're the manager, and you'll not be second guessed by me. Your job is to win; mine is to get you the players you need to win."[1] When Huggins suspended Ruth indefinitely on August 29, 1925 for "misconduct off the playing field", while also fining him $5,000 ($89,649 in current dollar terms),[21] Barrow supported Huggins.[1]
In his first move with the Yankees, Barrow brought Red Sox coachPaul Krichell with him to New York as ascout.[1][8] He purchased a share in the club in 1924.[22][23] He also discovered executiveGeorge Weiss, whom he mentored.[8] Barrow also orchestrated a series of trades with his former club, mainly to keep Frazee afloat. These trades netted the Yankees such stars asBullet Joe Bush,Joe Dugan andGeorge Pipgras. It has been argued that these trades only looked lopsided in favor of the Yankees only because the players sent to Boston suffered a rash of injuries.[24] However, this is belied by the fact that Barrow almost certainly knew who was coming to New York in these deals; he'd managed nearly all of them in Boston.[25]
The Yankees sought to develop their own players, rather than buying them from other teams, especially after the investment of $100,000 ($1,810,153 in current dollar terms) inLyn Lary andJimmie Reese in 1927.[26] However, Weiss andBill Essick convinced Barrow to approve the purchase ofJoe DiMaggio from thePacific Coast League.[26]
Barrow was considered a potential successor toAL presidentBan Johnson in 1927, but Barrow declared that he was not interested in the job.[27] When Huggins died in 1929, Barrow choseBob Shawkey to replace him as manager, passing over Ruth, who wanted the opportunity to become aplayer-manager.[15] Barrow also effectively blackballed Ruth from MLB's managerial ranks by suggesting to executives of other teams that Ruth was not equipped to manage a baseball team. Although Ruth and Barrow had been together for all but one season from 1918 to 1934, the two never got along.[15]The Sporting News named Barrow theirExecutive of the Year in 1937.[28]
After Ruppert's death in 1939, his will left the Yankees and other assets in a trust for his descendants. The will also named Barrow president of the Yankees, with full authority over the team's day-to-day operations.[1][5] Barrow was named Executive of the Year byThe Sporting News in 1941, the second time he won the award.[29] The estate sold the team to a group ofLarry MacPhail,Dan Topping, andDel Webb in 1945, and Barrow sold his 10% stake in the team to the group.[30][31] Barrow remained as chairman of the board and an informal adviser.[31] Though he signed a five-year contract to remain with the team, he exercised a clause in his contract to free himself as of December 31, 1946, in order to officially retire from baseball.[1][32] AL presidentWill Harridge offered Barrow the job ofCommissioner of Baseball to succeedKenesaw Mountain Landis; Barrow declined, as he felt he was too old and his health was in decline.[33][34]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| DET | 1903 | 136 | 65 | 71 | .478 | 5th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| DET | 1904 | 78 | 32 | 46 | .410 | resigned | – | – | – | – |
| DET total | 214 | 97 | 117 | .453 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| BOS | 1918 | 126 | 75 | 51 | .595 | 1st in AL | 4 | 2 | .571 | WonWorld Series (CHC) |
| BOS | 1919 | 137 | 66 | 71 | .482 | 6th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| BOS | 1920 | 153 | 72 | 81 | .471 | 5th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| BOS total | 416 | 213 | 203 | .512 | 4 | 2 | .667 | |||
| Total | 630 | 310 | 320 | .492 | 4 | 2 | .667 | |||
Barrow was known as "Uncle Egbert" to his friends;[33] according to writer Tom Meany, Babe Ruth referred to him as "Barrows," treating him as if he were "a butler in an English drawing room comedy." He resided inRye, New York.[32] He first married in 1898, but did not discuss it in any of his writings.[1] His second marriage was to Fannie Taylor Briggs in January 1912; he raised her five-year-old daughter from her previous marriage, Audrey, as his own daughter.[1]
Barrow was an ableboxer. He once foughtJohn L. Sullivan in an exhibition for four rounds.[4]
Barrow was hospitalized on July 7, 1953 at the United Hospital ofPort Chester, New York and died on December 15, at the age of 85, due to amalignancy.[33] His body was kept atCampbell's Funeral Home[33] and interred inKensico Cemetery in Valhalla,Westchester County, New York.[1]
Barrow was the first executive to put numbers on playeruniforms.[35] He also announced the retirement ofLou Gehrig's uniform number, the firstnumber to be retired.[36] Barrow was also the first executive to allow fans to keepfoul balls that entered the stands.[35] Barrow was also the first to require the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner", the United States'national anthem, before every game, not only on holidays.[37]
In May 1950, an exhibition game was played in honor of Barrow, with Barrow managing a team of retired stars.[38] Barrow was named on theHonor Rolls of Baseball in 1946 and elected to theNational Baseball Hall of Fame by theVeterans Committee in 1953.[39]
On April 15, 1954, the Yankees dedicated a plaque to Barrow; the plaque first hung on the center field wall atYankee Stadium, near the flagpole and the monuments toBabe Ruth,Lou Gehrig andMiller Huggins.[40][41] The plaques were later moved to the stadium'sMonument Park.
ed barrow.
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
