Frank Cashen
Cashen speaking after being inducted into theNew York Mets Hall of Fame, 2010
Born	John Francis Cashen (1925-09-13)September 13, 1925 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Died	June 30, 2014(2014-06-30) (aged 88) Easton, Maryland, U.S.
Occupation	Baseball executive

John Francis "Frank" Cashen (September 13, 1925 – June 30, 2014) was an AmericanMajor League Baseballgeneral manager. He was an executive when theBaltimore Orioles won the1966 World Series and1970 World Series, while also winning three consecutive AL pennants from 1969 to 1971. Later he became general manager of theNew York Mets from 1980 to 1991, and the club won the 1986 World Series during his tenure.

Cashen was born inBaltimore, Maryland, in 1925^[1][2] and grew up admiring and playing baseball. He playedsecond base atLoyola College in Maryland but was unable to hit well and did not pursue a playing career. Instead, he joined theBaltimore News-American becoming an award-winningsportswriter over 17 years at the newspaper. He spent nights atUniversity of Maryland School of Law, graduating with a JD in 1958. He assumed his career would either be in journalism or law.^[1] Instead, he was hired byJerry Hoffberger to be a publicity director for two Baltimore race tracks and later the advertising head at Hoffberger'sNational Brewing Company. In 1965, when Hoffberger's brewing company purchased the Baltimore Orioles in full (Hoffberger had been part-owner of the team since their arrival in 1954), Cashen eagerly accepted the position of executive vice president of the team.^[1]

With Cashen overseeing baseball operations in Baltimore, general managerHarry Dalton made a deal to acquire futureHall of FamerFrank Robinson from theCincinnati Reds, sendingpitcherMilt Pappas, pitcherJack Baldschun, and outfielderDick Simpson. The following year, Robinson won thetriple crown and Baltimore won the1966 World Series for their first championship. In1968, the Cashen/Dalton front office hired eventual Hall of FamemanagerEarl Weaver. The Orioles won all threeAmerican League pennants from1969 to1971 and won the1970 World Series.^[3] After 1971, Dalton left to become general manager of theLos Angeles Angels and Cashen took over G.M. duties for the Orioles.^[3]

Cashen was being mentioned as a candidate for the American League presidency and was a leading choice to replaceBaseball CommissionerBowie Kuhn when a group of team owners tried to oust Kuhn in1975. Kuhn survived the storm of 1975. Also in 1975 Hoffberger's National Brewery merged with Carling Brewery (American Operation). Hoffberger requested Cashen to leave the Orioles and return to the Carling National Brewery as senior vice president of marketing and sales. In1979, he returned to baseball when Commissioner Kuhn hired him as the administrator of baseball operations.^[4]

In January1980,Nelson Doubleday Jr. andFred Wilpon bought the New York Mets after the Mets' third consecutive last-place finish. They were advised by several people to contact Cashen and, after he predicted four or five years for a turnaround, the new owners hired him for $500,000 over five years. Cashen hiredpublic relations firmDella Femina Travisano & Partners. A new slogan, "The Magic Is Back!", was used along with television commercials emphasizing past New York area stars rather than the dismal Mets of the late 1970s.^[1]

On the field, the Mets made few trades early on, but took a chance with the first pick in theMajor League Baseball Draft to sign a talented, but raw high school player,Darryl Strawberry, who eventually finished his Mets career as the all-time franchise leader inhome runs andRBIs. In1981, Cashen promotedHubie Brooks andMookie Wilson to the majors forspring training and then traded for brash home run hitterDave Kingman. In1982, Cashen delighted New York fans by trading for former unanimousMVP,George Foster, who then signed a five-year, $10 million contract with the club.^[1] Two months later, Cashen alienated many fans by trading away fan favoriteLee Mazzilli, who soon declined while one of the two pitchers the Mets received,Ron Darling, became anAll-Star and the other pitcher,Walt Terrell, was later traded for offensive starHoward Johnson. At the same time as the Mazzilli trade, the Mets were scouting young pitcherDwight Gooden, who they picked in the 1982 draft. Gooden became the ace of the pitching staff through the Mets' strong years and championship.^[5][6]

While Foster and Kingman performed below expectations and the Mets finished poorly in both 1982 and1983, Cashen made one of the most lopsided trades in franchise history, acquiring former MVP, batting champion, and1982 World Champion memberKeith Hernandez fromSt. Louis for pitchersNeil Allen andRick Ownbey. Hernandez became a team leader both offensively and defensively while Allen was an average pitcher and Ownbey played in only 21 more games in the majors.^{[citation needed]}

In 1984, Cashen hiredDavey Johnson to be the Mets' manager for a $100,000 annual salary.^[1] Johnson had been the second baseman with the Orioles while Cashen was the G.M.^[7] After a successful 1984 season which saw the Mets first winning record since 1976, Cashen and the Mets traded Hubie Brooks and three others to theMontreal Expos for futureHall of FamecatcherGary Carter, and most of the pieces were in place for a championship team. The Mets barely missed the playoffs in1985 and then won the1986 World Series with the best record of any team during the 1980s.^[3]

While Cashen was largely credited for building the Mets into the 1986 World Champions, he was quickly vilified for dismantling the franchise when adynasty never materialized. In various transactions, future MVPKevin Mitchell, scrappy clubhouse leadersLenny Dykstra,Roger McDowell, andWally Backman, as well as fan favoriteMookie Wilson^[3] and future All-StarsRick Aguilera andKevin Tapani, were traded away.

In return, the Mets received the hugely disappointingJuan Samuel as well asFrank Viola (who won 20 games in 1990 but was otherwise only average in less than three seasons with New York),Jeff Musselman (out of baseball after 1990), and four players who never played in the majors. Hernandez, Carter, andWorld Series MVPRay Knight were either released or grantedfree agency in the years following the championship. Instead, the Mets' hopes were pinned onGregg Jefferies, who soon faltered and was very unpopular on the team.^[1] After stumbling to a fifth-place finish in1991, Cashen stepped down as the Mets' general manager, just five years after the franchise won the title.^[1]

Following his tenure as general manager of the Mets, Cashen continued working with the team in various capacities, includingchief operating officer in 1992 andconsultant in 1993.^[8] In November 1998, the Mets general manager,Steve Phillips, took time off to address asexual harassment lawsuit and Cashen was named interim GM for a week.^[9][10]

Cashen was inducted into theNew York Mets Hall of Fame^[3] on August 1, 2010, alongsideDavey Johnson,Dwight Gooden, andDarryl Strawberry.^[11] Cashen died on June 30, 2014, from congestive heart failure at the age of 88. Cashen and his wife Jean had seven children.^[12] Cashen was noted for frequently wearing abow tie.^[12]

Cashen died on June 30, 2014, at the age of 88, after a short illness.^[13]

• Frank Cashen at SABR (Baseball BioProject)

• 1925 births
• 2014 deaths
• Sportspeople from Baltimore
• Major League Baseball general managers
• New York Mets executives
• Baltimore Orioles executives
• Loyola University Maryland alumni
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