| John McHale | |
|---|---|
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| First baseman | |
| Born:(1921-09-21)September 21, 1921 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | |
| Died: January 17, 2008(2008-01-17) (aged 86) Stuart, Florida, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| May 28, 1943, for the Detroit Tigers | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| April 23, 1948, for the Detroit Tigers | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .193 |
| Home runs | 3 |
| Runs batted in | 12 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Member of the Canadian | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 1997 |
John Joseph McHale (September 21, 1921 – January 17, 2008) was an American professionalbaseball player and executive. He played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) as afirst baseman for theDetroit Tigers during the 1940s, and later served as thegeneral manager of the Tigers,Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves, andMontreal Expos. He was the first president and executive director of the Expos during their maiden years in theNational League, and owned ten percent of the team. His sonJohn McHale Jr. became an MLB executive vice president.
McHale was born in the city ofDetroit, Michigan, and attendedDetroit Catholic Central High School (Class of 1938) and theUniversity of Notre Dame. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall, and his weight was 200 pounds (91 kg). 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 abatting average of .193 with 22hits. He was hitless in threeat bats in the1945 World Series, in which Detroit defeated theChicago Cubs. Defensively, he recorded a .995fielding percentage as a first baseman with only one error in 214total chances.
After the 1948 season, McHale, who had recently married a niece of team ownerWalter Briggs Sr.,[1] retired from the field for a job in the Tiger front office as assistantfarm system director. In 1953, he became director of minor league operations for the Tigers and was named general manager early in the1957 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 succeededJohn J. Quinn as general manager in January1959. Three years later, he added the title ofclub president.
As it turned out, McHale presided over the slow decline of the Braves on the field. While superstarHank Aaron was in the prime of his career, eventualHall of FamersWarren Spahn andEddie Mathews—along withDel Crandall,Lew Burdette,Joe Adcock 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'sfarm system 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."[2]
As the Braves slipped into the middle ranks of the National League, attendance atMilwaukee County Stadium declined precipitously. In1963, the club was sold to a group of Chicago-based investors. By1964, the Braves were rumored (correctly) to be moving toAtlanta. In1965, during their lame-duck season in Milwaukee, McHale was the figurehead for a supremely unpopular ownership.
In1966, the Atlanta Braves' first year, the club started slowly. McHale was replaced as general manager in mid-season byPaul Richards, a former Tiger teammate of McHale's and a legend in Georgia's capital since his days as playing manager of theAtlanta Crackers of theSouthern Association from 1938 to 1942. After the season, McHale left the Braves to replaceLee MacPhail as the chief aide toBaseball CommissionerWilliam Eckert.
In1968, the year before the National Leagueexpanded to 12 teams, McHale was named president of the newly born Montreal Expos by their owner,Seagrams heirCharles Bronfman. 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 executivesMichael Burke of theNew York Yankees andChub Feeney of theSan Francisco Giants.
He had strong support in theAmerican League, but NL owners—who wanted McHale's experienced hand turned toward the fledgling Expo franchise—intervened and McHale's candidacy was halted.[3] The commissionership eventually went to National League attorneyBowie Kuhn.
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, in1981. McHale resigned as general manager in favor ofMurray Cook at the close of the1984 season. He announced on September 5, 1986 becoming Expos deputy chairman upon his retirement as president and chief operating officer effective October 1.Claude Brochu succeeded him in both capacities. McHale remained as the team's chief executive officer until December 31, 1987.[4]
McHale was also the last non-Hall of Fame member of the Hall's Veterans Committee, having beengrandfathered in when the structure of the committee was updated in 2001.[5] He died inStuart, Florida, at age 86.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Detroit TigersGeneral Manager 1957–1959 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Milwaukee/Atlanta BravesGeneral Manager 1959–1966 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Milwaukee/Atlanta BravesPresident 1961–1966 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Franchise established | Montreal ExposPresident 1968–1986 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Montreal ExposGeneral Manager 1978–1984 | Succeeded by |