Neil Mahoney | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1906-11-21)November 21, 1906 |
| Died | May 23, 1973(1973-05-23) (aged 66) |
| Occupation | Professional baseballscout |
Neil T. Mahoney (November 21, 1906 – May 23, 1973)[1] was an Americanprofessional baseballscout, scouting director, and player development official. Mahoney spent more than 30 years with theBoston Red Sox ofMajor League Baseball, and as director ofminor league operations and director of player procurement,[2] he played an instrumental role in Boston's1967 and1975American League championships.
A native ofNewton, Massachusetts, Mahoney graduated with a business degree fromNortheastern University in 1929,[3] then played semi-professional baseball inNew England, and one professional season (1934) as a catcher for theWatertown Townies andLowell Hustlers of theClass B levelNortheastern League.[4] Mahoney was the player-manager forHarwich in theCape Cod Baseball League in 1937 and 1938, and was an all-league selection at catcher, described as "a sterling player, a good throwing arm, a couple of speedy feet and a gentleman always."[5][6][7][8]
He first joined the Red Sox as an area scout in 1939, but duringWorld War II he became head baseball andbasketball coach ofBowdoin College.[9][10] After the war, he rejoined the Red Sox and during the 1950s was promoted to East Coast scouting supervisor. He signed New England players such asJimmy Piersall,Walt Dropo andWilbur Wood for Boston. He also signedUniversity of Florida catcherHaywood Sullivan, who would succeed Mahoney as the Red Sox' scouting director in 1973 and later becomegeneral manager and part-owner of the Bosox.[3]
After a disappointing1960 season, Red Sox ownerTom Yawkey made several changes in his front office. Among them, he replacedJohnny Murphy, the team's director of minor league operations and scouting, with Mahoney. Although the Red Sox continued to struggle at the MLB level through 1966, Mahoney's scouts and minor leaguefarm system began producing players who would assume key roles in its 1967 "Impossible Dream" pennant drive:Jim Lonborg,George Scott,Rico Petrocelli,Tony Conigliaro,Reggie Smith,Joe Foy,Mike Andrews,Sparky Lyle and others. In addition, the system produced a futureBaseball Hall of Famemanager,Dick Williams, who would lead Boston to the 1967 pennant; Williams had been given his first managing job, the Red Sox' Triple-A assignment, by Mahoney in 1965.[11]
Mahoney, likegeneral managerDick O'Connell, also signaled a change in Red Sox policy by actively scouting and signingAfrican American players. "Under O'Connell and Neil Mahoney, Boston's increasingly colorblind farm system had never been more productive," wrote Glenn Stout and Dick Johnson in their book,Red Sox Century.[12]
After the 1968 season, Mahoney focused strictly on heading the team's scouting corps as director of player procurement, turning over farm system director responsibilities to his assistant,Ed Kenney. Before his death at age 66 inChestnut Hill, Massachusetts, in 1973, however, Mahoney's scouts would produce Hall of FamersCarlton Fisk andJim Rice, and other stars of Boston's 1975 pennant-winning team such asRick Burleson,Dwight Evans,Cecil Cooper andBill Lee.
A former baseball captain of theNortheastern Huskies, Neil Mahoney was inducted posthumously into the Northeastern University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1975.[3]