John McHale

:"For the 19th-century Irish archbishop, see John McHale (archbishop). For the British art figure, see John McHale (artist)."John Joseph McHale (September 21 1921 – January 17 2008) was an American first baseman and executive in Major League Baseball who served as the general manager of three teams: the Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, and Montreal Expos. He served as the first president and executive director of the Expos during their maiden years in the National League, and owned ten percent of the team. His son John McHale, Jr. is the current MLB executive vice president (administration).

McHale was born in Detroit, Michigan, and attended Detroit Catholic Central High School (Class of 1938) and the University of Notre Dame. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed, and compiled a batting average of .193 in 64 games with the Tigers (1943-45, 1947-48). He was hitless in three at bats in the 1945 World Series, in which Detroit defeated the Chicago Cubs.

He eventually became director of minor league operations for the Tigers and was named general manager in by|1957 at the young age of 35. But he soon was recruited by the defending NL champion Braves, where he succeeded John Quinn as general manager in January by|1959. Unfortunately, McHale presided over the slow decline of the Braves on the field — and their rapid decline at the turnstiles. By by|1964, the Braves were rumored (correctly) to be moving to Atlanta. In by|1965, during their lame-duck season in Milwaukee, McHale was the figure-head for a supremely unpopular ownership.

In by|1966, the Atlanta Braves' first year, the club started slowly. McHale was replaced as general manager in mid-season by Paul Richards, a legend in Atlanta since his days as playing manager of the Southern Association Atlanta Crackers from 1938-42. McHale then became the chief aide to Baseball Commissioner William Eckert.

In by|1968, the year before the NL expanded to 12 teams, McHale was named president of the fledgling Montreal Expos by their owner, Seagrams heir Charles Bronfman. A few weeks after his appointment, Eckert was fired as commissioner and McHale emerged as a leading contender to succeed his former boss. He had strong support in the American League, but NL owners — who wanted McHale's experienced hand turned toward the fledgling Expo franchise — intervened and McHale's candidacy was halted. ["Baseball Guide for 1969," St. Louis: The Sporting News: 1969] (The commissionership then went to NL attorney Bowie 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 1978-84) that the Expos achieved their only playoff appearance, in by|1981. McHale resigned as general manager in favor of Murray Cook at the close of the by|1984 season, then stepped down from the club presidency in by|1986; he was succeeded in the latter post by Claude Brochu.

McHale was also the last non-Hall of Fame member of the Hall's Veterans Committee, having been grandfathered in when the structure of the committee was updated in 2001. [http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/veterans/veterans_committee.htm] He died in Stuart, Florida, at age 86.

ee also

* 1945 Detroit Tigers season

External links

* [http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071129&content_id=5670&vkey=hof_news Baseball Hall of Fame - 2008 Veterans Committee candidate profile]
*baseball-reference|id=m/mchaljo01
* [http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/295046 Toronto Star Obituary 2008]
* [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aA79SR7xDDrw&refer=canada Bloomberg Obituary 2008]