Connie Mack
| Connie Mack | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Catcher, First Baseman, Rightfielder | |||
| Born: Cornelius McGillicuddy December 22, 1862 East Brookfield, Massachussetts | |||
| Died: February 8, 1956 (aged 93) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |||
| |||
| MLB debut | |||
| September 11, 1886, for the Philadelphia Athletics | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| August 29, 1896, for the Philadelphia Athletics | |||
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Connie Mack was the longtime owner and manager of the Philadelphia Athletics. As manager, he always wore a suit in the dugout, instead of a uniform.
Mack had previously played eleven seasons in the major leagues, primarily as a catcher. He led the Players League in hit-by-pitch with 20 in 1890. Although he later managed for decades in Philadelphia, he never played in the major leagues for Philadelphia, serving instead as a player for the Washington Nationals, the Buffalo Bisons and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He got his start managing with the Pirates, and also managed four seasons in the minors with Milwaukee before beginning his Philadelphia managerial career in 1901, the first year that the new American League was a major league. He was also the team's part owner, in combination with his partner Benjamin Shibe. In 1937, he became team President, after the deaths of Ben Shibe in 1922, his son Tom in 1936, and Tom's brother John's illness. The Shibe-MacFarland family retained minority ownership in the team, while Connie Mack allocated some of his shares to his three sons and to his second wife Katherine (his first wife had passed away in 1892).
Mr. Mack - he was always Mr. Mack to his players - was the oldest manager in major league history (age 87). He also holds managerial records for seasons (53), games (7,755), wins (3,731), losses (3,948), and tenure with one club (50 seasons, 1901-1950). Until 2011, when Tony La Russa did so, no one else had even managed 5,000 major league games, less than two-thirds of Mack's total.
