Connie Mack Biography

1862-1956

American baseball manager

Baseball was manager Connie Mack's lifelong career. He retired as manager of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1950 after fifty years on the job, spanning the first half of the twentieth century. Mack was known and loved for his gentlemanly conduct both in and out of the dugout. He represented a fatherly figure to his players and built teams through his superb ability as a baseball talent scout. From the dugout, he controlled every play with the wave of a scorecard and was far ahead of his time in tracking where batters hit the ball off particular pitches. He was also known as a shrewd businessman who sold off his best players to keep his team operating in the black and then later rebuilt the team when the economy improved. Mack's Athletics vacillated between long losing streaks and brilliant winning streaks, taking home five World Series championships and nine American League pennants.

SELECTED WRITINGS BY MACK:

How To Play Base-Ball, Brewer, Barse & Co., 1908. Connie Mack's Baseball Book, Knopf, 1950; rev. ed. published as From Sandlot to Big League: Connie Mack's Baseball Book, 1960. My 66 Years in the Big Leagues: The Great Story of America's National Game, Winston, 1950.