American professional baseball executive
Baseball player
George Martin Weiss
(June 23, 1894 ? August 13, 1972) was an American
professional baseball
executive. Elected to the
Baseball Hall of Fame
in 1971, Weiss was one of the
Major Leagues
' most successful
farm system
directors and
general managers
during his 29-year-long tenure with the
New York Yankees
.
Working as the head of the Yankees' player-development system from 1932 to 1947, he established it as one of the two best in the game,
[1]
helping the "Bronx Bombers" win nine
American League
(AL)
pennants
and eight
World Series
championships over 16 seasons. Then, during Weiss' 13 full years as the Yankees' general manager from October
1947
to October
1960
, the team won ten AL pennants and seven more World Series titles, compiling a regular-season
winning percentage
of .622 (1,243?756). He later became the first club president of the
New York Mets
from
1961
to
1966
after that
expansion franchise
was formed.
Early life and career
[
edit
]
George Martin Weiss was born on June 23, 1894, in
New Haven, Connecticut
, and attended
Yale University
for a year before dropping out to help run his family's grocery store. In 1915, at age 20, he founded the New Haven MaxFeds in the independent
Colonial League
, an "outlaw"
minor league
associated with the
Federal League
. In
1919
, Weiss borrowed $5,000 to acquire the New Haven franchise in the established Class A
Eastern League
;
[2]
his team was immediately nicknamed the
Weissmen
by local baseball writers.
[3]
He operated the New Haven club, eventually nicknamed the
Profs
in tribute to Yale, for a decade; it won three league championships between 1920 and 1928. In 1930, Weiss took over the front office of the
Baltimore Orioles
of the Class AA
International League
for two seasons.
New York Yankees
[
edit
]
Farm system director
[
edit
]
In
1932
, at 37, he was hired by Yankees' owner
Jacob Ruppert
and general manager
Ed Barrow
to build up the club's
farm system
, a concept that had been pioneered in the
National League
by the
St. Louis Cardinals
and was the linchpin of the Cardinals' dominance of the senior circuit. Weiss grew the Yankee system from four farm teams in 1931 to 16 by
1939
; then, after a four-year retrenchment caused by
World War II
, to 20 by
1947
. Headed by the Yanks' longtime top affiliates, the
Newark Bears
and
Kansas City Blues
, it churned out many of the players who would lead the Bombers to 15 world championships through
1958
, including skeins of four (1936?39) and five (1949?53) straight World Series triumphs. The Weiss farm system produced three Hall of Famers?
Yogi Berra
,
Joe Gordon
and
Phil Rizzuto
(
Joe DiMaggio
was acquired directly from the independently owned
San Francisco Seals
of the
Pacific Coast League
)?as well as longtime stalwarts such as
Hank Bauer
,
Tiny Bonham
,
Hank Borowy
,
Bobby Brown
,
Spud Chandler
,
Jerry Coleman
,
Charlie Keller
,
Johnny Murphy
,
Joe Page
,
Vic Raschi
and
Red Rolfe
. The 1937 Bears (third) and 1939 Blues (12th) have been ranked among the top dozen clubs in minor-league history.
[4]
Weiss was retained and named a club vice president by the Yankees' new ownership triumvirate,
Larry MacPhail
,
Dan Topping
and
Del Webb
, when they purchased the team in early 1945. He then served under the new owners for three full seasons, as
World War II
ended and baseball entered a postwar boom.
As both
club president
and general manager, MacPhail was the dominant figure in the Yankees' postwar hierarchy. On October 6, 1947, hours after the Yankees won the seventh and deciding game of the
1947 World Series
, MacPhail?a notorious drinker with a combustible temper
[5]
?unexpectedly announced his resignation from both front-office posts during the victory festivities. In a drunken state, he confronted several officials at the celebration, including both Weiss and Topping. Weiss was sitting at a banquet table with his wife when MacPhail loudly and abruptly fired him as the Yankees' farm system director. Topping, upon being berated by MacPhail, grabbed him, escorted him to a nearby room, and calmed him down, while Webb, who had witnessed MacPhail's tantrum, assured Weiss he would remain with the team. The outburst ended MacPhail's baseball career. The next day, October 7, Topping and Webb bought out his one-third share in the Yankees, and promoted Weiss to vice president and general manager.
[5]
General manager
[
edit
]
Although Topping succeeded MacPhail as club president, for all intents and purposes, Weiss became the operating head of the franchise; Topping and Webb largely left day-to-day operations in Weiss's hands. In his first major trade as general manager, in February 1948, he acquired
left-handed
pitcher
Eddie Lopat
from the
Chicago White Sox
for three players, including former starting
catcher
Aaron Robinson
; Lopat would win 113 games for the Yanks in his 7
1
⁄
2
years in the Bronx. After the
1948
Yankees finished third, Weiss fired
manager
Bucky Harris
and replaced him with veteran former National League skipper
Casey Stengel
. The 58-year-old Stengel had never produced a
first-division
team in nine attempts as manager of the
Brooklyn Dodgers
and
Boston Braves
. But in the 12 years from 1949 through 1960, the Weiss-Stengel tandem would win ten AL pennants and seven world titles (1949?53; 1956; 1958). Even when their five-season run as world champions ended in
1954
, the Yankees won 103 regular-season games (to finish second, by eight lengths, to the
Cleveland Indians
).
The Yankee farm system produced two more Hall of Famers early in Weiss's GM tenure,
Whitey Ford
and
Mickey Mantle
, and continued to contribute key members of their 1950s teams. When it began to falter somewhat in mid-decade, Weiss swung a series of multiplayer trades with
second-division
teams, first with the
Baltimore Orioles
and then, frequently, with the
Kansas City Athletics
, to keep the Bombers at the forefront of their league. These transactions netted the Yankees top players such as
Bob Turley
,
Don Larsen
,
Bobby Shantz
,
Art Ditmar
,
Ryne Duren
,
Ralph Terry
,
Clete Boyer
and
Hector Lopez
. But they also began to struggle in World Series play, losing to Brooklyn in
1955
and the
Milwaukee Braves
in
1957
. In
1959
, they won only 79 of 154 games and fell all the way to third, behind the White Sox and Indians. It was the only season during Weiss's time as general manager in which the Bombers failed to win at least 92 games.
[6]
He responded by acquiring
outfielder
Roger Maris
from Kansas City in a seven-player transaction in December 1959. A 25-year-old budding star, Maris would win back-to-back American League
Most Valuable Player Awards
in
1960
and
1961
and, in the latter year, smash 61 home runs in his record-setting chase of
Babe Ruth
's single-season mark. But by the 1961 season, Weiss was gone from the Yankees' front office. After Maris helped the
1960 club
return to the top of the American League standings, they were again defeated in that year's
World Series
, this time by the
Pittsburgh Pirates
. In the days following the World Series, both Stengel and Weiss were forced into retirement. A longtime assistant,
Roy Hamey
, succeeded Weiss as general manager. The Yankees then won four more pennants in succession, along with the
1961
and
1962 World Series
.
New York Mets
[
edit
]
Weiss and Stengel both ended up with the
Mets
, set to return National League baseball to New York City in 1962, four seasons after the departure of the Dodgers and
New York Giants
for
California
. Weiss was named president and
de facto
general manager of the Mets in March 1961, and Stengel followed as manager in
1962
. In the
expansion draft
, Weiss selected a roster composed largely of veterans who had played for and against the last New York editions of the Dodgers and Giants, including
Gil Hodges
,
Roger Craig
,
Don Zimmer
,
Gus Bell
,
Ed Bouchee
and
Hobie Landrith
. He supplemented these drafted players by acquiring former Brooklyn stars
Duke Snider
,
Charlie Neal
,
Clem Labine
and
Billy Loes
, and veterans
Richie Ashburn
,
Frank Thomas
,
Gene Woodling
and ex-Yankee prospect
Marv Throneberry
?among many others?during
1962
and
1963
.
The on-field results were historically poor. The
1962 Mets
put up the worst record (40?120) in recent MLB history, and the
1963
,
1964
and
1965
teams lost 111, 109 and 112 games. The Met farm system was slow to contribute useful players; by Opening Day
1966
, it had yielded
Cleon Jones
,
Ed Kranepool
,
Tug McGraw
,
Ron Swoboda
and
Bud Harrelson
, but only Jones and Kranepool saw service before 1965. Weiss also passed on
Reggie Jackson
in the
1966 Major League Baseball Draft
, instead selecting
Steve Chilcott
.
[7]
In his five seasons as general manager, the Mets escaped last place in the National League only in Weiss's last year. They compiled a composite record of 260?547 (.322). He retired at age 72 on November 14, 1966, and was succeeded by former Cardinal GM
Bing Devine
. But despite their poor play, the Mets established a dedicated fan base from their first season in existence, and when they left the dilapidated
Polo Grounds
for their new home,
Shea Stadium
, in 1964 they outdrew the pennant-winning Yankees, 1.73 to 1.3 million fans. They would dominate New York baseball attendance until 1976, when their American League rivals moved into a renovated
Yankee Stadium
and won the
pennant
.
Later life and legacy
[
edit
]
Weiss was named
The Sporting News
'
Executive of the Year
in 1950, 1951, 1952, and 1960. In 1971, he was inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame
, one of seven selected for that year's honor. All of the inductees had been selected by the
Veterans Committee
; no players were elected through the regular voting process of the
Baseball Writers' Association of America
.
[8]
Weiss died in
Greenwich, Connecticut
, at age 78 in 1972. Stengel lamented his death, saying, "George's death is a tough thing on baseball. He was successful and great and capable in every way, shape and form. He wasn't a terrific mixer but George sure knew how to pick men. Why, you can't stay in baseball that long by pulling players out of an icebox."
[9]
Yogi Berra
said that Weiss could be difficult to deal with, but he praised the emotion that Weiss brought to the game as well as his understanding of the importance of
scouting
.
[9]
He was inducted into the
New York Mets Hall of Fame
in 1982.
With the debut of
Elston Howard
on April 14, 1955, the Yankees became the sixth of the eight American League teams?and the last of New York City's three big-league clubs?to break the
baseball color line
. According to the book
Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee
, Weiss at a cocktail party stated loudly that "he would never allow a black man to wear a Yankee uniform." The Yankees farm system had in place a policy preventing black players from reaching the major league club, according to the book. Howard, the first
African-American
Yankee, was switched from an outfielder to a catcher, the position at which it would be least likely to break into the major league club, given Berra's presence.
[10]
Conflicting opinions have since been expressed about the reasons behind the Yankees' relative tardiness in
integrating
their playing roster. In their 2016 book,
George Weiss: Architect of the Golden Age Yankees
, authors Burton A. and Benita W. Boxerman devote a full chapter to the issue and explore some of the motivations that have been attributed to Weiss, both during and after his career.
[11]
They write:
Even though the delay in integrating the Yankees was likely a combination of factors including financial success, outstanding performance, unproductive scouts, and possibly the owners' bias against Negroes, it was Weiss, the chief decision-maker in the system, who was held responsible for the lack of a black Yankee. Did deep personal bigotries drive his decisions to delay integrating the Yankees as long as he could? Writers such as
Roger Kahn
and
David Halberstam
called him vicious and unable to empathize with any players, especially Negroes. It seemed a much more probable scenario that Weiss's true reason ... was pretty much what he declared when he was asked point-blank why there were no black Yankees: namely, that he was determined to choose a black player who would fit the "Yankee mould."
[11]
On a contrary note, Steve Goldman, writing in the
SBNation
Yankee community
Pinstripe Alley
in April 2013, said that Weiss:
... clung to the excuse of so many clubs: We're not going to promote just anyone to the majors because they happen to be black; we're holding out for someone special ... By that standard, of course, only the black
Babe Ruth
or
Lou Gehrig
was going to get the call.
[12]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"No More B'rer Rabbit Ball: Even Baseball Struggles in 1930s"
.
encyclopedia.com
. Retrieved
December 7,
2022
.
The New York Yankees, however, were the dominant team of the decade …Their excellent farm system meant that the Yankees ended the decade in all-conquering form
- ^
The New York Times, Aug. 14, 1972
- ^
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed.,
The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball,
3rd edition. Durham, N.C.:
Baseball America
, 2007
- ^
MiLB,com,
The Top 100 Minor League Teams of All Time
- ^
a
b
Armour, Mark; Leavitt, Daniel R.
"1947 Yankees' Ownership"
.
Society for American Baseball Research
. Retrieved
24 February
2018
.
- ^
Information
at
Retrosheet
- ^
Parry,
Reggie Jackson The Life and Thunderous Career of Baseball's Mr. October,
Harper Collins, 2010, p 24.
- ^
"Seven old timers named to Baseball Hall of Fame"
.
The Morning Record
. February 1, 1971
. Retrieved
December 3,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
"George Weiss dies"
.
The Beaver County Times
. August 14, 1972
. Retrieved
December 2,
2014
.
- ^
Barra,
Yogi Berra Eternal Yankee,
Norton, 2009, p 194.
- ^
a
b
Boxerman, Burton A.; Boxerman, Benita W. (2016).
George Weiss: Architect of the Golden Age Yankees
. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company.
ISBN
978-0-7864-7253-6
.
- ^
Goldman, Steve.
"On Jackie Robinson Day, the Yankees Must Answer for Jim Crow Baseball"
.
Pinstripe Alley
. SBNation
. Retrieved
15 July
2018
.
Notes
[
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]
External links
[
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