From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American businessman (1916?1990)
Richard A. Meyer
|
---|
Born
| (
1916-11-09
)
November 9, 1916
|
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Died
| December 10, 1990
(1990-12-10)
(aged 74)
|
---|
Occupation
| Businessman
|
---|
Known for
| President,
Anheuser-Busch
(1971?1974)
Executive vice president,
St. Louis Cardinals
(1953?1974)
|
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Richard Allan Meyer
(November 9, 1916 ? December 10, 1990) was an
American
businessman, an executive with the
Anheuser-Busch Companies
(1937?1974) and the
St. Louis Cardinals
of
Major League Baseball
(1953?1974). He was president of Anheuser-Busch from 1971?1974 and a longtime senior manager for and aide to brewery owner
August A. Busch Jr
. Meyer was born in St. Louis.
[1]
He attended the
St. Louis University
School of Commerce and Finance.
In 1953, when Busch purchased the Cardinals from
Fred Saigh
, he named brewery executive Meyer the
general manager
of the franchise because Meyer had been a
baseball player
as a youth.
[2]
Although a Major League general manager during the 1950s typically combined career-long experience in
professional baseball
as a player or in baseball operations (including talent evaluation and player acquisition and development) with business acumen, Meyer held the position for two full seasons. During that tenure, the Cardinals introduced three standout
rookies
:
outfielders
Wally Moon
and
Bill Virdon
and
third baseman
Ken Boyer
. They broke the franchise's
"color line"
when their first
African-American
player,
first baseman
Tom Alston
, made his
National League
debut on April 13, 1954. But the Redbirds struggled on the field: they went 140?168, finished sixth (
1954
) and seventh (
1955
), and changed
managers
, from
Eddie Stanky
to
Harry Walker
, on May 27, 1955.
Busch and Meyer then hired veteran baseball executive
Frank Lane
, formerly with the
Chicago White Sox
, to assume the team's general manager duties on October 6, 1955.
[3]
Meyer returned to the brewery but remained executive vice president of the Cardinals, serving the team for another 18 years. For much of that time, he acted as the direct liaison between the Cardinals' general managers?Lane,
Bing Devine
,
Bob Howsam
and
Stan Musial
?and owner Busch.
[4]
Meyer, then 57, resigned from the brewery and the Cardinals in February 1974 after 38 years with Anheuser-Busch after a disagreement with Busch over personnel reduction.
[5]
Meyer died on December 10, 1990, at the age of 74.
[6]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007"
.
Ancestry
. Retrieved
9 November
2023
.
- ^
Eisenbath, Mike (1999).
The Cardinals Encyclopedia
. Philadelphia:
Temple University Press
.
ISBN
1-56639-703-0
.
Pages 409-410
- ^
Retrosimba.com
- ^
Stahl, Jon Harry, and Nowlin, Bill, editors (2013):
Drama and Pride in the Gateway City: The 1964 St. Louis Cardinals,
Society for American Baseball Research
,
ISBN
978-1-4962-1050-0
- ^
The New York Times
, "Anheuser Elects New President," February 28, 1974]
- ^
"Richard A. Meyer, 74; Former Brewery Boss"
.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
. 12 December 1990
. Retrieved
9 November
2023
.