Bill McKechnie
William Boyd "Bill" McKechnie ( born August 7, 1886 in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, † October 29, 1965 in Bradenton, Florida) was an American baseball player and manager in Major League Baseball. His nickname was Deacon.
Biography
Bill McKechnie played in his playing career with seven different clubs at all infield positions. As a player, he was mediocre talent, but his knowledge of baseball and the strategies were enormous. Frank Chance, manager of the New York Yankees hired him in 1913, despite its playful deficits on the challenging defender position of the second baseman and justified this as follows: " McKechnie knows more baseball than any other of my team together."
But his true strength should be the managers office. Already in 1915 he held the post of Manager for 102 performances at the Newark Pepper in the Federal League. After ending his playing career in 1919 he dissolved in 1922 in the middle of the season George Gibson at the Pittsburgh Pirates from. With these he won the title in 1925 in the National League and defeated the Washington Senators in the World Series. Through the commitment of Fred Clarke, the former manager of the Pirates, as a manager consultant came in 1926 to irritation and a player revolt that led to the dismissal McKechnies. He joined as a coach for the St. Louis Cardinals, where he became in 1928 the office of the manager of Bob O'Farrell. He led the Cardinals to the championship in the National League, but against the New York Yankees lost the World Series was smooth in 4 games. The disappointment of this defeat caused the owner of the Cardinals, Sam Breadon to enable McKechnie to Rochester in the Minor Leagues. During the season, the owner realized that he had made a mistake and let McKechnie re-train the major league team that still finished the season in fourth place.
Eight years followed for the Boston Braves, but he was able to celebrate with this team no greater success than the 4th Place. In 1938 he moved to the Cincinnati Reds. In the years 1939 and 1940 he won the title in the National League. The World Series against the Yankees in 1939 were lost, but a year later, the Detroit Tigers were defeated in seven games. In 1946, he finished his career as a manager.
The Sporting News selected him in 1937 and 1940 Manager of the Year, 1962, he was from the Veterans Committee in the Baseball Hall of Fame selected.