Eight Fun Facts About Connie Mack 10/18/16

Hey baseball fans!

It has been 66 years to the day since Connie Mack retired as a baseball manager. The former manager of the Pirates (1894-1896) and A's (1901-1950) is considered one of the greatest managers of all time. To honor him, here are eight fun Connie Mack facts.

Fact #1: Mack's full birth name is Cornelius McGillicuddy, but he is always referred to as Connie Mack.

Fact #2: He had a playing career before he was a manager. From 1886-1896 with the original Washington Nationals, Buffalo Bisons of the Players' League, and the Pittsburgh Pirates, he batted .245 with 659 base hits.

Fact #3: He is the Cy Young of managers. He has the most wins (3,731), losses (3,948), and games managed (7,755) out of any manager in baseball history. He also had 76 ties. If only he could've won more games than he lost.

Fact #4: Mack is a five-time World Series champion, which is third on the all-time list. In 1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, and 1930, he led the Athletics to Fall Classic victories.

Fact #5: Connie Mack was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937, when he was still managing the A's.

Fact #6: The legendary A's manager coached 20 Hall of Famers during his 50-year stint with the team, including Jimmie Foxx, Eddie Collins, and Lefty Grove.

Fact #7: Connie Mack wanted to coach good people in addition to good players. With that in mind, he created a code of conduct in 1916 that all of the players he managed had to abide by:

• I will always play the game to the best of my ability.
• I will always play to win, but if I lose, I will not look for an excuse to detract from my opponent's victory.
• I will never take an unfair advantage in order to win.
• I will always abide by the rules of the game—on the diamond as well as in my daily life.
• I will always conduct myself as a true sportsman—on and off the playing field. I will always strive for the good of the entire team rather than for my own glory.
• I will never gloat in victory or pity myself in defeat. I will do my utmost to keep myself clean—physically, mentally, and morally.
• I will always judge a teammate or an opponent as an individual and never on the basis of race or religion.

Fact #8: Mack's strategy for keeping a team good was youth and aggressiveness. He always preferred younger players over veterans and always favored slugging percentage over batting average. He also hardly issued intentional walks, no matter who the batter was. 

What a manager Connie Mack was. Thanks for reading this post and I hope you enjoyed it. Check back soon for more of "all the buzz on what wuzz."