25. Connie Mack was a baseball manager that can be truly said was a gentleman in his demeanor and his style. He managed the Philadelphia Athletics for over fifty years. What baseball rule (or rules) were changed after his 1950 retirement?
From Quiz Baseball Managers - Famous and Infamous
Answer:
Both
Connie Mack was the last owner to also be the on-field manager. Even when ill in the late 1930s did he back away from the manager role and assign his son to temporarily to fill the gap. Baseball powers saw this as a conflict of interest. Ted Turner tried to circumvent the rule but failed.
Connie Mack never wore a baseball uniform as manager but often wore business suits. His players addressed him as Mr. Mack and he called his players by their first names. For instance, he called Chief Bender "Albert". Mack played in the major leagues for eleven years from 1886 to 1896, was used mostly as a catcher, and amassing a lifetime batting average of .242. Records are by definition breakable but Mack still is the longest-serving manager, holds records for wins (3,731), losses (3,948), and games managed (7,755). As a manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, he won nine Pennants and five World Series. Because the team was often in financial crises, he was forced to dismantle his successful teams in order to balance the books.
He expected much from his players not just physical skill but conduct as well. In 1916 he wrote this code of conduct for his team:
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.
He tolerated Rube Waddell's drunkenness but traded Joe Jackson because he not very intelligent. No Black ballplayer ever played for Connie Mack.