Frank Lane

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people named Frank Lane, see Frank Lane (disambiguation).
Frank Lane
Dallas, Texas
, U.S.
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Frank Charles Meyers Lane

Kansas City Athletics and Milwaukee Brewers for over fifteen seasons between 1948 and 1972
.

Biography

Frank C. Lane
Born:(1895-02-01)February 1, 1895
Guard
Career history
As player
c. 1910–1919Cincinnati Celts
Military career
Allegiance United States
Service/branch United States Navy
Years of service1942–1946
Battles/warsWorld War II

Born in

guard for a number of "Ohio League" teams prior to the creation of the National Football League. After his attempt at playing professional baseball fell short, Lane shifted to officiating, serving as a referee in both football and basketball
.

Baseball front offices

In 1933 he was named as traveling secretary for the Cincinnati Reds, while continuing to spend his offseasons as an official. After later spending one season as general manager of the team's Durham, North Carolina minor league club, Lane was elevated to assistant general manager for the Reds under Warren Giles on November 17, 1936.

After the U.S. entered World War II, Lane joined the

American Association
.

Chicago White Sox

Lane then resigned that post in

American League MVP, was acquired from the Philadelphia Athletics at age 21, straight-up for backup catcher Joe Tipton; the price of the Detroit Tigers' Pierce (also 21), a future seven-time AL All-Star who would win 186 games in a White Sox uniform, was another catcher, 33-year-old Aaron Robinson, who had only three major-league seasons left in his tank. In his seven years in Chicago, Lane made 241 trades.[2] The ChiSox made their league's first division
in 1951, and topped the one-million mark in attendance each year for the remainder of Lane's tenure.

St. Louis Cardinals

After resigning in September

August A. Busch Jr. stopped the deal.[7]

Cleveland Indians

The Cardinals finished second in their league in 1957, eight games out, but Lane moved on to Cleveland in November to take the reins of the Indians' front office. There he gained infamy in April 1960 by trading popular star slugger Rocky Colavito, who co-led the Junior Circuit in home runs in 1959, to the Detroit Tigers for Harvey Kuenn, the defending American League batting champion, whom Lane would trade to the San Francisco Giants on December 3 for John Antonelli and Willie Kirkland; this was the final trade for Lane as GM of the Indians.[8]

Kansas City Athletics

Lane left Cleveland in January 1961 to become general manager of the Kansas City Athletics, but the combination of Lane and volatile owner Charlie Finley led to an early end to Lane's employment just eight months later, and a lawsuit ensued. Due to his uncertain contract status, Lane was forced out of baseball during this period, but found employment in early 1962 as general manager of the National Basketball Association's Chicago Packers. He did not join the team when they moved to Baltimore after the 1963 season. The following year, the lawsuit finally went to trial.[9]

On January 8, 1965, Lane settled his lawsuit with Finley, accepting $113,000 plus the freedom to take another baseball front-office position. Early reports of his being part of an ownership group to buy the Boston Red Sox, as well as potentially serving as president of the Texas League, proved to be unfounded. Instead, he was appointed as a special assistant to the president with the Baltimore Orioles two months later on March 6, handling the duties of a scout, field representative and traveling ambassador.[10] He served in that capacity for nearly six years.

Milwaukee Brewers

Shortly before his 76th birthday, Lane was hired as director of player personnel with the

California Angels and Texas Rangers
.

Death and reputation

Lane gained fame (and sometimes infamy) for his many transactions,[13] earning nicknames such as "Trader Frank", "Frantic Frank", "Trader Lane" and "The Wheeler Dealer" for having made over 400 trades in his career, including 241 with the White Sox alone. Lane traded star players, such as Norm Cash, Rocky Colavito and Roger Maris, as well as future Hall of Famers Red Schoendienst and Early Wynn.

Yet players were not the only people involved in Lane's transactions – in 1960, during his tenure with the Indians, he dealt manager Joe Gordon in exchange for Detroit Tigers skipper Jimmy Dykes.

He died in a

Dallas, Texas nursing home at 86 years of age. In Bobby Bragan's book You Can't Hit the Ball With the Bat On Your Shoulder, Bragan wrote that he was asked by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn's office to represent Major League Baseball at the funeral. He was the lone baseball official to attend.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b Corbett, Warren: Frank Lane, Society for American Baseball Research Biography Project
  2. ISBN 978-1-4165-8928-0
  3. ^ Jackson, Frank (2 November 2012). "Nothing Sacred". The Hardball Times. Fangraphs. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  4. ^ "'Cardinals' to Be Lettered Across Road Uniforms," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sunday, March 4, 1956. Retrieved April 14, 2020
  5. ^ Richman, Milton. "Bill Virdon is shaping up real fine," United Press International (UPI), Monday, September 23, 1974. Retrieved February 26, 2016
  6. ^ Singer, Tom. "Pirates' all-time Top 5 in-season trades," MLB.com, Thursday, July 18, 2013. Retrieved April 14, 2020
  7. ISBN 978-0-8027-1745-0
  8. ^ "The Rocky Colavito–Harvey Kuenn Trade – Society for American Baseball Research".
  9. ^ "Frank Lane – Society for American Baseball Research".
  10. ^ "Lane Gets Post With Orioles as Special Aide to MacPhail, Club President," United Press International (UPI), Saturday, March 6, 1965. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  11. ^ "Lane Gets Brewers' Post," United Press International (UPI), Sunday, January 24, 1971. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  12. ^ "Bosox-Brewers In Ten-Man Swap," United Press International (UPI), Sunday, October 10, 1971. Retrieved September 22, 2018
  13. ^ Neyer, Rob. Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders.
  14. ^ "Nothing sacred".

External links

Preceded by
American Association President
1947–1948
 Succeeded by
Bruce Dudley
Preceded by Chicago White Sox General Manager
1948–1955 		Succeeded by
Preceded by St. Louis Cardinals General Manager
1955–1957 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Cleveland Indians General Manager
1957–1961
 Succeeded by
Preceded by
Kansas City Athletics General Manager
1961
 Succeeded by
Preceded by Milwaukee Brewers General Manager
1970–1972 		Succeeded by
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