Connie Mack - Legacy

Legacy

The Philadelphia stadium, originally called Shibe Park, was renamed Connie Mack Stadium in 1953. Starting in 1909, it was home to the Athletics, and starting 1938, it was also home to the Phillies, then from 1955 to 1970 was home to the Phillies alone, after the Athletics moved to Kansas City.

In addition to his Hall of Fame election in 1937, in 2008, Connie Mack was the first person inducted into the New York City-based Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame. He is mentioned in the poem "Line-Up for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash:

Q is for Don Quixote
Cornelius Mack;
Neither Yankees nor years
Can halt his attack.

After Mack's retirement in 1950, Major League Baseball passed two rules that would have affected Mack today. The first rule prohibited managers to have any financial stake in the team they are managing. This would later come to light on May 11, 1977, when Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner sent manager Dave Bristol on a "scouting trip" so he could manage the Braves himself. He only ran the team for one game (a 2–1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates) before National League president Chub Feeney told him that managers are not allowed to own financial interest in their club.

Another rule also required managers to wear a baseball uniform if they are to be in the dugout; Mack always wore a business suit instead, which is more common for head coaches in ice hockey and basketball. Although MLB would allow managers to wear suits if they stay out of the dugout, the fact that they are needed in the dugout frequently effectively bans them from wearing a suit.