Saturday, 23 November 2024
Warren Giles
- Contest: The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Contributors 2024
- Sport(s): Baseball Executive
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Statistics:
1 World Series Championship (1940)
1 The Sporting News Executive of the Year (1938)
Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame -
At the age of 23, Warren Giles was elected the president of the Moline Plowboys of the Class B Three I League, and it put forth in motion a 50-year career as a baseball executive.
Giles’s career path saw him join the St. Louis Cardinals organization by running their farm teams, and he would briefly serve as the president of the International League before he joined the Cincinnati Reds in 1936 as their general manager.
Giles built the Reds into a champion, winning two straight National League pennants (1939 & 1940) and capturing the 1940 World Series. Giles was named by the Sporting News as the Executive of the Year in 1938 for his work, and while the Reds sputtered in the mid-40s, Giles' work earned him copious respect across all facets of baseball.
In 1952, Giles was elected as the National League president, and the organization underwent a broad change in his 18 years. Under Giles, the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles and the Giants from New York to San Francisco, and four teams were added (Houston, New York Mets, Montreal, and San Diego).
While the National League and American League were viewed as equal, Giles was very competitive, and he would openly lobby against trades he thought would foster a competitive disadvantage. The NL also began a 33-year streak of leading the AL in attendance (1956) under Giles.
We are proud to nominate Warren Giles for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.
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