Wednesday, 04 December 2024

George Weiss

Contest: The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Contributors 2024
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Sport(s): Baseball Executive
Statistics: 15 World Series Championships (1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1943 & 1947 as head of player development) (1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956 & 1958 as general manager)
4 The Sporting News Executive of the Year Awards (1950, 1951, 1952 & 1960)
Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
15 World Series Championships.

George Weiss was first hired by the New York Yankees in 1932 to build up their farm system, and the job he did was spectacular. In the 15 years he had that job, he grew New York's farm clubs to four, and his finds included Yogi Berra, Joe Gordon, and Phil Rizzuto. New York won eight World Series with Weiss in this capacity, but a vacancy grew when Larry MacPhail, New York's co-owner, president, and general manager, drunkenly resigned from all three positions. It was quite a sight, as it happened hours after their 1947 World Series win. The other two Yankees owners, Dan Topping, and Del Webb bought out MacPhail and promoted Weiss to the two positions that MacPhail had quit. Ironically, in that drunken stupor, MacPhail had fired Weiss!

Weiss was just as effective in his new roles. The Yankees remained a powerhouse, and through the farm system he built, Weiss added Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle. Finding a trade that Weiss appeared to have lost is difficult, and he stole an eventual two-time MVP from the Kansas City Athletics in Roger Maris. As a general manager, Weiss won another seven World Series titles.

At the conclusion of the 1960 season, Weiss and Yankees manager Casey Stengel was forced out due to their age. Both of them would join the New York Mets in the same roles they had with the Yankees. The Mets were terrible during the five years that Weiss was their general manager, but he had achieved so much success that he could absorb the failures without impacting his overall legacy.

It should be mentioned that Weiss was alleged to have had anti-black tendencies, and he did not have an African-American until 1955, when Elston Howard joined the team. Nevertheless, there can be no dispute that finding a more successful baseball executive will have a small list if anyone at all.

We are proud to nominate George Weiss for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.

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