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Ford Christopher Frick ( December 19, 1894 - April 8, 1978) was an American sportswriter and executive who served as president of the National League from 1934 to 1951 and as Baseball Commissioner from 1951 to 1965. His most highly criticized decision as commissioner was to convince baseball record-keepers to list the single-season home run records of Babe Ruth and Roger Maris separately in 1961, based on the length of the season played. Later it was revealed that Frick had served as a ghostwriter for Ruth earlier in his career.Frick had begun his career as a midwestern sportswriter and had moved to New York to work with William Randolph Hearst's newspapers. Later he pioneered the daily radio sports report, broadcasting sports scores and news. In 1934 he became the National League's public relations director, and then became president of the league later that year. In the late 1930s, Frick played a central role in establishing the National Baseball Hall of FameNational Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum based in Cooperstown, New York, is a semi-official museum operated by private interests that serves as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in North America, the display of baseball-related a and Museum in Cooperstown, New YorkFor a list of other places, see Cooperstown (disambiguation). Cooperstown is a village located in Otsego County, New York. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 2,032. It is the county seat of Otsego County 6. Cooperstown is named a. Later during his tenure as National League president, when several members of the St. Louis CardinalsThe St. Louis Cardinals was also the name of a National Football League team based in Saint Louis, Missouri, which moved and became the Phoenix Cardinals (now known as the Arizona Cardinals) in 1988. The St. Louis Cardinals are an American Major League Ba planned to protest Jackie RobinsonJack Roosevelt Robinson ( January 31, 1919 October 24, 1972) became the first African American Major League Baseball player of the modern era in 1947. The significance of this event in U. history is observed by the retirement by each Major League team of's breaking of baseball's color barrierThe Baseball color line was the unwritten policy which excluded African American baseball players from Organized Ball in the United States before 1947. As a result, various Negro Leagues were formed, which featured those players not allowed to participate, Frick threatened any players involved with suspension. In 1951, he succeeded Happy Chandler as commissioner of baseball.
Besides the Roger Maris episode, Frick modified and clarified the trade deadline with the help of waiver rules, created the Cy Young AwardIn baseball, the Cy Young Award is an honor given annually to the best pitchers in the Major Leagues. The award was first introduced in 1956 by Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young who passed away in 1955. The award was origin, oversaw the move of franchises west of St. Louis & expansion of the majors, and created the free-agent draft. Also during his stint as commissioner, Frick revoked fan voting (which would ultimately, be revived by Bowie Kuhn) for the All-Star Game after the Cincinnati Reds stuffed the ballot box and oversaw the first Japanese player in the Major Leagues, Masanori Murakami .
Frick was himself inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970. The Hall of Fame created the Ford C. Frick Award in 1978 to honor his name, and presents the award annually to a baseball broadcaster for major contributions to the game.
Frick, Ford
Frick, Ford
Frick, Ford
Frick, Ford
Frick, Ford
