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Bill McKechnie enjoyed a Hall of Fame managerial career that featured four pennants and two World Series championships. In 1925 he piloted the Pittsburgh Pirates to their first World Series crown since 1909. Three years later McKechnie pushed the Cardinals to a 95-win season and the NL flag.

From 1930-1938 McKechnie managed the National League’s Boston entry to mixed results. A perennial loser, Boston broke the break-even mark four times during McKechnie’s reign.

The manager’s finest stint came with the Reds from 1938-1946. McKechnie’s team finished in the first division in each of his first 7 seasons in Cincinnati. The time was highlighted by back-to-back pennants starting in 1939. In 1940 his club won it all.

A very religious man, he didn’t smoke, drink, or curse. When McKechnie felt a player was enjoying the nightlife at the expense of his play, the skipper’s simple solution was to room with the player on the road. McKechnie’s four NL pennants and 1,896 career wins was recognized when he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.

In the collection is this document with a notarized signature of the manager. Written on July 21, 1924, the letter is to NL president John Heydler and asks for a protest to be upheld. The preceding page(s) is gone forever as are the specifics of the play that compelled McKechnie to file the protest and write the letter.

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Johnny Vander Meer’s second year in the big leagues was like none other in the history of the game. He won 15 games and was the starting pitcher for the National League in the 1938 All Star game. In the Midsummer Classic he retired the first three batters of the game including Earl Averill and Charlie Gehringer. The second inning was another 1-2-3 frame for Vandy featuring a Jimmie Foxx strikeout and a pair of groundouts by Joe DiMaggio and Bill Dickey. The 23-year old was the game’s winning pitcher, retiring 9 of the 10 batters he faced including 7 Hall of Famers.

Though the performance was certainly memorable, it was his work three weeks earlier that was truly historic. On June 11 he threw a no-hitter against the Boston Bees. Four days later at Ebbets Field in the first night game in New York baseball history, Vander Meer repeated the feat with a no-no against the Dodgers.

In the collection is this two-page handwritten letter from Vandy about Hall of Fame manager Bill McKechnie, a man whom he greatly admired.

“Bill McKechnie was a great MGR as his record indicates. He had the rare ability of players great respect rather than fear…Was known to be able to play for that 1 run to beat you and when to bring in his ace relieve man. Did not mess with players who did not put out 100% or take care of themselves.”

High praise indeed from Vander Meer about the man who was his manager for seven seasons.

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Johnny Vander Meer was a four-time All Star who won 119 big league games. He’s best remembered for doing the impossible – tossing no-hitters in consecutive starts in 1938. He accomplished the feat in his second Major League season, under Hall of Fame manager Bill McKechnie.

Shown here is the second page of Vander Meer’s handwritten recollections of the skipper. All four of Vandy’s All-Star seasons came under McKechnie for whom he won 82 games. In this portion of the letter, the pitcher raves about McKechnie’s character.

“He was my kind of a man – in short you never heard a bad word about the Decon (sic) as he was called. If you did, check the source you heard it from.”

Vander Meer has added his signature boldy after that. Below that is this post script, “If you meet Mr. McKechnie’s standard of life you will become quite a young man…”

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When Bill McKechnie took over the Cincinnati Reds in 1938, the franchise was in a tough spot. Coming off of a 98-loss seasons, the Reds hadn’t reached the break-even mark in a decade. McKechnie changed that immediately.

His 1938 team went 82-68-1 and finished in the first division for the first time since 1927. That squad was led by batting champion Ernie Lombardi. The catcher set career-highs in hits, doubles, RBI, slugging percentage, total bases, and OPS on his way to earning the MVP Award.

In 1939 Bucky Walters became the 5th National Leaguer of the 20th century to earn pitching’s Triple Crown. In addition to his league-leading totals in wins (27), ERA (2.29), and strikeouts (137), Bucky topped Senior Circuit hurlers in starts (36), complete games (31), and innings (319). For fans of advanced metrics, Walters also led the NL in WHIP (1.125) and WAR (9.8). His performance earned him a 90% share of the MVP vote and helped lead the Reds to the National League pennant.

In 1940 Frank McCormick helped the Reds win their first World Series title since the tainted 1919 Black Sox Series. The first baseman’s league leading 191 hits and 44 doubles were complimented by his 93 runs scored and 127 RBI. His efforts earned him the National League Most Valuable Player Award.

Shown here is a handwritten letter from Bucky Walters. He supports the Cooperstown induction of his batterymate, 1938 NL MVP Ernie Lombardi. Eventually the catcher did get the Hall call in 1986, nine years after his passing.

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Ewell Blackwell broke into the bigs as a 19 year old in 1942. His brief taste of baseball before the Second World War intervened came under manager Bill McKechnie.

Blackwell missed three full seasons as a member of the US Army where he rose to the rank of sergeant. He returned to the Reds in 1946 and pitched effectively for the 87-loss Cincinnati team. The 6’6″, 195-pounder led the league in shutouts and fielding-independent pitching (FIP) while finishing fourth in ERA. His efforts earned him the first of six consecutive All Star selections.

In this letter, Blackwell writes about Bill McKechnie, his first big league manager. “Bill McKechnie was one of the greatest managers in all of baseball. He knew the game frontwards and backwards.” Blackwell then signs his name at the bottom of the letter.