Bill McKechnie
| Birthdate | 8/7/1887 |
| Death Date | 10/29/1965 |
| Debut Year | 1915 |
| Year of Induction | 1962 |
| Teams | Braves, Cardinals, Newark Peppers, Pirates, Reds |
| Position | Manager |
The first skipper to win a World Series with two different teams, Bill McKechnie won pennants with the Pirates, Reds, and Cardinals.
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Notarized signature of Bill McKechnie
Notarized signature of Bill McKechnie
Bill McKechnie enjoyed a Hall of Fame managerial career that featured four pennants and two World Series championships. A very religious man, he didn’t smoke, drink, or curse. When McKechnie felt a player was enjoying the night life at the expense of his play, the skipper’s simple solution was to room with the player. 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.
Johnny Vander Meer writes about HoF manager Bill McKechnie
Johnny Vander Meer writes about HoF manager Bill McKechnie
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.
In page 2, Vandy writes about Bill McKechnie's character
In page 2, Vandy writes about Bill McKechnie's character
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…”
Ewell Blackwell writes about his first big league manager
Ewell Blackwell writes about his first big league manager
Ewell Blackwell pitched in six consecutive All Star games from 1946-1951 and led the league in wins in 1947. 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.
