John McHale

John Joseph McHale, Sr.

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 200 lb.
• School University of Notre Dame
• High School Catholic Central High School (Detroit)
• Debut May 28, 1943
• Final Game April 23, 1948
• Born September 21, 1921 in Detroit, MI USA
• Died January 17, 2008 in Stuart, FL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

1B John McHale was signed by scout Wish Egan and spent his entire playing career (1941-1948) in the Detroit Tigers system. His son Kevin McHale worked for the Expos.

McHale moved into the front office of the Tigers after his playing days. After working under various General Managers he held the job from April 1957 to early 1959. He was then named GM of the Milwaukee Braves in 1959, adding the title of president in 1961. By the end of 1966, McHale apparently was in conflict with VP Paul Richards, possibly because of the trading of Eddie Mathews, which Richards did without McHale's knowledge.

McHale then served in the commissioner's office until becoming president of the expansion Montreal Expos in late 1968. Shortly after joining the Expos, he was considered as a candidate to replace William Eckert as commissioner, but withdrew his name to honor his commitment to the team. He added the title of GM of the Expos from 1978 to 1984. He was GM during the period of the Expos' greatest success, including for their only post-season appearance in the strike-shortened 1981 season. He was an aggressive trader during that period, obtaining key players such as Rodney Scott and Bill Lee in lopsided trades, and Al Oliver in a blockbuster; he was also the last Expo GM in two decades to have the budget to sign first-tier free agents such as Elias Sosa or Pete Rose. Unfortunately, one of his signings, Tim Blackwell cost him a first round draft choice in 1982 for a player who hardly contributed anything. He was replaced as GM by Murray Cook late in the 1984 season when it became clear that the so-called team of the 1980s was not going to win anything. He was replaced as president by Claude Brochu in 1986, but stayed on as Deputy Chairman of the team's Board of Directors until Brochu put together an ownership group to buy the team in 1990.

Late in his life, McHale served on the Veterans Committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

McHale's wife Patty is a member of the Briggs family, former owners of the Tigers.

Notable Achievements

• Won a World Series with the Detroit Tigers in 1945

Preceded by Muddy Ruel

Detroit Tigers General Manager 1957-1958

Succeeded by Rick Ferrell

Preceded by John Quinn

Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves General Manager 1959-1966

Succeeded by Paul Richards

Preceded by Charlie Fox

Montreal Expos General Manager 1978-1984

Succeeded by Murray Cook

Record as a General Manager

Draft Picks

Braves 1st Round Picks

• 1965: 12th overall 1B Dick Grant - Watertown High School
• 1966: 11th overall P Al Santorini - Union (NJ) High School

Expos 1st Round Picks

• 1979: 10th overall 3B Tim Wallach - California State-Fullerton
• 1980: 22nd overall OF Terry Francona - University of Arizona
• 1981: 18th overall P Darren Dilks - Oklahoma State University
• 1983: 14th overall P Rich Stoll - University of Michigan
• 1983: 16th overall P Brian Holman - North High School
• 1984: 13th overall C Bob Caffrey - California State-Fullerton
• 1984: 28th overall P Norm Charlton - Rice University

Other Notable Selections

• 1980: 2nd round P Joe Hesketh - State University of New York at Buffalo
• 1981: 8th round (199th overall) P Mark McGwire - Damien High School Did Not Sign
• 1982: 2nd round P John Dopson - Delone Catholic High School

Significant Trades

Tigers

• December 5, 1956 traded Ned Garver, Virgil Trucks, Gene Host, Wayne Belardi and cash to the Kansas City A's for Eddie Robinson, Jack Crimian, Jim Finigan and Bill Harrington
• June 14, 1957 traded Earl Torgeson to the Chicago White Sox for Dave Philley
• November 20, 1957 traded Jim Small, Duke Maas, Bill Tuttle, John Tsitouris, Frank House, Jim McManus and Kent Hadley to the Kansas City A's for Gus Zernial, Billy Martin, Tom Morgan, Lou Skizas, Mickey McDermott and Tim Thompson
• February 18, 1958 traded Hal Woodeshick and Jay Porter to the Cleveland Indians for Jim Hegan and Hank Aguirre
• June 15, 1958 traded Ray Boone and Bob Shaw to the Chicago White Sox for Tito Francona and Bill Fischer

Braves

• December 7, 1960 traded Dick Brown, Chuck Cottier, Terry Fox and Bill Bruton to the Detroit Tigers for Frank Bolling and Neil Chrisley
• December 15, 1960 traded Joey Jay and Juan Pizarro to the Cincinnati Reds for Roy McMillan
• November 27, 1962 traded Joe Adcock and Jack Curtis to the Cleveland Indians for Frank Funk, Don Dillard and Ty Cline
• November 30, 1962 traded Don Nottebart, Jim Bolger and Connie Grob to the Houston Colt .45s for Norm Larker
• June 15, 1963 traded Lew Burdette to the St. Louis Cardinals for Gene Oliver and Bob Sadowski
• December 3, 1963 traded Del Crandall, Bob Shaw and Bob Hendley to the San Francisco Giants for Felipe Alou, Ed Bailey, Billy Hoeft and Ernie Bowman
• December 31, 1966 traded Eddie Mathews, Sandy Alomar and Arnold Umbach to the Houston Astros for Dave Nicholson and Bob Bruce

Expos

• December 7, 1978 traded Stan Papi to the Boston Red Sox for Bill Lee
• December 14, 1978 traded Sam Mejias to the Chicago Cubs for Rodney Scott and Jerry White
• July 20, 1979 traded Randy Schafer to the Detroit Tigers for Rusty Staub
• November 27, 1979 traded Dave Cash to the San Diego Padres for Bill Almon and Dan Briggs
• December 7, 1979 traded Dan Schatzeder to the Detroit Tigers for Ron LeFlore
• March 14, 1980 traded Duffy Dyer to the Detroit Tigers for Jerry Manuel
• March 31, 1980 traded Rusty Staub to the Texas Rangers for Chris Smith and LaRue Washington
• August 11 1980 traded Randy Bass to the San Diego Padres for John D'Acquisto
• August 31, 1980 traded Tony Phillips to the San Diego Padres for Willie Montanez
• December 12, 1980 traded Tony Bernazard to the Chicago White Sox for Rich Wortham
• May 29, 1981 traded Ellis Valentine to the New York Mets for Jeff Reardon and Dan Norman
• August 20 1981 traded Willie Montanez to the Pittsburgh Pirates for John Milner
• December 11, 1981 traded Steve Ratzer to the New York Mets for Frank Taveras
• March 31, 1982 traded Larry Parrish and Dave Hostetler to the Texas Rangers for Al Oliver
• August 4, 1982 traded Tom Gorman to the New York Mets for Joel Youngblood
• February 2, 1983 traded Chris Smith to the San Francisco Giants for Jim Wohlford
• May 25, 1983 traded Wallace Johnson to the San Francisco Giants for Mike Vail
• December 7, 1983 traded Al Newman and Scott Sanderson to the San Diego Padres for Gary Lucas
• December 8, 1983 traded Ray Burris to the Oakland Athletics for Rusty McNealy
• December 18, 1983 traded Pat Rooney to the New York Yankees for Tim Burke
• February 27, 1984 traded Al Oliver to the San Francisco Giants for Fred Breining, Max Venable and Andy McGaffigan
• July 1 , 1984 traded Chris Speier to the St. Louis Cardinals for Mike Ramsey
• July 26, 1984 traded Andy McGaffigan and Jim Jefferson to the Cincinnati Reds for Dan Driessen
• August 16, 1984 traded Pete Rose to the Cincinnati Reds for Tom Lawless

Significant Signings

Tigers

• 1957 - signed Dick McAuliffe as an amateur Free Agent (exact date unknown)
• 1958 - signed Don Wert as an amateur free agent (exact date unknown)
• June 30, 1958 - signed Mickey Lolich as an amateur free agent

Braves

• October 24, 1959 signed Rico Carty as an amateur free agent
• September 8, 1960 signed Joe Torre as an amateur free agent
• August 14, 1964 signed Carl Morton as an amateur free agent
• June 17, 1965 signed Ron Reed as an amateur free agent

Expos

• November 28, 1978 signed Duffy Dyer as a free agent from the Pittsburgh Pirates
• January 8, 1979 signed Elias Sosa as a free agent from the Oakland Athletics
• January 19, 1979 signed Andres Galarraga as an amateur free agent
• December 3, 1979 signed Fred Norman as a free agent from the Cincinnati Reds
• December 6, 1979 signed Rowland Office as a free agent from the Atlanta Braves
• February 18 1981 signed Ray Burris as a free agent from the New York Mets
• September 22, 1981 signed Luis Rivera as an amateur free agent
• August 15, 1982 signed Casey Candaele as an amateur free agent
• January 14, 1982 signed Tim Blackwell as a free agent from the Chicago Cubs
• January 17, 1984 signed Miguel Dilone as a free agent from the Pittsburgh Pirates
• January 20, 1984 signed Pete Rose as a free agent from the Philadelphia Phillies
• February 2, 1984 signed Derrel Thomas as a free agent from the Los Angeles Dodgers

Related Sites

• John McHale at the SABR Bio Project