Ed Barrow

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1960 Fleer #23 Ed Barrow

Edward Grant Barrow
(Cousin Ed)

Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1953

BR Manager page

Biography[edit]

Ed Barrow managed the Paterson Silk Weavers of the 1896 Atlantic League and is credited with discovering Honus Wagner that year. He then was president of the Atlantic League for the next three years.

In 1900, Barrow became manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Eastern League. The club finished second in 1901 and won the EL pennant the next season.

He got his first chance at managing in the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers during the 1903 and 1904 seasons, when the team finished 5th and 7th respectively. In 1905, he went to the Indianapolis Indians to manage and guided the club to a 69-83, 6th-place finish. Back with Toronto in 1906, he piloted the team to last at 46-88. After three years away from the bench, he managed the Montreal Royals in the 1910 EL to 5th place at 71-80.

From 1912-1917, Barrow was president of the EL (now known as the International League). During that time, he led two attempts to turn the League into a third major league, first as a competitor to the Federal League, then on its own. His plan included taking the four strongest Eastern league franchises - Baltimore, Buffalo, Toronto and Newark - and combining them with four franchises form the American Association. Both plans failed because Barrow did not obtain the prior support of Major League owners, and team owners from cities in the Eastern League and American Association which would have been left out of the proposed Union League of which Barriow would have been president. The league was struggling to survive during those years, with two of its franchises - Jersey City and Newark - having gone into receivership in 1915 and being run by Barrow himself in the interim. At the end of 1917, league owners, upset with Barrow's plans, voted to cut down his salary, at which point Barrow resigned his position.

He was made the manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1918. He won the World Series in his first year with the Red Sox, but managed the team only two more years as owner Harry Frazee began selling the contracts of star players. He is credited for the momentous decision to turn left-handed pitcher Babe Ruth into an outfielder.

Ed then served as General Manager of the Yankees from 1921 to 1944, during which the team emerged as the powerhouse in Major League Baseball. Barrow was active in establishing one of the strongest farm systems in baseball during this period.

Barrow was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 21, 1953 by the Committee on Baseball Veterans. He died later that year in Port Chester, NY at age 85. Ed Barrow is interred in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York.

On April 15, 1954, the Yankees dedicated a plaque to Barrow, which first hung on the center field wall at Yankee Stadium, near the flagpole and the monuments to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Miller Huggins, and later in the Stadium's Monument Park. The plaque called him "Moulder of a tradition of victory."

Notable Achievements[edit]


Preceded by
Frank Dwyer
Detroit Tigers Manager
1903-1904
Succeeded by
Bobby Lowe
Preceded by
Jack Barry
Boston Red Sox Manager
1918-1920
Succeeded by
Hugh Duffy
Preceded by
N/A
New York Yankees General Manager
1921-1944
Succeeded by
Larry MacPhail

Year-by-Year Managerial Record[edit]

Year Team League Record Finish Organization Playoffs Notes
1895 Wheeling Nailers Interstate League 34-22 2nd none League disbanded July 15
1896 Paterson Silk Weavers Atlantic League 74-60 3rd none
1899 Paterson Giants Atlantic League -- none replaced Jack Thornton / replaced by Abner Powell
1900 Toronto Maple Leafs Eastern League 63-67 3rd (t) none
1901 Toronto Maple Leafs Eastern League 74-52 2nd none
1902 Toronto Maple Leafs Eastern League 85-42 1st none none League Champs
1903 Detroit Tigers American League 65-71 5th Detroit Tigers
1904 Detroit Tigers American League 32-46 -- Detroit Tigers replaced by Bobby Lowe on July 26
Montreal Royals Eastern League 5th none none replaced Charlie Atherton
1905 Indianapolis Indians American Association 69-83 6th none
Toronto Maple Leafs Eastern League 8th none none replaced Dick Harley
1906 Toronto Maple Leafs Eastern League 46-88 8th none
1918 Boston Red Sox American League 75-51 1st Boston Red Sox World Series Champs
1919 Boston Red Sox American League 66-71 6th Boston Red Sox
1920 Boston Red Sox American League 72-81 5th Boston Red Sox

Further Reading[edit]

  • Dan Levitt: "Edward Grant Barrow", in David Jones, ed.: Deadball Stars of the American League, SABR, Potomac Books, Inc., Dulles, VA, 2006, pp. 464-466.
  • Dan Levitt: Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees' First Dynasty, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, 2008.
  • Dan Levitt: "Ed Barrow, the Federal league, and the Union League", The National Pastime, SABR, Volume 28 (2008), pp. 97-103.

Related Sites[edit]