Emmett O'Donnell

Emmett "Rosy" O'Donnell

• School United States Military Academy
• High School Manual Training High School (Brooklyn)

• Born September 15, 1906 in Brooklyn, NY USA
• Died December 26, 1971 in Washington, DC USA

Biographical Information

Major General Emmett O'Donnell was unanimously elected Commissioner of baseball on August 21, 1951, to succeed Happy Chandler. He never served in the position, however, as President Harry Truman refused to release him from active duty as the United States was engaged in the Korean War at the time.

Emmett O'Donnell was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1906 and graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1928. He had a strong athletic background, but not one in baseball: he played halfback for the Army football team and later became assistant football coach at West Point from 1934 to 1938 while serving in the Army Air Corps. He had attained the rank of major in 1941 when he was sent to the Philippines. He was involved in a number of battles in the Pacific theater of World War II, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross. By the end of the conflict, he had been promoted to Major General and became part of the newly-formed United States Air Force. He was deployed to Japan in 1950 at the beginning of the Korean War, serving there until early 1951.

General O'Donnell was a prominent public figure in the immediate post-World War II period, first as one of the early advocates of the creation of a separate Air Force, and later as a critic of US strategy in Korea (he would have been in favor of intensive bombings of strategic installations in China itself, or of the use of atomic weapons in the conflict). He may well have been in search of a new career outlet by mid-1951, when he was first approached about his interest to serve as baseball Commissioner. Chandler had been dismissed at the 1950 Winter Meetings in what was a surprise vote, and there was no obvious candidate to succeed him. With the military at a very high level of popularity in the United States, a number of names of Generals were tossed around as possible successors to the former Governor of Kentucky, but not O'Donnell's.

On August 21, 1951, the owners met and elected O'Donnell unanimously. His name had apparently been put forward by Detroit Tigers owner Walter "Spike" Briggs. This was reported by The Sporting News on August 29th, but by that point, it had become clear that O'Donnell would not accede to the position, as President Truman did not want to release him from service while a war was going on. It is not clear why the owners would not have made some tentative approaches in Washington before putting O'Donnell's name up for approval, but in any case, the election led nowhere. A month later, the owners convened again, and this time chose sportswriter Ford Frick as the new commissioner.

Emmett O'Donnell pursued his military career until 1963 when he retired from the Air Force with the rank of full general. He continued to be involved in sports on the side, serving as one of the administrators of the military's involvement in the 1952 Pan-American Games in Mexico City, and then serving on the United States Olympic Committee and as a delegate to the Amateur Athletic Union. He died in 1971 with his role in baseball history a mere footnote to a long and illustrious career.

Further Reading

• Bob Bailey: "The First Unknown Soldier: General Emmett O'Donnell, Baseball Commissioner", in The National Pastime: A Review of Baseball History, Society for American Baseball Research, Cleveland, OH, number 26 (May 2006), pp. 115-118.