Best all-time general managers: No. 7, Ned Hanlon

Despite never formally taking over the Baltimore Orioles, Ned Hanlon deserves his place as the 7th best all time general manager in baseball history.

(Baltimore Orioles, 1892-1898)

Ned Hanlon never owned the Baltimore Orioles nor was he formally appointed by the owner to run them. Yet between his arrival as manager in 1892 and his departure for Brooklyn in 1899, there is no question that Hanlon did run the Orioles.

Even his boss, Baltimore brewer and team owner Harry VonDerHorst, publicly acknowledged as much. So aggressive was Hanlon in his oversight of the team’s affairs that VonDerHorst took to wearing a button on his lapel when he walked the corridors of Baltimore’s Union Grounds so he would not be continually disturbed by complaining fans. The owner’s button contained two words: “Ask Hanlon.”

It was pretty much what VonDerHorst wanted when he hired Hanlon to manage the perennial second-division club shortly after the merger of the National League and American Association in 1892. The Orioles were one of four Association teams that survived the merger, and – under VonDerHorst– they had been awful. In many respects, Hanlon and VonDerHorst were opposites. Where VonDerHorst was brash, outgoing and convivial, Hanlon was quiet and contemplative. VonDerHorst fully enjoyed his own product; Hanlon never drank.

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But most importantly to VonDerHorst, Hanlon was a leader. When Al Spalding took big league stars on a world tour following the 1888 season, Hanlon was chosen to captain one of the teams. Beyond that, Hanlon had managerial experience, having led Pittsburgh in 1889-91. He lost the job when Pirate players rebelled at Hanlon’s insistence on discipline, a rebellion VonDerHorst saw in Hanlon’s favor.

Hanlon possessed something else, although it only began to show itself in Baltimore. He had an extraordinary eye for talent. He could recognize future stars, even among fill-ins of the moment. Thus over the course of two seasons Hanlon engineered some of the most sensational steals in the history of major league trading. Here, with their cumulative Wins Above Average from 1894 through 1896 in parenthesis and the resulting gain to the Orioles, are the most notable:

Hanlon acquired Hughie Jennings (+13.6) from the Louisville Colonels for Tim O’Rourke (-1.4). Jennings, a .136 hitter at the time of the trade, became the starting shortstop on Baltimore pennant winners of 1894-96, averaging .375 during those seasons. O’Rourke was out of the game by 1895. Gain to Baltimore: +15.0 games.
He acquired Dan Brouthers (+1.9) and Wee Willie Keeler (+11.2) from the Brooklyn Bridegrooms for George Treadway (+0.1) and Billy Shindle (-0.9). Lightly used in Brooklyn due to his size, Keeler led the National League in hits for eight consecutive seasons, producing a .424 batting average in 1897. Brouthers drove in 128 runs in 1894. Gain to Baltimore, +13.9 games.
He acquired former teammate Joe Kelley (+13.4) from Pittsburgh for George VanHaltren (+3.0). Kelley averaged .373 through 1896. Gain to Baltimore: +10.4 games.

Together with a few players Hanlon inherited – notably John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson – those acquisitions comprised the core of the Oriole dynasty that raced to three straight National League pennants from 1894 through 1896. Their consistent performance is also a large part of the reason why Hanlon ranks second all-time for average long-term impact.

Largely for the reasons detailed above, he also ranks first all time in both average short-term (+1.83 games) and long-term (+9.80) trade impact. Despite having only functioned as the team’s leader for seven seasons, he ranks third overall in total short-term trade impact (+12.8) and seventh in total long-term trade impact (+58.8). Simply put, Ned Hanlon was the best acquirer of talent via trades in baseball history. If there had been an executive of the year award in the 19^th Century, based on net short term impact Hanlon would have won it in 1894 and again in 1898.

There is irony in the fact that so calm an organizing force as Hanlon presided over what is often regarded as the rowdiest championship aggregation in history. These were the Orioles who became famous in the days of a single umpire for their cheating: cutting bases, blocking baserunners, and stashing spare balls in the long outfield grass. Hanlon certainly left the histrionics to McGraw, Jennings and Kelley. But he, as much as they, was the innovative genius behind all of the tricks and strategies the Orioles are credited with (or blamed for) popularizing.

Following the 1898 season, Hanlon moved with many of his stars to Brooklyn, winning pennants in 1899 and 1900 and continuing there through 1905. That gave him five pennants in seven seasons. He managed Cincinnati in 1906 and 1907, then retired to Baltimore. He was a principal investor in the Baltimore Federal League franchise in 1914-15, and following that league’s collapse Hanlon sued the American and National Leagues in federal court, charging collusion. That suit led in 1922 to the U.S. Supreme Court finding that baseball was exempt from anti-trust laws.

Ned Hanlon died in 1937. His contributions were belatedly recognized by his induction into the Hall of Fame in 1996.

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Ned Hanlon

In the first six categories, values reflect the standard deviation of the GM’s performance above or below the historical mean for that category. Category 7 awards or deducts points for seasons in which the GM’s short-term impact exceeded the margin by which his team either reached post-season or failed to do so. Category 8 represents post-season appearances; in categories 7 and 8 indicated points are based on numbers of teams and post-season berths.

1 Short-term average: +1.31

2 Short-term total: +0.83

3 Long-term average: +2.10

4 Long-term total: +0.44

5 Residual average: +4.89

6 Residual total: -0.11

7 GM’s post-season shares: 0.00

Credit for post-season appearances (1894, +0.75; 1895, +0.75; 1896, +0.75; 1897, +0.75): +3.00

Grand total: +12.46

Next: No. 6, Brian Cashman

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