Best all-time general managers: No. 3, Ed Barrow

As we near the end of our countdown of the best all-time general managers, we come to the man who put together arguably the greatest dynasty in the game’s history

New York Yankees, 1921-1944

Ed Barrow wasn’t the first hired gun to run a big league front office. But Barrow’s success solidified the concept. When New York Yankees owners Jacob Ruppert and Tillinghast Huston hired Barrow, 11 of the 16 major league front offices were still run by team owners or field managers. When Barrow retired as one of the game’s best all-time general managers, hired executives were in the majority, and the days of men of the stripe of Connie Mack and Clark Griffith were numbered.

A failed soap salesman, Barrow teamed with Harry Stevens in the 1890s to sell concessions at ballgames. That led to his involvement with the front office of a minor league club.  Working his way up through league administration, he caught on as manager of the Detroit Tigers in 1903 and 1904, but run-ins with Frank Navin prompted his resignation and he returned to minor league administration and other enterprises.

He was named manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1918, a happy coincidence in that Boston – led by star pitcher Babe Ruth — won the World Series that war-ravaged season. It also put Barrow in a perfect position to capture the attention of Ruppert and Huston when they needed a GM a few years later.

Ruppert and Huston turned to Barrow because they were smart enough businesspeople to understand that their franchise had simply outgrown their ability to operate it.

Barrow didn’t have a direct hand in the Yankees purchase of Ruth, which was consummated a year before his assumption of command. But it is fair to say that Barrow’s task with the Yankees was made substantially easier by Ruth’s presence. As late as 1932, Barrow’s 12^th season in New York, he was still reaping 6.5 games of benefit from that 1920 deal, a remarkable inheritance that in these free agency days will probably never be duplicated.

But Barrow did more than husband the resources he had been given. His personal imprint on the Yankees includes the signing of Lou Gehrig, Earl Combs, Tony Lazzeri, Bill Dickey, Lefty Gomez, Joe DiMaggio, Frank Crosetti, Joe Gordon, and Phil Rizzuto, as well as the acquisition or purchase of Waite Hoyt, Joe Bush, Herb Pennock, Sam Jones, Urban Shocker and Red Ruffing.

Over the years, he built that talent base into a virtually impregnable core. For average long-term impact, Barrow ranks third all-time at +11.89 games per season, trailing only Jim Dunn and Ned Hanlon. His +273.5 game total long-term impact is the fourth highest among best all-time general managers, behind only Barney Dreyfuss, John McGraw and John Schuerholz.

Barrow was named Sporting News Executive Of The Year in 1937 and again in 1942. His best season was actually 1923, when he improved Yankee fortunes by six games. That was largely accomplished by one of his last fleecings of the man he had previously worked for, Harry Frazee, that one bringing over pitcher Herb Pennock. The Yanks didn’t really need Pennock in 1923 – they won the pennant by 16 games – but his two victories in the World Series, including the Game 6 clincher, were certainly welcome.

Barrow’s real strength was his ability to commandeer virtually any rookie talent he needed. He ranks first among best all-time general managers in both average (+10.93) and total (+251.30) long-term rookie production, and here are a few of the reasons: Lou Gehrig, Bill Dickey, Joe Gordon, Tony Lazzeri, Mark Koenig, Frank Crosetti, Phil Rizzuto, Red Rolfe, Joe DiMaggio, Earl Combs, Tommy Henrich and Lefty Gomez.

When the Ruppert estate sold the Yankees to Dan Topping, Del Webb and Larry McPhail in 1945, Barrow included his share in the sale, briefly took an advisory job but soon tired of that and retired. When he died in 1953, Clark Griffith’s Washington Senators were the only team whose operations were still run by an owner.

Ed Barrow

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: +0.39

2 Short-term total: +0.33

3 Long-term average: +1.95

4 Long-term total: +3.58

5 Residual average: +1.14

6 Residual total: +0.08

7 GM’s post-season shares: 0.00

8 Credit for post-season appearances: (1921, +1.0; 1922, +1.0; 1923, +1.0; 1926, +1.0; 1927, +1.0; 1928, +1.0; 1932, +1.0; 1936, +1.0; 1937, +1.0; 1938, +1.0; 1939, +1.0; 1941, +1.0; 1942, +1.0; 1943, +1.0) +14.00

Grand total: +21.47

So that’s our #3 in the countdown of the best all-time general managers. What do you think? Is Barrow too high? Too low? Comment below!