Clyde Edward King (May 23, 1924 – November 2, 2010) was an American
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
,
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
,
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
,
general manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
and front office executive in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
.
King's career in baseball spanned 67 years, including 35 full years with the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
, whether in uniform as a manager or coach or in the front office in multiple roles, including general manager (1985–86) and special advisor to longtime owner
George Steinbrenner
George Michael Steinbrenner III (July 4, 1930July 13, 2010) was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010. He was the longest-serving own ...
.
[Weber, Bruce (3 November 2010), "Clyde King, Who Found Niche as Steinbrenner's Troubleshooter, Dies at 86."](_blank)
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' He managed the
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...
(1969–70) and
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...
(1974–75), as well as the Yankees (part of 1982), finishing with a career record of 234 wins and 229 defeats (.505).
Career
As player
Born in
Goldsboro, North Carolina, King attended the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
. A , right-handed pitcher, he made his debut with the
Brooklyn Dodgers at age 20 in 1944, his first professional season, during the manpower shortage caused by World War II. Although King would be sent to the
minor leagues
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...
for seasoning after the war, he would ultimately appear in 165 games over all or parts of six seasons for the Dodgers (1944–45, 1947–48, 1951–52), winning 14 games for the
1951 edition. He was a member of the pennant-winning
1947 and
1952
Events January–February
* January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
* February 6
** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...
Brooklyn clubs, but failed to appear in either
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
.
When he finished his Major League career with the
Cincinnati Redlegs
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
in 1953, King had appeared in an even 200 games, winning 32 and losing 25 with an
earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...
of 4.14. He allowed 524
hits and 189
bases on balls in 496
innings pitched. He registered 150
strikeouts and four
complete games (in 21 career
games started
In baseball statistics, games started (denoted by GS) indicates the number of games that a pitcher has started for his team. A pitcher is credited with starting the game if he throws the first pitch to the first opposing batter. If a player is li ...
) with 11
saves.
As coach, manager and executive
Before becoming a Major League manager, he led several higher-level
minor league clubs, including the
Atlanta Crackers
The Atlanta Crackers were Minor League Baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966.
History
Atlanta played its first ...
,
Hollywood Stars
The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles-based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels.
Hollywood Stars (192 ...
,
Phoenix Giants
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
,
Columbus Jets
The Columbus Jets were a Minor League baseball team that played in Columbus, Ohio, from 1955 to 1970. The team moved from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada where they were known as the Ottawa Athletics. The Jets were a member of the Triple-A Internationa ...
and
Rochester Red Wings. He also served as the MLB pitching coach for the Reds and
Pittsburgh Pirates, and roving minor league pitching instructor for the
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
.
King succeeded
Herman Franks
Herman Louis Franks (January 4, 1914 – March 30, 2009) was a catcher, coach, manager, general manager and scout in Major League Baseball. He was born in Price, Utah, to Italian-American immigrant parents and attended the University of Utah.
Pl ...
as San Francisco's manager in after Franks' Giants had finished in second place in the ten-team
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...
for four successive seasons. In King's
first year
A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions.
Ar ...
as their skipper, the Giants won 90 games, a two-game improvement over
1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Janu ...
. But again they were runners-up, this time in the new, six-team
National League West Division
The National League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed for the 1969 season when the National League expanded to 12 teams by adding the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos. For purpose of keeping a re ...
, three games behind the Braves. King clashed with Giants star
Willie Mays
Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...
during the year, over a misunderstanding on whether Mays was supposed to play or not in a game against the Astros. According to Mays, King threatened a fine—
Horace Stoneham
Horace Charles Stoneham ( ; April 27, 1903 – January 7, 1990) was an American Major League Baseball executive and the owner of the New York / San Francisco Giants from 1936 to 1976.
Inheriting the Giants, then one of the most prominent franch ...
would not permit it, but
Chub Feeney
Charles Stoneham "Chub" Feeney (August 31, 1921January 10, 1994) was an American front office executive in Major League Baseball. Feeney was vice president of the San Francisco Giants, president of the National League (NL), and president of the Sa ...
, the general manager, made Mays apologize to King, not wanting to create a rift on the ballclub. "I lost any respect I ever had for King," Mays wrote in his autobiography. "I thought of him as a back stabber, and we didn't talk for the rest of the year (1969)." When the
1970 Giants got off to only a 19–23 start, King was fired on May 23; San Francisco was trailing Cincinnati's "
Big Red Machine
The Big Red Machine is a nickname for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team that dominated the National League from 1970 to 1979 and is widely recognized as being among the best in baseball history. The team won six National League West Division ti ...
" in the NL West by 12 games at the time.
King then returned to the high minors to manage the
Richmond Braves of the
Triple-A International League for two seasons, followed by a stint as a special assistant to Braves' general manager
Eddie Robinson from 1973 through July 23, 1974. That day, with Atlanta one game above .500, Robinson fired skipper
Eddie Mathews
Edwin Lee Mathews (October 13, 1931 – February 18, 2001) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman. He played 17 seasons for Boston / Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1952–1966); Houston Astros (1967) and Detroit Tigers (1967– ...
and named King interim manager.
King's Braves responded by posting a 38–25 record and won 88 games—their best performance since 1969. But King's
1975 team collapsed; it was 58–76 and 31
games behind the Reds on August 29, 1975, when King was replaced as manager by
Connie Ryan
Cornelius Joseph Ryan (February 27, 1920 – January 3, 1996) was an American professional baseball second baseman, third baseman, coach and manager who served as interim manager of two Major League Baseball teams, the Atlanta Braves and the ...
.
He then joined the Yankees' front office in 1976 and played a number of key roles—super scout, pitching coach, general manager and special advisor, in addition to managing them for the final 62 games of 1982. Replacing
Gene Michael
Eugene Richard Michael (June 2, 1938 – September 7, 2017), known as Stick, was an American professional baseball player, coach, scout, manager and team executive. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from 1966 to 1975, most promine ...
, he won 29 games and lost 33 as the defending
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
champions fell to fifth place in the
AL East Division. He remained with the Yankees for the rest of his life.
Managerial record
Personal
King died in his native Goldsboro at the age of 86, survived by his wife Norma, their three daughters and sons-in-law, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild (Talley Blackman).
His autobiography, ''A King's Legacy, The Clyde King Story,'' was published in 1999. In 2002, he wrote the foreword for ''Baseball in the Carolinas, 25 Essays on the States' Hardball Heritage,'' edited by Chris Holaday.
King was inducted in the Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.
Clyde King's brother, Claude,
was a minor league pitcher for several seasons.
References
External links
Branch Rickey's Last Protege: Clyde King by
Jerry Green, ''
Baseball Digest
''Baseball Digest'' is a baseball magazine resource, published in Orlando, Florida by Grandstand Publishing, LLC. It is the longest-running baseball magazine in the United States.
History and profile
It was created by Herbert F. Simons, a spor ...
'', June 1969
*
News articlePhoto
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Clyde
1924 births
2010 deaths
Atlanta Braves managers
Atlanta Crackers managers
Atlanta Crackers players
Baseball players from North Carolina
Brooklyn Dodgers players
Cincinnati Redlegs players
Cincinnati Reds coaches
Hollywood Stars managers
Indianapolis Indians players
Major League Baseball executives
Major League Baseball general managers
Major League Baseball pitchers
Major League Baseball pitching coaches
Mobile Bears players
Montreal Royals players
New York Yankees coaches
New York Yankees executives
New York Yankees managers
New York Yankees scouts
People from Goldsboro, North Carolina
Pittsburgh Pirates coaches
Richmond Colts players
Rochester Red Wings managers
San Francisco Giants managers
Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players