Fred Early McAlister Jr. (March 1, 1928 – November 23, 2008) was an American minor league baseball player and later a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

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), ...

(MLB) who spent 63 years in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. He served as the team's director of scouting from 1980 until 1993.

Biography

McAlister was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals out of high school. He played in the team's

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

during 1945 and from 1948 through 1960; he did not play professionally in 1946 or 1947 due to military service in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. Listed at and , he batted and threw right-handed. During 1155 minor league games, he had appearances at all infield positions and also in left field. He was

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of the Dothan Cardinals in his final season as a player, 1960. After his playing career, McAlister was the Cardinals' assistant farm director from 1967 to 1969. From 1969 until 1979, he was the scouting supervisor and special assignment scout for the Cardinals. McAlister was the scouting director for the Cardinals from 1980 to 1993. In this role, he achieved a string of successful draft picks, with 12 of 13 of the team's first round draft picks in the amateur draft making it to

. From 1981 through 1987, all seven of the team's picks made it to the majors, which were infielder

Bobby Meacham Robert Andrew Meacham (born August 25, 1960) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, who spent his entire six-year big league playing career with the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). Since retiring from active play ...

(

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

), pitcher Todd Worrell (

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

), outfielder-first baseman

Jim Lindeman James William Lindeman (born January 10, 1962) is a former Major League Baseball player. He played mostly in the outfield and at first base, appearing in parts of nine seasons in the majors from 1986 until 1994. Professional career He was the S ...

(

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

), pitcher Mike Dunne (

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

), pitcher

Joe Magrane Joseph David Magrane (born July 2, 1964) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, California Angels, and Chicago White Sox between 1987 and 1996, and is currently a color commentary broadcas ...

(

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

), infielder

Luis Alicea Luis René Alicea de Jesús (born July 29, 1965) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman and coach. Alicea played for the Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, Anaheim Angels, St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox. He played college ba ...

(

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

) and pitcher Cris Carpenter (

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

).Goold, Derrick
"St. Louis Cardinals mourn death of longtime Scouting Director"
''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Dem ...

'', November 24, 2008. Accessed November 25, 2008.

Whitey Herzog Dorrel Norman Elvert "Whitey" Herzog (; born November 9, 1931) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and manager, most notable for his Major League Baseball (MLB) managerial career. He made his MLB debut as a player in 1956 wit ...

, who had managed the team from 1980 to 1990, noted McAlister's ability to find talent, stating that "Every year we'd be picking between 15th and 22nd, but he'd always have his first-rounder get to the big leagues." 70 of the players he selected in the amateur draft played for the Cardinals and another 17 played in the majors for other teams. After stepping down as director of scouting, he remained with the team as a special assignment scout until his death. McAlister was born on March 1, 1928, in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

. He died at age 80 on November 23, 2008, in Katy, Texas.Kaegel, Dick
"Cardinals mourn McAlister: Longtime scout once called 'most valuable person' in organization"
St. Louis Cardinals, November 24, 2008. Accessed November 25, 2008. He was survived by his wife, Patty Neal Hunter McAlister, three daughters and three step-children. McAlister was the grandfather of eleven and the great-grandfather of three.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAlister, Fred 1928 births 2008 deaths Baseball players from Virginia St. Louis Cardinals executives St. Louis Cardinals scouts Major League Baseball executives Sportspeople from Lynchburg, Virginia Johnson City Cardinals players Lynchburg Cardinals players Duluth Dukes players Omaha Cardinals players Columbus Red Birds players Rochester Red Wings players Houston Buffaloes players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Dothan Cardinals players United States Navy sailors