John W. Mullen (September 30, 1924 – April 3, 1991) was an American

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), ...

executive from 1947 to 1991 with the Boston / Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves and the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

. Born in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, Mullen served as the

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 ...

director and head of minor league operations with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves from to . In , Mullen became the executive assistant to the

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 ...

of the

. He served as acting general manager from July 10 to August 7, 1975, when

Tal Smith Talbot Merton Smith (born September 27, 1933) is an American former professional baseball executive who has served in high baseball operations positions—including general manager and club president—as well as the founder of a firm that advises ...

assumed the permanent GM role. He remained with Houston until . Mullen then returned to the Braves as their general manager in May 1979 after the sudden death of Bill Lucas. Led by sluggers

Dale Murphy Dale Bryan Murphy (born March 12, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player. During an 18-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) (–), he played as an outfielder, catcher, and first baseman for the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphi ...

and

Bob Horner James Robert Horner (born August 6, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball and the Nippon Professional Baseball league as a third baseman and a first baseman from to , most prominently as a ...

, the Braves won the

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 ...

championship during Mullen's tenure in this position. After being replaced by

Bobby Cox Robert Joe Cox (born May 21, 1941) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Cox played for the New York Yankees and managed the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays. He is a member of ...

in 1986, Mullen served as vice president and assistant general manager of the Braves until 1990. John Mullen died at age 66 in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

, on Wednesday, April 3, 1991, having been found dead in his hotel room that morning. He was survived by his wife, Clair; a daughter, Kathleen; and two sons, Christopher and Richard. Said Cox upon Mullen's death, "John had been with the Braves since their Boston days. No one has done more for the Braves than John Mullen. We'll all miss him."Barnes, Craig, "Braves' Mullen Dead at 66,"

Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...

, April 4, 1991 The Braves wore his initials, JWM, on the right sleeves of their jerseys during the 1991 season.

References

External links

Baseball America.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullen, John Atlanta Braves executives Boston Braves executives Milwaukee Braves executives Houston Astros executives Major League Baseball executives Major League Baseball general managers 1991 deaths 1924 births