Francis Joseph "Shag" Shaughnessy (April 8, 1883 – May 15, 1969) was an American athlete and sports executive. Shaughnessy played both

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and was an executive in baseball, football and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

. He was born in the United States and moved to Canada in the 1910s, where he was involved with football and ice hockey teams in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. He was later president of the International League of baseball. His son Frank Shaughnessy Jr. also played football and ice hockey, and played ice hockey for the United States in the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 ...

College

Shaughnessy played football and baseball at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

from 1901 to 1904, serving as football captain his senior year.

Baseball

Shaughnessy had brief Major League baseball appearances with the Washington Senators in 1905 and the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

in 1908. Shaughnessy was a minor league manager for 19 years between 1909–1936, compiling a 1148–1012 record. He was General Manager of the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...

from 1932–1934, and a coach for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

in 1928. He served as President of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

from 1936–1960, and invented a playoff system known as the Shaughnessy playoffs. In, 1947, he was inducted in the

International League Hall of Fame The International League Hall of Fame is an American baseball hall of fame which honors players, managers, and executives of the International League (IL). It was created by the International League Baseball Writers' Association in 1947 to honor t ...

, and in 1953 he was presented with the

King of Baseball King of Baseball was a ceremonial title awarded annually from 1951 to 2019 by Minor League Baseball to recognize an individual for their longtime dedication and service to professional baseball. It was awarded during baseball's Winter Meetings a ...

award given by Minor League Baseball.

Football

He introduced the option play to American football while coaching at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. He also was football and baseball coach at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

, and football coach at

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexingto ...

. Shaughnessy was the first professional coach hired in Canadian university football and his full-time appointment at Montreal's

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

in 1912 was not well received by the other teams in the league. In each of his first two years, McGill won the Yates Cup football championship. He coached McGill to a 34-34-2 regular season record in 17 seasons. The 34 victories stood until 1979 as the most by a McGill football coach. Shaughnessy played baseball during the summer in

, where he met his wife. He became involved in Ottawa sports, and was coach of the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

for the 1915 season. A football innovator, Shaughnessy introduced the forward pass to Canadian university football when McGill played

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in an experimental game held on November 5, 1921 at

Percival Molson Memorial Stadium Percival Molson Memorial Stadium (also known in French as ''Stade Percival-Molson''; commonly referred to as Molson Stadium in English or Stade Molson in French) is an outdoor football stadium in Downtown Montreal, on the slopes of Mount Royal, ...

in Montreal. In spite of this, the forward pass was not officially allowed in Canadian football rules until 1929. He was the first football coach in Canada to introduce "X" and "Y" strategic formations and "secondary defence". In 1969, the Shaughnessy Cup was first presented for local football supremacy between McGill and Loyola College. Since 1975, the Cup has been fought for in an annual challenge match between McGill and Concordia University. Shaughnessy was inducted as a builder into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about t ...

in 1963, the

Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (french: Temple de la renommée du baseball canadien) is a museum located in St. Marys, Ontario, Canada. The museum commemorates great players, teams, and accomplishments of baseball in Canada. His ...

in 1983, its inaugural induction year, and the

McGill University Sports Hall of Fame McGill is a surname of Scottish and Irish origin, from which the names of many places and organizations are derived. It may refer to: People * McGill (surname) (including a list of individuals with the surname) * McGill family (Monrovia), a promin ...

in 1997.

Ice hockey

While living in Ottawa, Shaughnessy served from 1914 until 1916 as the manager of the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

. Shaughnessy coached the McGill women's hockey team and was appointed men's hockey coach in 1919, guiding the Redmen to a 61-56-2 record until stepping down in 1927. The 61 victories established a McGill record and since then, has only been surpassed by four other McGill hockey coaches.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaughnessy, Frank 1880s births 1969 deaths People from Amboy, Illinois Baseball players from Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Ice hockey people from Illinois Baseball people from Quebec Bradford Drillers players Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Clemson Tigers baseball coaches Clemson Tigers football coaches Cornell Big Red football coaches Detroit Tigers coaches Fort Wayne Railroaders players McGill Redbirds football coaches McGill University faculty Minor league baseball executives Montgomery Senators players Montreal Royals managers Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Ottawa Rough Riders coaches Philadelphia Athletics players Reading Pretzels players Roanoke Tigers players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Sioux City Soos players South Bend Greens players Sportspeople from Montreal Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Warren Bingoes players Washington and Lee Generals football coaches Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Wellsville Rainmakers players Yale Bulldogs football coaches Baseball coaches from Illinois Freeport Pretzels players Shamokin (minor league baseball) players