William Harridge (October 16, 1883 – April 9, 1971) was an American executive in
professional baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Mod ...
whose most significant role was as president of the
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 ...
(AL) from 1931 to 1959. He was elected to the
Baseball Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
by the Veterans Committee in 1972.
Early life and career
Will Harridge was born in the
Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
neighborhood of
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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. He worked as a railway ticket clerk before being hired in 1911 as the personal secretary to
Ban Johnson
Byron Bancroft Johnson (January 5, 1864 – March 28, 1931) was an American executive in professional baseball who served as the founder and first president of the American League (AL).
Johnson developed the AL—a descendant of the mino ...
, president of baseball's American League.
Baseball career
In 1927, Harridge became the American League secretary. He then became president of the American League in 1931, held that post until his retirement in 1958, and then was named president emeritus. At that point the league office was moved to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, and Harridge was allowed to keep the Chicago office as well as act as custodian of the American League archive correspondence.
Harridge faced some criticism for his involvement in allowing
Arnold Johnson, a business associate of
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
owners
Dan Topping
Daniel Reid Topping (June 11, 1912 – May 18, 1974) was a part owner and president of the New York Yankees baseball team from 1945 to 1964. During Topping's tenure as chief executive of the Yankees, the team won 14 American League pennants and ...
and
Del Webb, to purchase 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 ...
and move them to
Kansas City rather than allow local owners to purchase the team and keep it in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. He is also criticized by some for his then "non-involvement" in turning a blind eye to the control that the Yankees had over Johnson and the A's.
![William Harridge plaque HOF](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/William_Harridge_plaque_HOF.jpg)
Harridge often cited a 1932 incident as his most difficult decision in baseball. During a July 4 game between the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
and
Washington Senators, a collision occurred at home plate involving Senators outfielder
Carl Reynolds
Carl Nettles Reynolds (February 1, 1903 – May 29, 1978) was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago White Sox (1927–31), Washington Senators (1932, 1936), St. Louis Browns (1933), Boston Red Sox (1934–35) ...
and Yankees catcher
Bill Dickey
William Malcolm Dickey (June 6, 1907 – November 12, 1993) was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees for 19 seasons. Dickey managed the Yankees as a player-manager in ...
. Dickey dropped the ball, but chased down Reynolds and punched him, resulting in a broken jaw. Though Dickey was a star player with the most powerful franchise in baseball, Harridge issued him a $1,000 fine and a thirty-day suspension.
He is more widely known for a ruling that he made in 1951 when dwarf
Eddie Gaedel
Edward Carl Gaedel (June 8, 1925 – June 18, 1961) was the smallest player to appear in a Major League Baseball game.
Gaedel gained recognition in the second game of a St. Louis Browns doubleheader on August 19, 1951. Weighing and standing t ...
signed a contract with
Bill Veeck's
St. Louis Browns
The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...
. Gaedel registered one career plate appearance in August of that year, earning a walk on four straight pitches. Harridge decided that Veeck was making a mockery of baseball and cancelled Gaedel's contract the next day.
[
]
Later life
In 1967, Harridge was driving through Wilmette when he struck and killed architect Barry Byrne of Evanston. Harridge was neither ticketed nor charged in the accident.
Harridge died at age 87 in Evanston, Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
, and is interred in Memorial Park in Skokie, Illinois
Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, neighboring the City of Chicago's northern border. Its population, according to the 2020 census, was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's do ...
Legacy
The American League Championship Series winner's trophy is named the William Harridge Trophy
Major League Baseball presents a variety of annual awards and trophies to recognize both its teams and its players. Three team trophies are awarded annually: one each to the National League and American League champions, and one of the champion of ...
in his honor.[http://fielderschoice.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/overjoyed/ Dave (Tampa Bay Rays fan), "Overjoyed!", Fielder's Choice Baseball Card Blog, April 10, 2009. Retrieved August 17, 2009 (including photo of trophy).]
Footnotes
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harridge, Will
1883 births
1971 deaths
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
American League presidents
Businesspeople from Chicago
American League Championship Series
Hyde Park Academy High School alumni
20th-century American businesspeople