Jimmy Dykes

James Joseph Dykes (November 10, 1896 – June 15, 1976) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a third and second baseman from through , most notably as a member of the Philadelphia Athletics dynasty that won three consecutive American League pennants from 1929 to 1931 and, won the World Series in 1929 and 1930. Dykes played his final six seasons for the Chicago White Sox.

Dykes batted over .300 five times during his career and was a member of one of the most feared batting orders in the history of baseball, featuring three future Baseball Hall of Fame members (Al Simmons, Jimmie Foxx, and Mickey Cochrane). He also excelled as a defensive player, leading the American League in assists once at second base and twice at third base, ending his career sixth in AL history in games at third base (1,253), and seventh in putouts (1,361), assists (2,403), total chances (3,952) and double plays (199).

At the time of his retirement, Dykes ranked eighth in American League history in games played (2,282), and ninth in at bats (8,046). He holds the Athletics franchise record for career doubles (365), and formerly held team marks for career games and at bats.

After his playing career, Dykes became the winningest manager in Chicago White Sox history, with 899 victories over parts of 13 seasons, though his teams never finished above third place; he later became the first manager in history to win 1,000 games without capturing a league pennant.

Early life Born in Philadelphia, Dykes played for three local teams at age 16 in 1913. The first was "his father's Penn Street Boys Club"; the second one paid 50 cents a game plus carfare (to Ardmore on the Main Line); the third paid $1 a game. By 19, Dykes played in the Delaware County League, which the major leagues declared an outlaw league a few years later, for infringing their control of the professional sport.

Major league career Dykes began his major league career on May 6, 1918, as a second baseman for the Athletics, and served in the wartime Army after the season ended. He spent most of 1919 in the minor leagues after reporting out of shape in spring training, but quickly became one of manager Connie Mack's favorite players with his defensive versatility and easygoing manner, and remained with the club for the next 14 years, primarily at third base.

With powerful wrists He was named team MVP in 1924 and placed eighth in the league MVP vote in 1927.

In one 1927 game, he played every position except catcher and left fielder, even appearing as a relief pitcher. In 1929, Dykes had a career-high .327 batting average and was ninth in the American League in slugging, helping the Athletics win their first American League pennant in 15 years by 18 games over the New York Yankees of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

As a manager, he proved more combative and argumentative than he had been as a player, and was often fined and suspended; his 62 ejections were among the all-time top ten when he retired.

Dykes was named the Baltimore Orioles' first manager on 11 November 1953, succeeding Marty Marion after the franchise relocated from St. Louis. The appointment was made by Arthur Ehlers who had become the Orioles' general manager sixteen days prior after resigning from a similar position with the Athletics. In his only season with the team, he went 54–100 — the only 100 loss season in his managerial career. Dykes left in a team reorganization which ended with Paul Richards becoming both field and general manager in 1955. After 35 years in the American League, Dykes became a coach with the National League's Cincinnati Redlegs, leading them as interim manager for the last 41 games of the 1958 season after Birdie Tebbetts was fired. However, he came back to the AL as manager of the Detroit Tigers in 1959. The Tigers team had lost 15 of their first 17 games under Bill Norman before being fired one month into the season at which Dykes was hired. His 1959 team went 74–63 (while finishing 76–78 overall), good for 4th place and 18 games behind his old White Sox team. He managed them to a 44–52 record in 1960.

In a 1954 news story, Dykes was characterized as generally well liked by the players under him. "He's a pretty good guy,"

Death Dykes died in Philadelphia at age 79.

Managerial record Team Year Regular season PostseasonGamesWonLostWin %Finish Won Lost Win % ResultCWS 1374988 8th in AL – – – –CWS 1527478 5th in AL – – – –CWS 1518170 3rd in AL – – – –CWS 1548668 3rd in AL – – – –CWS 1486583 6th in AL – – – –CWS 1548569 4th in AL – – – –CWS 1548272 4th in AL – – – –CWS 1547777 3rd in AL – – – –CWS 1486682 6th in AL – – – –CWS 1548272 4th in AL – – – –CWS 1547183 7th in AL – – – –CWS 1497178 6th in AL – – – –CWS 301020 resigned – – – –CWS total 1839 899 940 0 0 – PHA 1547084 6th in AL – – – –PHA 1547975 4th in AL – – – –PHA 1545995 7th in AL – – – –PHA total 462 208 254 0 0 – BAL 15454100 7th in AL – – – –BAL total 154 54 100 0 0 – CIN 412417 4th in NL – – – –TEAM total 41 24 17 0 0 – DET 1377463 4th in AL – – – –DET 964452 traded – – – –DET total 233 118 115 0 0 – CLE 582632 4th in AL – – – –CLE 1607783 5th in AL – – – –CLE total 218 103 115 0 0 – Total 2947 1406 1541 0 0 –