Marty McManus

Martin Joseph McManus (March 14, 1900 – February 18, 1966) was an American baseball player and manager.

A native of Chicago, Illinois, McManus spent two years in the United States Army before beginning his professional baseball career in 1920. He played professional baseball for 22 years from 1920 to 1941, including 15 seasons in Major League Baseball, principally as a second baseman (927 games) and third baseman (725 games) for the St. Louis Browns (1920–1926), Detroit Tigers (1927–1931), Boston Red Sox (1931–1933), and Boston Braves (1934). He had four seasons in which he compiled a batting average above .300, including a .333 average in 1923 and a .320 average in 1930. He led the American League with 23 stolen bases in 1930 and with 44 doubles in 1925. In 15 major league seasons, he compiled a .289 batting average (1,926-for-6,660) with 1,008 runs scored, 401 doubles and 88 triples.

McManus also served as a manager or player-manager with several baseball teams, beginning with the Boston Red Sox in 1932 and 1933. He was also a player-manager of the St. Paul Saints in 1935, the Tulsa Oilers in 1936, the Williamsport Grays in 1938 and 1939, the San Antonio Missions in 1940 and 1941, and the Denver Bears in 1947. He also served as a manager in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League for the Kenosha Comets in 1944 and the South Bend Blue Sox in 1945 and 1948. In 1951, he led an effort to unionize professional baseball, football, and basketball players under the umbrella of the American Federation of Labor.

Early years McManus was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1900. He was the son of Irish immigrants, Martin J. and Kate McManus. As a young man, he worked at a Chicago department store. He served in the United States Army in 1918 and 1919 and was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone.

Professional baseball Minor leagues McManus began his professional baseball career in 1920 with the Tulsa Oilers of the Western League. He compiled a .283 batting average and totaled 31 doubles, 11 triples and 10 home runs in 143 games with the Oilers in 1920.

St. Louis Browns On August 12, 1920, McManus was sold by the Tulsa club to the St. Louis Browns. He appeared in only one game during the 1920 season, compiling one triple and one run batted in during three at bats on September 25, 1920. He appeared in 123 games (119 at second base) for the 1924 Browns, compiled the best batting average of his career at .333 in 517 at bats, and led the American League with 44 doubles. but he remained with the Browns.

McManus held out again in 1925, finally signing with the Browns in early April. He appeared in 154 games for the 1925 Browns, all at second base, and compiled a .288 batting average and .371 on-base percentage. He led the American League with 44 doubles and 69 strikeouts and finished 21st in the voting for the league's MVP award. He also ranked among the league's leaders with 65 extra base hits (fourth), 108 runs scored (seventh), 13 home runs (ninth), and 268 total bases (ninth).

Detroit Tigers

On January 15, 1927, McManus was traded by the Browns to the Detroit Tigers in a multi-player deal. At the time of the trade, McManus expressed thanks for being traded away from the Browns and promised to play "his head off" to repay the Tigers for rendering a service in getting him released.

McManus played a total of five years for Detroit, playing at every infield position. In his first year with the Tigers, he appeared in 108 games, 39 at shortstop, 35 at second base, 21 at third base, and six at first base, and compiled a .268 batting average. He appeared in 107 games for the 1931 Tigers, 79 at third base and 21 at second base. However, his batting average dropped nearly 50 points from .320 to .271. In 1932, the Red Sox compiled an 11–44 record through mid-June. The Red Sox compiled a 32–67 record under McManus during the latter half of the 1932 season. McManus was a player-manager in 1932, appearing in 93 games, including 49 at second base and 30 at third base. On October 2, 1933, the Red Sox gave McManus his unconditional release, and he was replaced as manager by Bucky Harris.

Dodgers and Braves

In January 1934, McManus was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers. He compiled a .340 batting average in exhibition games for the Dodgers, but first year manager Casey Stengel concluded that McManus was disgruntled at being with the Dodgers. Accordingly, on April 11, 1934, Stengel released McManus. McManus appeared in 114 games for the Braves, 73 at second base and 37 at third base, and compiled a .276 batting average and a .330 on-base percentage. He appeared in his final major league game at age 34 on September 30, 1934.

Minor league manager On December 7, 1934, McManus was hired as a player-manager for the St. Paul Saints in the American Association. He compiled a .275 batting average for St. Paul in 1935.

In 1936, he returned to the Tulsa Oilers, the team with which he began his professional baseball career, as player-manager. He compiled a .271 batting average for Tulsa in 101 games during the 1936 season.

In December 1937, McManus was hired as player-manager of the Williamsport Grays of the Eastern League. He remained with Williamsport for two years through the 1938 and 1939 seasons. He remained with San Antonio for the 1940 and 1941 seasons.

In April 1944, McManus was hired to manage one of the clubs in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. He began his career in the league as the manager of the Kenosha Comets. He managed the Kenosha squad to the first half championship and lost to Milwaukee in the playoffs. In January 1945, McManus announced that he would return to Kenosha, having rejected an offer to return to men's baseball. He noted: "It is a lot of fun managing those girls. They know how to play the game, catch signals in a hurry and put everything they have into their play." He ended up as manager of the South Bend Blue Sox of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1945. In 1946, he managed the Chicago Bloomer Girls. After compiling a 54–75 record with Denver in 1947, McManus resigned to return to the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Managerial record Team Year Regular season PostseasonGamesWonLostWin %Finish Won Lost Win % ResultBOS 993267 8th in AL – – – –BOS 1496386 7th in AL – – – –Total 248 95 153 0 0 –

Family and later years

McManus married Norma Ida Wahl on April 13, 1925, in St. Louis, Missouri.

In 1951, McManus led an effort to unionize professional baseball, football, and basketball players under the umbrella of the American Federation of Labor.

McManus died in 1966, shortly after undergoing cancer surgery, at Cochran Veterans Hospital in St.Louis, Missouri. He was 65 years old. He was buried at Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum in St. Louis.