Frick, Ford

Ford Frick, in full Ford Christopher Frick, (born Dec. 19, 1894, Wawaka, Ind., U.S.—died April 8, 1978, Bronxville, N.Y., U.S.), American baseball journalist and executive who was instrumental in the founding of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Between 1923 and 1934, Frick covered the New York Yankees for the New York Evening Journal, and in 1930 he also began to work as a radio announcer. In 1934 he was elected president of the National League and served in that capacity until 1951. One of his first acts as president was to suggest adding a Hall of Fame to a proposed national baseball museum. Frick’s modified proposal proved to be extremely popular among baseball executives and writers, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum opened in 1939. Another hallmark of Frick’s tenure as National League president occurred in 1947 when Jackie Robinson made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers and broke major league baseball’s colour barrier. Frick adamantly supported Robinson and the integration of baseball.

In 1951 Frick became the third commissioner of baseball and served two seven-year terms before retiring in 1965. As commissioner, he approved the first franchise relocations in 50 years: the Boston Braves to Milwaukee in 1953, the St. Louis Browns to Baltimore in 1954, and the Philadelphia Athletics to Kansas City in 1955. In 1958 the movement continued with the Brooklyn Dodgers going to Los Angeles and the New York Giants to San Francisco. Frick also oversaw the expansion of the major leagues with new franchises in the early 1960s: American League teams were awarded to Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles in 1961 and National League teams to New York and Houston in 1962. As commissioner, Frick is also remembered for his insistence that a distinction be made between Babe Ruth’s single-season record of 60 home runs in a 154-game season and Roger Maris’s record of 61 home runs in a 162-game season. Frick was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1970.