Former AL president, Hall of Famer Lee MacPhail dies at 95
Lee MacPhail, a longtime baseball executive and former American League president who followed in the footsteps of his father, died Thursday night at his home in Delray Beach, Fla. He was 95.
MacPhail had been the oldest living member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. His father, Larry MacPhail, also is enshrined in Cooperstown, N.Y., making them the only father and son to receive the honor.
During a 45-year career in baseball, Lee MacPhail served as general manager and president of the Baltimore Orioles and was the general manager of the New York Yankees before becoming the AL president from 1974 to 1983. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1998 by the Veterans Committee.
His father was a co-owner, president and GM of the Yankees after working in various executive capacities with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
"Baseball history has lost a great figure in Lee MacPhail, whose significant impact on the game spanned five decades," said Jane Forbes Clark, the Hall of Fame's chairman of the board. "As a Hall of Fame executive, Lee developed one of the game's strongest farm systems for the New York Yankees before serving as American League president for 10 years. He will always be remembered in Cooperstown as a man of exemplary kindness and a man who always looked after the best interests of the game."
During MacPhail's term as AL president, Toronto and Seattle were added as expansion franchises and the designated-hitter rule was developed. He also ruled on the famous George Brett pine-tar incident and assisted in negotiations that ended the players' strike in 1981.
After MacPhail resigned his AL post in 1983, he stayed involved in the game as president of the Major League Baseball Players Relations Committee and as a member of the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors.
There was no immediate announcement on memorial services for MacPhail.
