Clyde King: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|American baseball player, coach, manager, and executive}}

'''Clyde Edward King''' (born [[May 23]], [[1925]] in [[Goldsboro, North Carolina]]) is a special [[baseball]] advisor to [[George Steinbrenner]], owner of the [[New York Yankees]] of [[United States|American]] [[Major League Baseball]], and has spent over 60 years in the game as a [[pitcher]], [[coach (baseball)|coach]], [[manager]] and [[general manager]].

{{About|the MLB pitcher and manager|the 1920 American Olympic gold medalist|Clyde King (rower)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Clyde King

|image=Clyde King 1957 Hollywood Stars.jpg

|caption=King with the [[Hollywood Stars]], {{circa}} 1957

|position=[[Pitcher]] / [[Coach (baseball)|Coach]] / [[Manager (baseball)|Manager]] / [[General Manager (baseball)|General Manager]]

|birth_date={{Birth date|1924|05|23}}

|birth_place=[[Goldsboro, North Carolina]], U.S.

|death_date={{death date and age|2010|11|02|1924|05|23}}

|death_place=Goldsboro, North Carolina, U.S.

|bats=Switch

|throws=Right

|debutleague=MLB

|debutdate=June 21

|debutyear=1944

|debutteam=Brooklyn Dodgers

|finalleague=MLB

|finaldate=September 27

|finalyear=1953

|finalteam=Cincinnati Redlegs

|statleague=MLB

|stat1label=[[Win–loss record (pitching)|Win–loss record]]

|stat1value=32–25

|stat2label=[[Earned run average]]

|stat2value=4.14

|stat3label=[[Strikeout]]s

|stat3value=150

|stat4label=Managerial record

|stat4value=234–229

|stat5label=Winning %

|stat5value={{Winning percentage|234|229}}

|teams=

'''As player'''

* [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] ({{mlby|1944}}–{{mlby|1945}}, {{mlby|1947}}–{{mlby|1948}}, {{mlby|1951}}–{{mlby|1952}})

* [[Cincinnati Redlegs]] ({{mlby|1953}})

'''As manager'''

* [[San Francisco Giants]] ({{mlby|1969}}–{{mlby|1970}})

* [[Atlanta Braves]] ({{mlby|1974}}–{{mlby|1975}})

* [[New York Yankees]] ({{mlby|1982}})

'''As coach'''

* [[Cincinnati Reds]] ({{mlby|1959}})

* [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] ({{mlby|1965}}–{{mlby|1967}})

* [[New York Yankees]] ({{mlby|1978}}, {{mlby|1981}}–{{mlby|1982}}, {{mlby|1988}})

'''As general manager'''

* [[New York Yankees]] ({{mlby|1985}}–{{mlby|1986}})

}}

'''Clyde Edward King''' (May 23, 1924 – November 2, 2010) was an American [[pitcher]], [[coach (baseball)|coach]], [[Manager (baseball)|manager]], [[general manager (baseball)|general manager]] and front office executive in [[Major League Baseball]].

DuringKing's hiscareer on-fieldin careerbaseball spanned 67 years, including 35 full years with the [[New York Yankees]], whether in uniform as a manager or coach or in the front office in multiple roles, including general manager (1985–86) and special advisor to longtime owner [[George Steinbrenner]].<ref name="NYTobit">[https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/sports/baseball/04king.html Weber, Bruce (3 November 2010), "Clyde King, Who Found Niche as Steinbrenner's Troubleshooter, Dies at 86."] ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref> heHe managed the [[San Francisco Giants]] (1969-701969–70), and [[Atlanta Braves]] (1974-751974–75), andas well as the Yankees (part of 1982), finishing with a career record of 234 &nbsp;wins and 229 defeats (.505).

==Career==

King attended the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]]. A righthanded pitcher, he made his debut with the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] at age 19 in 1944, his first professional season, during the manpower shortage caused by [[World War II]]. Although King would be sent to the [[minor leagues]] for seasoning after the war, he proved to be a solid member of the Brooklyn pitching staff (1944-45, 1947-48, 1951-52), winning 14 games for the 1951 Dodgers. When he finished his major league career with the [[Cincinnati Reds]] in 1953, King had appeared in an even 200 games, winning 32 and losing 25 with an [[earned run average]] of 4.60.

===As player===

Born in [[Goldsboro, North Carolina]], King attended the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]]. A {{convert|6|ft|1|in|abbr=on}}, {{convert|175|lb|abbr=on}} right-handed pitcher, he made his debut with the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] at age 20 in 1944, his first professional season, during the manpower shortage caused by World War II. Although King would be sent to the [[minor leagues]] for seasoning after the war, he would ultimately appear in 165 games over all or parts of six seasons for the Dodgers (1944–45, 1947–48, 1951–52), winning 14 games for the [[1951 Brooklyn Dodgers season|1951 edition]].<ref>{{cite web|author=James Lincoln Ray |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/clyde-king/ |title=Clyde King |publisher=sabr.org |date= |access-date=January 31, 2021}}</ref> He was a member of the pennant-winning [[1947 Brooklyn Dodgers season|1947]] and [[1952 Brooklyn Dodgers season|1952]] Brooklyn clubs, but failed to appear in either [[World Series]].

When he finished his Major League career with the [[Cincinnati Redlegs]] in 1953, King had appeared in an even 200 games, winning 32 and losing 25 with an [[earned run average]] of 4.14. He allowed 524 [[hit (baseball)|hits]] and 189 [[bases on balls]] in 496 [[innings pitched]]. He registered 150 [[strikeout]]s and four [[complete game]]s (in 21 career [[games started]]) with 11 [[save (baseball)|saves]].

Before becoming a major league manager, he led several minor league clubs and served as a coach for the Reds and [[Pittsburgh Pirates]].

===As coach, manager and executive===

King joined the Yankees' front office in 1976 and has played a number of key roles - super scout, pitching coach, general manager and special advisor - since, in addition to managing them for the final 62 games of 1982 (as the replacement for [[Gene Michael]], he won 29 games and lost 33 as the defending [[American League]] champions fell to fifth place in the AL East division).

Before becoming a Major League manager, he led several higher-level [[Minor League Baseball|minor league]] clubs, including the [[Atlanta Crackers]], [[Hollywood Stars]], [[Phoenix Giants]], [[Columbus Jets]] and [[Rochester Red Wings]]. He also served as the MLB pitching coach for the Reds and [[Pittsburgh Pirates]], and roving minor league pitching instructor for the [[St. Louis Cardinals]].

King succeeded [[Herman Franks]] as San Francisco's manager in {{mlby|1969}} after Franks' Giants had finished in second place in the ten-team [[National League (baseball)|National League]] for four successive seasons. In King's [[1969 San Francisco Giants season|first year]] as their skipper, the Giants won 90 games, a two-game improvement over [[1968 San Francisco Giants season|1968]]. But again they were runners-up, this time in the new, six-team [[National League West Division]], three games behind the Braves. King clashed with Giants star [[Willie Mays]] during the year, over a misunderstanding on whether Mays was supposed to play or not in a game against the Astros. According to Mays, King threatened a fine—[[Horace Stoneham]] would not permit it, but [[Chub Feeney]], the general manager, made Mays apologize to King, not wanting to create a rift on the ballclub. "I lost any respect I ever had for King," Mays wrote in his autobiography. "I thought of him as a back stabber, and we didn't talk for the rest of the year (1969)."<ref>{{cite book|last=Mays|first=Willie|title=Say Hey: The Autobiography of Willie Mays|___location=New York|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1988|isbn=0671632922|pages=239–40}}</ref> When the [[1970 San Francisco Giants season|1970 Giants]] got off to only a 19–23 start, King was fired on May 23; San Francisco was trailing Cincinnati's "[[Big Red Machine]]" in the NL West by 12 games at the time.

==External link==

*[http://www.baseball-reference.com/k/kingcl01.shtml Baseball-Reference.com] - career playing statistics and managing record

King then returned to the high minors to manage the [[Richmond Braves]] of the [[Triple-A (baseball)|Triple-A]] [[International League]] for two seasons, followed by a stint as a special assistant to Braves' general manager [[Eddie Robinson (baseball)|Eddie Robinson]] from 1973 through July 23, 1974. That day, with Atlanta one game above .500, Robinson fired skipper [[Eddie Mathews]] and named King interim manager. [[1974 Atlanta Braves season|King's Braves]] responded by posting a 38–25 record and won 88 games—their best performance since 1969. But King's [[1975 Atlanta Braves season|1975 team]] collapsed; it was 58–76 and 31<small>{{fraction|1|2}}</small> games behind the Reds on August 29, 1975, when King was replaced as manager by [[Connie Ryan]].

{{start box}}

{{succession box | title=[[San Francisco Giants|San Francisco Giants Manager]] | before=[[Herman Franks]] | years=1969&ndash;1970| after=[[Charlie Fox]]}}

He then joined the Yankees' front office in 1976 and played a number of key roles—super scout, pitching coach, general manager and special advisor, in addition to managing them for the final 62 games of 1982. Replacing [[Gene Michael]], he won 29 games and lost 33 as the defending [[American League]] champions fell to fifth place in the [[AL East Division]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0710/yankees.managers/content.10.html |title=Clyde King - 1982 - Steinbrenner's Skippers - Photos - SI.com |access-date=2007-10-31 |archive-date=2012-10-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021191414/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0710/yankees.managers/content.10.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> He remained with the Yankees for the rest of his life.<ref name="NYTobit"/>

{{succession box | title=[[Atlanta Braves|Atlanta Braves Managers]] | before=[[Eddie Mathews]] | years=1974-1975| after= [[Connie Ryan]]

}}

==Managerial record==

{{succession box | title=[[New York Yankees/Managers and ownership|New York Yankees Manager]] | before=[[Gene Michael]] | years=1982| after= [[Billy Martin]]

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"

}}

|-

{{end box}}

! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="5"|Regular season !! colspan="4"|Postseason

|-

!Games!!Won!!Lost!!Win %!!Finish!! Won !! Lost !! Win % !! Result

|-

|-

![[1969 San Francisco Giants season|SF]]|| {{mlby|1969}}

||162||{{WinLossPct|90|72}}|| 2nd in NL West || – || – || – || –

|-

![[1970 San Francisco Giants season|SF]]|| {{mlby|1970}}

||42||{{WinLossPct|19|23}}|| fired || – || – || – || –

|-

! colspan="2"|SF total ||204||{{WinLossPct|109|95}}|| || {{WinLossPct|0|0}} ||

|-

![[1974 Atlanta Braves season|ATL]]|| {{mlby|1974}}

||63||{{WinLossPct|38|25}}|| 3rd in NL West || – || – || – || –

|-

![[1975 Atlanta Braves season|ATL]]|| {{mlby|1975}}

||144||{{WinLossPct|58|76}}|| fired || – || – || – || –

|-

! colspan="2"|ATL total ||197||{{WinLossPct|96|101}}|| || {{WinLossPct|0|0}} ||

|-

![[1982 New York Yankees season|NYY]]|| {{mlby|1982}}

||62||{{WinLossPct|29|33}}|| 5th in AL East || – || – || – || –

|-

! colspan="2"|NYY total ||62||{{WinLossPct|29|33}}|| || {{WinLossPct|0|0}} ||

|-

! colspan="2"|Total ||463||{{WinLossPct|234|229}}|| || {{WinLossPct|0|0}} ||

|}

==Personal==

King died in his native Goldsboro at the age of 86,<ref>{{cite news |last=Weber |first=Bruce |date=2010-11-03 |title=Clyde King, Who Found Niche as Steinbrenner's Troubleshooter, Is Dead at 86 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/sports/baseball/04king.html?searchResultPosition=1 |access-date=2024-09-03 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> survived by his wife Norma, their three daughters and sons-in-law, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild (Talley Blackman).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bollinger |first=Rhett |date=2010-11-03 |title=Former big league player, skipper King dies |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101103&content_id=15970542&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105174909/http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101103&content_id=15970542&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb |archive-date=2012-11-05 |access-date=2024-09-03 |website=[[MLB.com]]}}</ref>

His autobiography, ''A King's Legacy, The Clyde King Story,'' was published in 1999. In 2002, he wrote the foreword for ''Baseball in the Carolinas, 25 Essays on the States' Hardball Heritage,'' edited by Chris Holaday.

King was inducted in the Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.

Clyde King's brother, Claude,<ref>{{cite news|title=Claude King|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=king--001cla|website=Baseball-reference.com|date= |access-date=January 31, 2021}}</ref> was a minor league pitcher for several seasons.

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==

{{Baseballstats|br=k/kingcl01|brm=king--001cly}}

*[https://books.google.com/books?id=izIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA53 Branch Rickey's Last Protege: Clyde King], by [[Jerry Green (writer)|Jerry Green]], ''[[Baseball Digest]]'', June 1969

*{{Find a Grave|61073767}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-sports}}

{{succession box|title=[[Atlanta Crackers]] [[manager (baseball)|manager]]|years=1955–1956|before=[[Marv Rackley]]|after=[[Bud Bates]]}}

{{succession box|title=[[Hollywood Stars]] [[manager (baseball)|manager]]|years=1957|before=[[Clay Hopper]]|after=Franchise relocated}}

{{succession box|title=[[Columbus Jets]] [[manager (baseball)|manager]]|years=1958|before=[[Frank Oceak]]|after=[[Cal Ermer]]}}

{{succession box | title=[[Cincinnati Reds]] [[coach (baseball)|pitching coach]]| before=[[Tom Ferrick (baseball)|Tom Ferrick]] | years=1959| after=[[Cot Deal]]}}

{{succession box|title=[[Rochester Red Wings]] [[manager (baseball)|manager]]|years=1959–1962|before=[[Cot Deal]]|after=[[Darrell Johnson]]}}

{{succession box | title=[[Pittsburgh Pirates]] [[coach (baseball)|pitching coach]]| before=[[Don Osborn]] | years=1965–1967| after=[[Vern Law]]}}

{{succession box|title=[[Phoenix Giants]] [[manager (baseball)|manager]]|years=1968|before=[[Bill Werle]]|after=[[Charlie Fox (baseball)|Charlie Fox]]}}

{{succession box|title=[[Richmond Braves]] [[manager (baseball)|manager]]|years=1971–1972|before=[[Mickey Vernon]]|after=[[Bobby Hofman]]}}

{{s-end}}

{{San Francisco Giants managers}}

{{Atlanta Braves managers}}

{{New York Yankees managers}}

{{New York Yankees general managers}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category{{DEFAULTSORT:New York Yankees managers|King, Clyde]]}}

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