This put up is a part of a sequence overlaying the 2024 Contemporary Baseball Era Committee Managers/Executives/Umpires poll, overlaying candidates in these classes who made their biggest affect from 1980 to the current. For an introduction to the poll, see right here. The eight candidates might be voted upon on the Winter Meetings in Nashville on December 3, and anybody receiving at the least 75% of the vote from the 16 committee members might be inducted in Cooperstown on July 21, 2024 together with any candidates elected by the BBWAA.
Hank Peters
In a profession that spanned over 4 many years, from 1946 to ’91, Hank Peters helped lay the groundwork for 2 powerhouses: the mid-Nineteen Seventies A’s as an government with their Kansas City forerunners, and the mid-Nineteen Nineties Cleveland squad because the crew’s president and basic supervisor from ’87-91. In between these stints, he served as the overall supervisor of the Orioles from 1975 to ’87, navigating the daybreak of free company and making key trades that helped the crew win at the least 90 video games six occasions, highlighted by a pennant in ’79 and a championship in ’83.
Peters wasn’t notably colourful, however he was meticulous with out being overbearing, with a eager eye for expertise. From his Washington Post obituary in 2015: “Patient and unflappable, Mr. Peters did most of his work away from the public spotlight. The Baltimore Sun once likened his laid-back persona to that of a ‘rubber tree plant in an insurance office.’” Within the aforementioned Sun column, from 1985, his admirers discovered him to be “a rock,” “a great organizer, a great detail man,” and “the consummate baseball man.”
Peters is the one basic supervisor among the many eight candidates on this poll, although Lou Piniella served in that position briefly with the Yankees. He’s one among solely two executives on the poll, together with former National League president Bill White, whose credentials additionally embrace stardom as a participant and a stretch as a pioneering broadcaster.
Henry John Peters Jr. was born on September 16, 1924, in St. Louis, Missouri. He grew up close to Sportsman’s Park, which served as the house area for each the Cardinals and the Browns from 1920 till the latter crew relocated to Baltimore and was renamed the Orioles in 1953 (foreshadowing!). While Peters performed baseball rising up, he wasn’t ok to play professionally. After becoming a member of the Army in March 1943, he spent three years within the service, together with 27 months with infantry and armored divisions in England, France, and Germany.
After being discharged in 1946, Peters briefly attended enterprise faculty earlier than answering a newspaper advert for a job with the Browns group. Farm director Jim McLaughlin employed him to be the assistant director of their minor-league camp in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He was promoted to assistant farm director in 1950, at which level the crew had 13 separate associates, and retained that place when the crew was bought to Bill Veeck the following yr. But when the Browns moved to Baltimore after the 1953 season, the brand new possession dismissed all the entrance workplace apart from McLaughlin (some sources say that Peters refused to maneuver with the crew).
Peters spent 1954 because the GM of the impartial Burlington Bees of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League, then was employed to be the farm director of the Kansas City Athletics, who had simply moved from Philadelphia. At the time, the crew employed solely three scouts, operated on shoestring budgets, and was virtually a farm crew of the Yankees given the frequency of trades between the 2 golf equipment. When proprietor Arnold Johnson died, the A’s have been bought to Charles O. Finley, who was much more of a penny-pincher than Johnson. Peters lasted simply 4 months beneath the brand new regime earlier than being fired for signing lefty Bill Landis for a $35,000 bonus with out clearing it with Finley.
Peters spent one season with the Reds, reuniting with former Browns proprietor/GM Bill DeWitt, by then the Reds’ GM. With Finley realizing the error of his methods (a rarity), Peters was rehired because the A’s farm director in December 1961. In that capability, he helped Bert Campaneris, whom the crew had signed earlier that yr however then launched, safe a visa to return to the United States; he was one of many final gamers to go away Cuba earlier than Castro’s regime cracked down on emigration, and the primary key member of Oakland’s dynasty to affix the group. In 1964, the final yr earlier than the novice draft was launched, Peters signed future Hall of Famers Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers, in addition to future All-Stars Blue Moon Odom and Joe Rudi. Like Campaneris, all 4 would play pivotal roles on the three-time champions.
Peters took over GM duties in 1965, and within the new draft oversaw the A’s choices of Rick Monday (the general high decide), Sal Bando, and Gene Tenace. The final two have been a part of that championship core, as was Ken Holtzman, whom the A’s acquired from the Cubs in trade for Monday in November 1971. After the A’s misplaced 103 video games in 1965, Finley tried to rent Dodgers scouting director Al Campanis as GM, and when he was rebuffed, promoted Eddie Lopat above Peters, who noticed the handwriting on the wall and took a job with Cleveland. In 1967 he grew to become the crew’s director of participant personnel and minor league operations. While the crew gained 86 video games in 1965, possession slashed the crew’s farm funds by one-third, guaranteeing years of distress. From 1969 via ’71, Cleveland misplaced 287 video games.
At the tip of the 1971 season, Peters grew to become the president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, overseeing all the minor leagues. He drew reward for his 4 seasons in that position as he labored to strengthen the footing of the minors by advocating for native possession of minor league groups, creating participant growth contracts, and resuscitating struggling circuits just like the New York-Penn League and the Northwest League. He additionally proposed the institution of requirements for stadiums, lighting, and transportation, although a few of these proved to be too costly to implement on the time.
In November 1975, Peters accepted what had been nearly an annual invitation from Frank Cashen to exchange him because the Orioles’ government vp and GM, a transfer that will enable Cashen to change into the senior VP of gross sales and advertising for Carling National Brewery, which was owned by Orioles proprietor Jerry Hoffberger. The Orioles had been the AL’s preeminent powerhouse, successful three straight pennants beneath Earl Weaver from 1969-71 with a championship within the center yr. While that they had gained AL East titles in 1973 and ’74, they have been a crew in transition, with Frank Robinson traded away after the ’71 season, and Brooks Robinson getting old.
Per week earlier than Opening Day, Peters pulled off a blockbuster. With free company on the horizon within the wake of the Messersmith-McNally ruling, Finley was dismantling his crew. In trade for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez, and Paul Mitchell, Peters obtained not solely Holtzman but additionally Reggie Jackson, plus a minor leaguer. Jackson held out, lacking the crew’s first 16 video games, however lastly agreed to a one-year, $200,000 deal. “I decided to report because of the consistent humanness and sensitivity toward me on the part of Hank Peters,” the slugger advised reporters.
On June 15, Peters flipped Holtzman to the Yankees as a part of a 10-player deal that introduced in three gamers – catcher Rick Dempsey, starter Scott McGregor, and lefty reliever Tippy Martinez — who would play outstanding roles on the Orioles’ subsequent two pennant winners. The 1976 season wasn’t Baltimore’s yr, nevertheless; the Orioles completed 88-74, second behind the Yankees, and Jackson departed to signal a five-year, $2.9 million take care of New York. It was a big blow, as Peters hoped to retain Jackson. “[A]t the time, we didn’t even know what form the reserve system would take… I felt certain Jackson would report and that he was signable,” stated Peters in 1979. The crew additionally misplaced All-Star second baseman Bobby Grich and 20-game winner Wayne Garland to free company. The entire saga underscored Peters’ perception that Orioles’ want to take care of a powerful farm system given their modest revenues.
Despite the departures, the Orioles improved to 97 wins in 1977, with Doug DeCinces flourishing because the full-time third baseman and rookie Eddie Murray sharing DH and first base duties. After the season, Peters traded Rudy May, who had been acquired within the Yankees blockbuster, to the Expos in a six-player deal that introduced in reliever Don Stanhouse and outfielder Gary Roenicke, two extra gamers who would determine prominently on the 1979 crew.
The 1978 crew slipped to fourth within the AL East regardless of successful 90 video games, however the subsequent yr they went 102-57 and gained the division title. Roenicke (in a potent left area platoon with waiver pickup John Lowenstein), Murray, and Ken Singleton carried the offense, whereas McGregor was a part of a powerful five-man rotation and Stanhouse and Martinez the crew’s two high relievers. In the postseason, the Orioles beat the Angels within the ALCS earlier than squandering a three-games-to-one lead over the Pirates in an exciting World Series, shedding in seven video games.
Behind the scenes, Peters’ groundwork to enhance the Orioles’ radio and tv offers paid off, serving to attendance climb from 1.06 million in 1978 to 1.68 million in ’79. That increase and the mid-1979 sale of the crew to Edward Bennett Williams put the crew on firmer monetary footing. The Sporting News named Peters its Executive of the Year for 1979.
The Orioles continued to play at a really excessive stage whereas developing simply brief, going 100-62 in 1980 however ending three video games behind the Yankees, then two video games out in every half of the strike-torn ’81 season. The crew overcame a 6-13 begin to win 94 video games in 1982, although they misplaced the division title to the Brewers on the ultimate day of the season. That was the crew’s final season beneath the 51-year-old Weaver (although he would come out of retirement) and the rookie marketing campaign of shortstop Cal Ripken Jr., son of the longtime Orioles coach and a second-round draft decide in 1978, on Peters’ watch. Ripken, who was truly the crew’s fourth decide of that draft, was introduced as a pitcher-shortstop — many scouts had seen extra upside in him on the mound — and solely after inner debate (which included his father) was the choice made to have him attempt the infield first.
The 6-foot-4 Ripken reached the majors as a 3rd baseman in August 1981, with the place opened for him by Peters’ commerce of DeCinces to the Angels that winter. Within the group, it was Weaver who most believed the large rookie may deal with shortstop, however he didn’t get to maneuver him there on a everlasting foundation till July 1, 1982. The relaxation is historical past, as Ripken gained AL Rookie of the Year honors that yr and his first of two MVP awards the following yr, kicking off a Hall of Fame profession. On the opposite hand, sixth-round 1978 decide Mike Boddicker, an undersized righty whom Weaver had been much less eager on, broke via in 1983 beneath new supervisor Joe Altobelli, serving to the Orioles win 98 video games and the AL East. Boddicker gained ALCS MVP honors on the power of a 14-strikeout shutout of the White Sox, whereas 1979 draft decide Storm Davis and Martinez mixed for a 10-inning shutout within the Game 4 clincher. The light-hitting Dempsey earned World Series MVP honors with 5 extra-base hits whereas shepherding the pitching employees to a 1.60 ERA, with standout contributions from McGregor and Boddicker. The Orioles gained their first championship since 1970, and Peters once more gained Executive of the Year honors.
The remainder of Peters’ tenure in Baltimore didn’t go so easily, as Williams asserted himself as a extra hands-on proprietor. The Orioles sank to 85 wins in 1984 and 83 in ’85 after the Williams-driven additions of free brokers Fred Lynn and Lee Lacy. In June 1985, with the crew 29-26, the proprietor fired Altobelli and coaxed Weaver out of retirement. Under Weaver the crew went 59-47 via August in 1986, then misplaced 42 of their closing 56 video games to complete 73-89, final within the division for the primary time. Weaver re-retired and the senior Ripken changed him, however the Orioles sank additional to 67-95. Though the 63-year-old Peters had two years remaining on his contract, Williams fired him. “I know I didn’t get smart overnight, and I didn’t get dumb overnight either,” he stated at his farewell press convention whereas additionally admitting he was “relieved to be relieved,” notably given the house owners’ intrusions.
Peters wasn’t out of labor lengthy. Cleveland, which had misplaced 101 video games in 1987, employed him to function president and GM, laying the groundwork for future success. “When I took the job I told [owner] Dick Jacobs I would stay three or four years and that I didn’t expect to win during this period,” Peters later stated. “But I said, ‘What I’ll try to do is give you the foundation so that you will someday become a winner.’ So he gave me a free hand, and I mean a free hand. He provided the money.”
Peters tapped the Orioles’ group for entrance workplace expertise, bringing with him ousted farm director Tom Giordano to be his director of baseball operations and Dan O’Dowd to be his farm director. A yr later, he added John Hart, whom he had employed as a minor league manger in 1982 and who had risen to change into the large membership’s third base coach; the intent was to arrange him to take over GM duties. The crew averaged 76 wins from 1988-90, then bottomed out to 57-105 in ’91, however the groundwork was certainly being laid. In June 1988, Peters selected future employees anchor and three-time All-Star Charles Nagy with the seventeenth decide of the draft and the following yr discovered a future Hall of Famer within the thirteenth spherical in slugger Jim Thome. In December 1989, Peters despatched Joe Carter to the Padres in trade for future All-Stars Sandy Alomar Jr. and Carlos Baerga. In 1991, he tabbed future All-Star Manny Ramirez with the thirteenth decide and fired supervisor John McNamara, naming first base coach Mike Hargrove to exchange him.
In September 1991, the 67-year-old Peters retired, handing the reins to Hart. The crew would go on to flourish beneath Hart and Hargrove, with the aforementioned acquisitions taking part in pivotal roles first in snapping a seven-year streak of sub-.500 seasons in 1994 after which making six postseason appearances whereas successful two pennants from ’95-2001.
Peters, who died in 2015 on the age of 90, definitely led a really fascinating and productive profession that left its mark on three completely different franchises within the Nineteen Seventies, ’80s, and ’90s. Is it a Hall of Fame profession? The drawback for Peters’ case is that the ranks of basic supervisor are greater than a bit of underrepresented in Cooperstown, partially as a result of the place didn’t actually come into focus till the second half of the twentieth century. Of the 26 non-Negro League executives within the Hall, solely Ed Barrow, Pat Gillick, Larry MacPhail, Branch Rickey, John Schuerholz and George Weiss are there primarily for what they did whereas fulfilling the duties of a GM (typically whereas holding fancier titles), with Gillick (2011) and Schuerholz (2017) the one ones from that group elected on this millennium.
That’s left a big backlog, one created partially by pitting these executives towards managers and long-retired gamers within the Veterans and Era Committee processes. That scenario has solely been partially alleviated by the current format change, as pre-1980 executives are nonetheless lumped in with gamers and managers, together with these from the Negro Leagues. Space doesn’t allow detailing the contributions of the likes of Buzzie Bavasi, Joe Brown, Joe Burke, Jim Campbell, Bing Devine, Bob Howsam, Dick O’Connell, Gabe Paul, John Quinn, and Cedric Tallis, however all are at the least worthy of comparable hearings to the one Peters is receiving, and just some have gotten them, albeit whereas being overshadowed on ballots by gamers and managers. This isn’t to recommend that all the aforementioned execs belong within the Hall, however absolutely some do. Likewise relating to Cashen and Harry Dalton, each central in constructing the Nineteen Sixties and ’70s Orioles earlier than profitable strikes to different groups, Cashen because the GM of the ’80s Mets (who gained all of it in 1986), Dalton because the GM of the Brewers, who gained their lone pennant in ’82.
I’m by no means against together with Peters within the Hall. I feel he deserves to be talked about among the many ranks of the above. If all these males, lots of whose groups gained extra pennants and championships, are on the surface trying in, it’s more durable to make the case that he must be enshrined, but when I had a poll, I’d take into account him for one among my three spots, albeit whereas anticipating the Committee to gravitate in direction of extra colourful managers equivalent to Piniella and Jim Leyland.
Content Source: blogs.fangraphs.com