View source for Frank Lane

{{Short description|American sports executive (1895–1981)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
| image =Bill McGill and Frank Lane.jpeg
| image_size = 250
| caption =Lane (''right'') shaking the hand of [[Bill McGill]] after he signed with the [[Chicago Packers]] in May 1962
| position = [[General manager (baseball)|General manager]], executive 
| birth_date = {{birth date|1895|02|01}}
| birth_place = [[Cincinnati, Ohio]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1981|03|19|1895|02|01}}
| death_place = [[Dallas, Texas]], U.S.
| teams = 
*[[Chicago White Sox]] ({{Baseball year|1948}}–{{Baseball year|1955}})
*[[St. Louis Cardinals]] ({{Baseball year|1955}}–{{Baseball year|1957}})
*[[Cleveland Guardians|Cleveland Indians]] ({{Baseball year|1957}}–{{Baseball year|1961}})
*[[Kansas City Athletics]] ({{Baseball year|1961}})
*[[Milwaukee Brewers]] ({{Baseball year|1970}}–{{Baseball year|1972}})
| highlights = 
*[[Sporting News Executive of the Year Award|''Sporting News'' Executive of the Year]] ({{mlby|1957}})
}}
'''Frank Charles Meyers Lane'''<ref name="loma22">[https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/frank-lane-2/ Corbett, Warren: ''Frank Lane,''] [[Society for American Baseball Research]] Biography Project</ref> (February 1, 1895<ref name="loma22"/> – March 19, 1981) was an American executive in [[professional baseball]], most notably serving as a [[General manager (baseball)|general manager]] in [[Major League Baseball]] for the [[Chicago White Sox]], [[St. Louis Cardinals]], [[Cleveland Guardians|Cleveland Indians]], [[Kansas City Athletics]] and [[Milwaukee Brewers]] for over fifteen seasons between {{mlby|1948}} and {{mlby|1972}}.

==Biography==
{{Infobox CFL biography  
| name = Frank C. Lane
| image = 
| image_size= 
| caption = 
| birth_date = {{birth date|1895|02|01}}
| birth_place = [[Cincinnati, Ohio]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1981|03|19|1895|02|01}}
| death_place = [[Dallas, Texas]], U.S.
| position = [[Guard (American football)|Guard]] 
| college = 
| playing_years1 = c. 1910–1919
| playing_team1 = [[Cincinnati Celts]]
<!--Military service-->
|module = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes
|allegiance={{flagu|United States|1912}}
|branch={{Naval|United States|navy-1864}}
|serviceyears         = 1942–1946
|rank                 = 
|unit                 =
|battles              = World War II
|awards               = 
}}}}
Born in [[Cincinnati, Ohio]], Lane's first involvement with professional sports came in [[American football]], where he played [[Guard (American football)|guard]] for a number of "[[Ohio League]]" teams prior to the creation of the [[National Football League]]. After his attempt at playing professional baseball fell short, Lane shifted to officiating, serving as a [[referee]] in both football and [[basketball]].

==Baseball front offices==
In 1933 he was named as traveling secretary for the [[Cincinnati Reds]], while continuing to spend his offseasons as an official. After later spending one season as general manager of the team's [[Durham, North Carolina]] minor league club, Lane was elevated to assistant general manager for the Reds under [[Warren Giles]] on November 17, 1936.

After the U.S. entered World War II, Lane joined the [[United States Navy|Navy]] and spent the next four years in the service before returning in [[1946 in baseball|1946]] as general manager of the [[Kansas City Blues (American Association)|Kansas City Blues]], a top [[minor league baseball|farm club]] of the [[New York Yankees]]. One year in that position led to a two-year stretch as president of the minor league [[American Association (20th century)|American Association]].

===Chicago White Sox===
Lane then resigned that post in [[1948 in baseball|1948]] to become general manager of the White Sox. Over the next seven years, he shaped the team into a contender after more than two decades of mediocrity, acquiring [[Baseball Hall of Fame]]rs [[Nellie Fox]] and [[Minnie Miñoso]], and [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Stars]] [[Chico Carrasquel]], [[Sherm Lollar]] and [[Billy Pierce]], among many others. Fox, a future 15-time All-Star and {{mlby|1959}} [[American League Most Valuable Player Award|American League MVP]], was acquired from the [[Philadelphia Athletics]] at age 21, straight-up for backup [[catcher]] [[Joe Tipton]]; the price of the [[Detroit Tigers]]' Pierce (also 21), a future seven-time AL All-Star who would win 186 games in a White Sox uniform, was another catcher, 33-year-old [[Aaron Robinson (baseball)|Aaron Robinson]], who had only three major-league seasons left in his tank. In his seven years in Chicago, Lane made 241 trades.<ref>''Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero'', p.93, Tom Clavin and Danny Peary, Touchstone Books, Published by Simon & Schuster, New York, 2010, {{ISBN|978-1-4165-8928-0}}</ref> The ChiSox made their league's [[first division (baseball)|first division]] in 1951, and topped the one-million mark in attendance each year for the remainder of Lane's tenure.

===St. Louis Cardinals===
After resigning in September [[1955 in baseball|1955]], Lane quickly found work again in St. Louis, signing a three-year contract as general manager of the Cardinals on October 6.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://tht.fangraphs.com/nothing-sacred/ |title=Nothing Sacred |last=Jackson |first=Frank |date=2 November 2012 |website=The Hardball Times |publisher=Fangraphs |access-date=13 September 2021 |quote=}}</ref> His first controversial move was to introduce new home and away uniforms of which the pair of redbirds on a bat was removed in favor of only the name "Cardinals" in red script edged with navy blue.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15982105/1956-frank-lane-explains-new-uniform/ "'Cardinals' to Be Lettered Across Road Uniforms," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'', Sunday, March 4, 1956.] Retrieved April 14, 2020</ref> In what he subsequently referred to as "the worst trade [he] ever made,"<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1734&dat=19740923&id=Qn4cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=21EEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7033,2179911 Richman, Milton. "Bill Virdon is shaping up real fine," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Monday, September 23, 1974.] Retrieved February 26, 2016</ref> Lane sent [[Bill Virdon]], recipient of the previous season's [[National League Rookie of the Year Award]], to the Pirates for [[Bobby Del Greco]] and [[Dick Littlefield]] on May 17, 1956.<ref>[https://www.mlb.com/pirates/news/pirates-all-time-top-5-in-season-trades/c-53969440 Singer, Tom. "Pirates' all-time Top 5 in-season trades," MLB.com, Thursday, July 18, 2013.] Retrieved April 14, 2020</ref>  When Lane tried to trade superstar hitter [[Stan Musial]] to the [[Philadelphia Phillies]] for pitcher [[Robin Roberts (baseball)|Robin Roberts]]—both future Hall of Famers—news of the proposed transaction was leaked to the radio and Cardinals' owner [[August A. Busch Jr.]] stopped the deal.<ref>''Charlie Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball's Super Showman'', p.39, G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius. Walker Publishing Company, New York, 2010, {{ISBN|978-0-8027-1745-0}}</ref>

===Cleveland Indians===
The Cardinals finished second in their league in {{mlby|1957}}, eight games out, but Lane moved on to Cleveland in November to take the reins of the Indians' front office. There he [[Curse of Rocky Colavito|gained infamy]] in April 1960 by trading popular star slugger [[Rocky Colavito]], who co-led the Junior Circuit in home runs in 1959, to the Detroit Tigers for [[Harvey Kuenn]], the defending American League batting champion, whom Lane would trade to the [[San Francisco Giants]] on December 3 for [[Johnny Antonelli|John Antonelli]] and [[Willie Kirkland]]; this was the final trade for Lane as GM of the Indians.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-rocky-colavito-harvey-kuenn-trade/ | title=The Rocky Colavito–Harvey Kuenn Trade – Society for American Baseball Research }}</ref>

===Kansas City Athletics===
Lane left Cleveland in January [[1961 in baseball|1961]] to become general manager of the Kansas City Athletics, but the combination of Lane and volatile owner [[Charlie Finley]] led to an early end to Lane's employment just eight months later, and a lawsuit ensued. Due to his uncertain contract status, Lane was forced out of baseball during this period, but found employment in early 1962 as general manager of the [[National Basketball Association]]'s [[Washington Wizards|Chicago Packers]]. He did not join the team when they moved to Baltimore after the 1963 season. The following year, the lawsuit finally went to trial.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/frank-lane-2/ | title=Frank Lane – Society for American Baseball Research }}</ref>

On January 8, 1965, Lane settled his lawsuit with Finley, accepting $113,000 plus the freedom to take another baseball front-office position. Early reports of his being part of an ownership group to buy the [[Boston Red Sox]], as well as potentially serving as president of the [[Texas League]], proved to be unfounded. Instead, he was appointed as a special assistant to the president with the [[Baltimore Orioles]] two months later on March 6, handling the duties of a [[scout (sport)|scout]], field representative and traveling ambassador.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1965/03/07/archives/lane-gets-post-with-orioles-as-special-aide-to-macphail-club.html "Lane Gets Post With Orioles as Special Aide to MacPhail, Club President," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Saturday, March 6, 1965.] Retrieved December 26, 2022.</ref> He served in that capacity for nearly six years.

===Milwaukee Brewers===
Shortly before his 76th birthday, Lane was hired as director of player personnel with the [[Milwaukee Brewers]] on January 23, 1971.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1971/01/25/archives/lane-gets-brewers-post.html "Lane Gets Brewers' Post," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Sunday, January 24, 1971.] Retrieved December 26, 2022.</ref> He took advantage of the rain postponement of Game 2 of the [[1971 World Series]] on October 10 to acquire [[George Scott (first baseman)|George Scott]], [[Jim Lonborg]], [[Ken Brett]], [[Billy Conigliaro]], [[Joe Lahoud]] and [[Don Pavletich]] in a ten-player blockbuster that also sent [[Tommy Harper]], [[Marty Pattin]], [[Lew Krausse Jr.]] and minor-league outfielder Pat Skrable to the Red Sox.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=da8iAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ALMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3895,2552887&dq=joe-lahoud&hl=en "Bosox-Brewers In Ten-Man Swap," ''United Press International'' (UPI), Sunday, October 10, 1971.] Retrieved September 22, 2018</ref> Lane ended his career as a scout for both the [[California Angels]] and [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Texas Rangers]].

==Death and reputation==
Lane gained fame (and sometimes infamy) for his many transactions,<ref>[[Rob Neyer|Neyer, Rob]]. ''Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders''.</ref> earning nicknames such as "Trader Frank", "Frantic Frank", "Trader Lane" and "The Wheeler Dealer" for having made over 400 trades in his career, including 241 with the White Sox alone. Lane traded star players, such as [[Norm Cash]], [[Rocky Colavito]] and [[Roger Maris]], as well as future Hall of Famers [[Red Schoendienst]] and [[Early Wynn]].

Yet players were not the only people involved in Lane's transactions – in [[1960 in baseball|1960]], during his tenure with the Indians, he dealt manager [[Joe Gordon]] in exchange for [[Detroit Tigers]] skipper [[Jimmy Dykes]].
  
He died in a [[Dallas, Texas]] nursing home at 86 years of age. In [[Bobby Bragan]]'s book ''You Can't Hit the Ball With the Bat On Your Shoulder'', Bragan wrote that he was asked by Commissioner [[Bowie Kuhn]]'s office to represent Major League Baseball at the funeral. He was the lone baseball official to attend.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://tht.fangraphs.com/nothing-sacred/ | title=Nothing sacred }}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
*[https://sabr.org/node/40756 Frank Lane] at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
*[https://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_sney.shtml Frank Lane] 1957 [[Sporting News Executive of the Year Award]]
*[https://www.loc.gov/item/lmc1995000251/PP Frank Lane]—The [[Library of Congress]]
*{{find a Grave|6818996}}
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{{s-start}}
{{succession box|title=[[American Association (20th century)|American Association]] [[president (corporate title)|President]]|years={{mlby|1947}}–{{mlby|1948}}|before=[[Roy Hamey]]|after=Bruce Dudley}}
{{succession box | title=[[Chicago White Sox]] [[General manager (baseball)|General Manager]]| before=[[Leslie O'Connor]]| after=[[Chuck Comiskey]]/[[Johnny Rigney]] | years=[[1948 in baseball|1948]]&ndash;[[1955 in baseball|1955]]}}
{{succession box | title=[[St. Louis Cardinals]] [[General manager (baseball)|General Manager]]| before=[[Richard A. Meyer]]| after=[[Bing Devine]] | years=[[1955 in baseball|1955]]&ndash;[[1957 in baseball|1957]]}}
{{succession box | title=[[Cleveland Indians]] [[General manager (baseball)|General Manager]]| before=[[Hank Greenberg]]| after=[[Gabe Paul]] | years=[[1957 in baseball|1957]]&ndash;[[1961 in baseball|1961]]}}
{{succession box | title=[[Kansas City Athletics]] [[General manager (baseball)|General Manager]]| before=[[Parke Carroll]]| after=[[Pat Friday (baseball executive)|Pat Friday]] | years=[[1961 in baseball|1961]]}}
{{succession box | title=[[Milwaukee Brewers]] [[General manager (baseball)|General Manager]]| before=[[Marvin Milkes]]| after=[[Jim Wilson (pitcher)|Jim Wilson]] | years=[[1970 in baseball|1970]]&ndash;[[1972 in baseball|1972]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Chicago White Sox general managers}}
{{St. Louis Cardinals general managers}}
{{Cleveland Indians general managers}}
{{Oakland Athletics general managers}}
{{Washington Wizards general manager navbox}}
{{Milwaukee Brewers general managers}}
{{SN Executive of the Year}}
{{Cincinnati Celts}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Frank}}
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:Baltimore Orioles scouts]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Cincinnati]]
[[Category:California Angels scouts]]
[[Category:Chicago White Sox executives]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Celts (Ohio League) players]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Reds executives]]
[[Category:Cleveland Indians executives]]
[[Category:Kansas City Athletics executives]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball general managers]]
[[Category:Milwaukee Brewers executives]]
[[Category:Minor league baseball executives]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Cincinnati]]
[[Category:St. Louis Cardinals executives]]
[[Category:Texas Rangers scouts]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II]]