Looking Back: The MacPhail's Nashville Connection

Larry MacPhail was a one-time Nashville resident that made it to the National Baseball's Hall of Fame, but became famous internationally as a soldier after the end of World War I.
   MacPhail was considered a baseball innovator that revolutionized baseball. He was called the "Barnum of Baseball." MacPhail was born in Cass City, Michigan on February 3, 1890 and entered the world of baseball in 1930 when he purchased the franchise in Columbus, Ohio of the American Association.
   After installing lights and turning that franchise into a winner, MacPhail sold the team and took over the Cincinnati Reds in 1933 as an executive. He installed lights in the Reds ballpark to become the first major league team to play night baseball. MacPhail also introduced air travel to the major leagues with his Reds club. He laid the groundwork for the Reds' National League Championships in 1939 and 1940.
   MacPhail had joined the lowly Brooklyn Dodgers in 1938 as executive, added lights to Ebbets Field and brought the fans to the ballpark. He also hired Babe Ruth in 1938 as a coach, but Ruth was never offered a managerial spot with the club. The Dodgers won the 1941 NL pennant and finished in second place in 1942. MacPhail joined an army unit during World War II.
   Returning to baseball at the end of the war, MacPhail purchased the New York Yankees and introduced the popular "Old Timers Day" which remains a tradition today in Yankee baseball. The only World Series championship in his career came in 1947 with New York. MacPhail retired after that championship season victory.
   "I'm finished," MacPhail said after the post-season win over Brooklyn. "I promised my wife I'd retire when a team of mine won the World Series."
   MacPhail enhanced broadcasts of baseball games on the radio and television. He brought the legendary radio announcer Red Barber with him from Cincinnati to New York to introduce daily game broadcasts.
   Before his baseball career, a youthful MacPhail would make international news with his involvement in the attempt to kidnap German Kaiser Wilhelm II and deliver him to President Woodrow Wilson at the Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War I.
   Wilhelm II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia ruling both the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia before and during World War I. After the Allies defeated Germany, Wilhelm II fled to Holland, which was a neutral country during the war. In January 1919, Col. Luke Lea, also from Nashville and a former U. S. Senator at age 32 in 1911, led a small group of Tennesseans that included MacPhail in an unauthorized attempt to kidnap the Kaiser.
   Holland gave Wilhelm II refuge and refused to surrender him for war crimes as the Allies demanded. MacPhail, with a rank of captain, had been a manager in the Nashville clothing store Castner Knott when he joined Lea's outfit in the Tennessee National Guard's 114th Field Artillery. The idea to proceed with such a risky venture came as the troops were waiting in Luxembourg to return to the states.
   By using connections the men were able to obtain passports and journey into Belgium and Holland. They were about 25 miles away from the castle where the Kaiser was given sanctuary when they approached a vital bridge that was destroyed. The group located a man to ferry them across the river, but he refused to wait or return later.
   The men boldly approached the heavy gates to the castle and were surprised when a sentry let them enter the grounds. Upon entering the castle, the men said they could only reveal the nature of their visit to the Kaiser. The men could hear loud talking in the next room, but became suspicious after a long wait. The men aborted their mission to kidnap the Kaiser and hurriedly left the castle grounds.
   It has been reported that on their way out MacPhail "confiscated" a crowned ashtray that belonged to the Kaiser. The Holland government was displeased and embarrassed by these brave men's actions and demanded punishment for the Americans. They were arrested and court martialed for using army vehicles without permission.
   The case was given to Gen. John J. Pershing who overlooked his men's unsanctioned endeavor. The court martial was not realistic, but was for show to appease the Holland government officials. Pershing felt that MacPahil and his group were heroes and patriots.
   When Pershing arrived in Nashville for a reunion in 1921 he was asked about the kidnapping attempt. Pershing said, "Why, I'd given a year's pay to have been with those boys in Holland."
   MacPhail would leave Nashville for a career in baseball that landed him in Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1978. He died in 1975 at age 85 and is buried in his hometown of Cass City, Michigan.
   Son, Lee MacPhail, was born in Nashville on October 25, 1917 and also became a major league executive for 45 years with Cincinnati, Brooklyn and the Yankees. He was also the American League president from January 1, 1974 to December 31, 1983 and enshrined into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. The MacPhail's are the only father/son members in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
   Lee MacPhail joins Negro League's Norman "Turkey" Stearnes as the only Nashville-born Baseball Hall of Famers. Lee MacPhail died in 2012 at age 95. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living Hall of Famer.
Traughber's Tidbit: From the Book "Baseball Bafflers:" Dizzy Dean was a great pitcher, but he often had trouble retiring New York Giants slugger Bill Terry. In one game where Dizzy was matched against Terry, Bill smashed a liner off Dizzy's leg his first time up. The next time he was up, Terry cracked a liner that sizzled past Dizzy's head. On his third trip to the plate, Terry rocked one off Dizzy 'glove for a hit. Finally Pepper Martin walked to the mound from his position at third base. "Hey, Diz," said Pepper, "I don't think you are playing him deep enough."
Tidbit Two: The book "Nashville Baseball History, From Sulphur Dell to the Sounds" is available at Amazon.com and local bookstores. The foreword was written by Farrell Owens and contains over 70 photos with 32 chapters with stories from the known reference to Nashville baseball (1856) to the Sounds and First Tennessee Park. Included are many rare and unpublished vintage photos and Nashville Vols' records. There is a record section for the Sounds with a highlight timeline. Interviews include Larry Schmittou, Buck Showalter, Sketter Barnes and Richard Sterban (Oak Ridge Boys).