Nicknamed “Marse Joe” (short for Master Joe), is one of the most successful managers of all time, with nine pennants and seven World Series championships. He’s most known for managing the New York Yankees throughout the 1930s, but he also spent some time managing the Chicago Cubs and finished his career with the Boston Red Sox.

Early Life and Baseball Career

Joseph McCarthy was born in Philadelphia on April 21, 1887. He grew up in extreme poverty, but made a bit of a name for himself playing baseball in Germantown. In fact, even though he never went to high school, Niagara University gave McCarthy a baseball scholarship.

But while McCarthy would go on to be an iconic figure in baseball history, it wouldn’t be by his play on the field. After dropping out of college after two years, he spent 15 years in the minor leagues.

He played for numerous teams, including the Toledo Mud Hens, Buffalo Bisons, and Louisville Colonels. He played several positions as well. He ended up primarily a second baseman. But before settling on that position, he spent time as a shortstop, third baseman, and an outfielder.

However, despite years of playing in the minors, McCarthy never made it to Major League Baseball as a player. He almost did when he was signed on with the Brooklyn Tip-Tops of the Federal League, a “third major league” from the early 1900s, but the league folded before he got to play.

He never got another chance. Supposedly, this can be at least partially attributed to a knee injury McCarthy got playing baseball in his youth, but McCarthy once admitted it wasn’t entirely the injury’s fault: “It left me with a loose cartilage which cut down on my speed, but I wasn’t so good with a curved ball either.”

Joe McCarthy’s Managerial Career

McCarthy’s managerial career began in the minors, where he spent seven years with the Louisville Colonels. Under McCarthy’s management, the Colonels won two pennants (1921, where they won the Little World Series against the Baltimore Orioles, and 1925, although this time they lost, again to the Orioles). William Wrigley, Jr., owner of the Chicago Cubs, liked what he saw and hired McCarthy to be the Cubs’ new manager for the 1926 season.

At that point, the Cubs had, according to sportswriter James Enright, “flopped into the coal hole.” They were eighth in the National League, but over the next four years, McCarthy helped them slowly rise through the ranks to first place. They made it to the World Series in 1929, but lost to the Philadelphia Athletics. After the 1930 season, the Cubs did not renew McCarthy’s contract.

After leaving Chicago, the Yankees hired McCarthy for the 1931 season. McCarthy’s time with the Yankees would be long – 15 years – and glorious. Under his management, the Yankees would win a whopping eight pennants and seven World Series (they lost in 1942 to the St, Louis Cardinals). This includes four World Series in a row, 1936-1939. They averaged 96 wins per season. The nickname “Bronx Bombers” was quite apt.

Managing Ruth and Life After Baseball

Despite the team’s success, McCarthy was not without detractors. Most notably, White Sox manager Jimmy Dykes called him a “push-button manager” who wasn’t actually good at what he did, but was lucky enough to have amazing players like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio on his team.

However, his former players regarded him as an indispensable asset to the team. McCarthy even managed the temperamental Ruth, although Ruth disliked him, as he’d been gunning for the manager position before McCarthy was hired. It’s possible that Ruth’s jealousy of McCarthy led to him being traded to the Boston Braves in 1935.

The Yankees began to slip during the latter part of World War II, after most of its star players left. McCarthy resigned as manager in 1946, apparently due to health concerns, and for the next two years he stayed out of baseball entirely. But in 1948 he came back, this time as the manager of the Boston Red Sox. This would only last for two years. McCarthy couldn’t replicate the success with the Red Sox that he’d had with the Yankees, so in 1950 he retired again, this time for good.

McCarthy led a quiet life after his retirement from baseball. He lived on a farm in upstate New York, which he dubbed “Yankee Farm,” and he spent the rest of his days peacefully gardening. In 1957, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted him. He died of pneumonia in 1978 at the age of 90.