Posted By:
Gilbert MainesI may not have my facts straight here, but I thought that the reason that Mack broke up the original A's was (yes money) that the Federal League was going to steal his players if he didn't sell them. This team was his creation, and it was a dominant powerhouse. In the six years prior to the FL, the A's finished once third in their league, once second, and won four pennants.
It took him a long time to recover from that player loss. But when he did, his new creation totally derailed the Yankee powerhouse of the late '20s by the A's winning in 1929, 30 & 31. This is no small accomplishment, and it was the last real resistance which the Yankees faced for decades.
Most managers can not ever put a team like either of Mack's A's together. McGraw did in the early 20s.
Comiskey was cheap. I think that the Philadelphia operation was just not very profitable, and Connie Mack could not always afford the talent he could assemble.
I think that the Mack story is simply one of cash flow. Well that and how he assembled these teams.
I think the McGraw story is one of skillful networking, an acute sense of talent and needs, and after winning his fourth consecutive pennant, dishonest baseball dealings to benefit his own pocket.