Marvin Milkes
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Marvin Milkes | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 10, 1923 |
| Died | January 31, 1982 (aged 58) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Sports executive |
Marvin Milkes (August 10, 1923 – January 31, 1982) was an American front office executive in three professional sports: Major League Baseball, soccer, and hockey. He is perhaps best known as the first general manager in the history of baseball's Seattle Pilots and—when that franchise was transferred after its only season in the Pacific Northwest—Milwaukee Brewers.
A former batboy for the Pacific Coast League's Los Angeles Angels,[1] Milkes' front-office career began in 1946 when he became an executive with minor league affiliates in the St. Louis Cardinals' vast farm system. He won The Sporting News' Minor League Executive of the Year Award (Lower Classification) in 1956 as general manager of the Fresno Cardinals of the Class C California League. Beginning in 1957, he was the GM of the San Antonio Missions, then the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. When the Orioles dropped the affiliation after the 1958 season, Milkes worked to keep the Missions franchise alive, securing a working agreement with the Chicago Cubs. He later served as general manager of the Charleston Senators of the Triple-A American Association in 1960.[2]
At the Pilots' helm
In 1961, he joined the front office of the American League's Los Angeles Angels in the franchise's first year as an expansion team. Serving as assistant general manager to Fred Haney, Milkes helped build the organization. One of his duties beginning in 1965 was to supervise its newly acquired Triple-A club, the Seattle Angels of the Pacific Coast League, and when Seattle was granted an AL expansion team for 1969—the Pilots—Milkes was named its first general manager.
Although he drafted many veterans from the 1968 expansion pool, Milkes also chose younger players who would go on to long and successful Major League careers—including Lou Piniella, Mike Marshall and Marty Pattin. But his most famous acquisition was pitcher Jim Bouton, purchased from the New York Yankees during the 1968 season. Bouton would immortalize the 1969 Pilots in his memoir/diary Ball Four, and Milkes would not escape Bouton's scorn as an example of a baseball executive willing to deceive his players for the benefit of the club's ownership and management.
Bouton wrote on August 26, 1969, after Milkes had traded him to the Houston Astros: "As soon as a general manager says ['Now I want to be honest with you'], check your wallet. It's like Marvin Milkes telling you, 'We've always had a nice relationship.' The truth is general managers aren't honest with their players, and they have no relationship with them except a business one."[3]