Leland, Lee, Stanford MacPhail, born on October 25, 1917, is honored for his time spent in the Navy and for his successful career in baseball.

 

After graduating from Swarthmore College in 1939, MacPhail wanted to secure a job in baseball. His father, who was running the Brooklyn Dodgers at the time, recommended that he spend a year working in an industry outside of baseball. Despite a rocky relationship with his father, Larry offered Lee a position as business manager of the Dodgers’Club in 1940. As the club manager he created the schedule, made transportation arrangements, supervised the staff, and conducted press conferences; he got a full experience of what it was like to work in baseball on the business side. Then he left to work as the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, an unaffiliated team in the International League.

 

MacPhail spent two years in the US Navy after being sworn in on May 25, 1944 after his acceptance into the Navy V7 officer’s program. After spending two years aboard the USS Turner during World War II. The USS Tuner was a radar picket ship that did not end up seeing combat.

 

After returning from the Navy, Lee was given another job by his father to run the Kansas City Blues, one of the Yankee’sfarm clubs. He served on the business side of baseball from various roles between different teams, including the Baltimore Oriole and the Yankees, and ended up becoming the President of the American League. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998. Lee and his father Larry MacPhail are the only father-and-son pair to ever be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Hearing stories from players and executives that knew Lee, many spoke of his for his personality. While visiting each major league city, MacPhail would visit museums and symphonies in each. He also was known to spend his time on flights between cities reading the biographies of Presidents of The United States.​

 

Lee MacPhail is an honorable man whose legacy lives on through his Navy service and his decades long baseball career.