Frank Gibson Selee
Personal
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: October 26, 1859
Date of Death: July 5, 1909
Birth Place: Amherst, NH
Death Place: Denver, CO
Birth: October 26, 1859, Amherst, New Hampshire
Death: July 5, 1909 , Denver, Colorado
Buried: Wyoming Cemetery, Melrose
Middlesex County Massachusetts
Plot: Pine Banks Section, Lot 200
Managed: Boston Beaneaters, Chicago Orphans (Cubs)
Elected to Hall of Fame by Committee on Baseball Veterans: 1999
A balding little man with a modest demeanor and a formidable mustache that gave his face a melancholy cast, Frank Selee compiled the fourth-best managerial percentage, .598, in baseball history. His Boston teams won five pennants. In a sixteen-year career he never finished lower than fifth. Twelve of his players are in the Hall of Fame, and a good case can be made for five or six others. Selee himself was posthumously inducted in 1999.
One of the most successful field managers in the history of the National League, Frank Selee led the 19th century Boston Beaneaters (1890 -1901) to five pennants (1891-93, 1897-98) and transformed the struggling Chicago Cubs (1902- 1905) into champions. During his 16 years as a manager from 1890 to 1905, his teams fashioned an outstanding .599 winning percentage, the fourth highest of all time. Known as an impeccable judge of talent and an adept handler of players, he was the architect of the Cubs’ famous double play combination — Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance.
