MICHAEL BURKE (Chairman of the Board and President)
"A ball club belongs to its fans. That's part of our philosophy. Accordingly, our concept for the 1968 Yearbook was to give you a closer, more personalized view of the Yankees. We hope you find it attractive. Enjoy the game. And a thousand thanks for your marvelous support."
-Michael Burke, The New York Yankees Official 1968 Yearbook
"'The future is what the Yankees are all about,' so said Michael Burke responding to reporters about the progress of his New Era.
'The course we charted was to rebuild our ball club with young players. The accent is on youth. On reflection, we're certain that this decision was the right one. We did not make some trades last winter we might have made simply because we refused to mortgage our future.'
This single-minded dedication to the future does not discount the illustrious Yankee history. On the contrary, Burke is fiercely proud of the Yankee tradition and speaks of Yankee pride as, 'an almost tangible thing. Theirs was a legacy of greatness ... the legacy of champions. It is for us to live up to them.'
Doubt has been voiced in some quarters that the Yankee dynasty can be rebuilt. It is a formidable challenge. But the president of the Yankees was never put off by a challenge or took the easy option. One would do well to note the simple comment he made recently when describing the plans and objectives he and Lee MacPhail and Ralph Houk have set for themselves: 'We came to win. It never occurs to us that we will not succeed.'
To know what the competitive world of sports is all about, it helps to have been an athlete.
'I've been in and out of a thousand locker rooms playing one stick or ball game or another.'
Young Burke won a prep school scholarship for scholastic and athletic ability. He starred in baseball, basketball and football. At the University of Pennsylvania, he was a halfback in an era when Penn was one of the top teams in the nation. Mike was commissioned in the United States Navy at the outbreak of World War II and assigned to General Wild Bill Donovan's OSS, America's war-time espionage service. Operating behind enemy lines in Italy and France, he was awarded the Navy Cross 'for extraordinary heroism' and the Silver Star 'for gallantry in action'.
In 1953, he became General Manager of Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus and, when the big top was struck for the last time in 1956, Mike joined CBS. He was elected Chairman of the Board and President of the Yankees in September 1966.
There is nothing remote about the Yankee boss. He believes in being close to the players and to the fans. Some of his most enthusiastic work is done in his field box at the Stadium, rooting for the team - and the players like it; so do the young fans with whom he has established a special empathy. He believes the Yankees are more than a ball club; they are an important, highly visible member of the community and can help build a better New York. That is why he had Whitaker, Robinson, Womack and Downing 'in the field' all last winter visiting schools in poverty areas, urging youngsters to stay with it and get an education.
Mike Burke lives his job and gives dynamic leadership to the new Yankees. Asked the most important function of a president, he answered, 'to establish a clear sense of direction; then to set the tone, the style, the pace.'
He sets a fast pace."
-The New York Yankees Official 1968 Yearbook
LEE MACPHAIL (Executive Vice-President and General Manager)
"Twenty-seven years in baseball provides an astute executive like Lee MacPhail with the experience and know-how needed to develop a winning ball club. He did brilliantly in Baltimore, building the Orioles into the team that won the Championship in 1966.
The Yankee Executive Vice-President and General Manager started his baseball career with the Reading, Pennsylvania club as Business Manager in 1941. In 1942 he was General Manager of Toronto in the International League. Before going off to war, he worked in the Brooklyn Dodgers' front office. In World War II, Lee was an officer in the Naval Reserve - serving aboard a destroyer. In 1946, he became Business Manager, and later General Manager, of the Kansas City Blues, a Yankee farm club, and later Midwest Farm Director. He moved to Yankee Stadium in 1949 as Farm Director; in 1956 he took on the added responsibilities of Director of Player Personnel.
The Baltimore Orioles named him President and General Manager in 1958, and under his guidance was developed the club that won the pennant and World Championship in 1966.
The challenge of rebuilding the Yankees - the club he had served for 13 years and of which his father, Larry MacPhail, had been chief executive - lured him in 1967 from the post of Administrator of Baseball in the Commissioner's Office. The triumvirate of Michael Burke, Lee MacPhail and Ralph Houk is dedicated to the job of restoring the Yankees to their former glory. Each brings his own set of experiences to the task; all three blend their personal and professional attributes into a balanced, potent team. They are close personal friends with an unlimited respect for the others' abilities. Lee MacPhail's special expertise will develop young players and trade for others, delivering to Ralph Houk the field strength he needs to move the Yankees back to the top."
-The New York Yankees Official 1968 Yearbook
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