Ford Frick

Ford Frick
Ford Frick at the 1937 All Star Game
3rd Commissioner of Baseball
In office September 20, 1951 – November 16, 1965
Preceded by	Happy Chandler
Succeeded by	William Eckert
President of the National League
In office 1934–1951
Preceded by	John Heydler
Succeeded by	Warren Giles
Personal details
Born	Ford Christopher Frick (1894-12-19)December 19, 1894 Wawaka, Indiana, U.S.
Died	April 8, 1978(1978-04-08) (aged 83) Bronxville, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	DePauw University

Ford Christopher Frick (December 19, 1894 – April 8, 1978) was an American sportswriter and baseball executive. After working as a teacher and as a sportswriter for the New York American, he served as public relations director of the National League (NL), then as the league's president from 1934 to 1951. He was the third Commissioner of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1951 to 1965.

While Frick was NL president, he had a major role in the establishment of the Baseball Hall of Fame as a museum that honors the best players in baseball history. He extinguished threats of a player strike in response to the racial integration of the major leagues. During Frick's term as commissioner, expansion occurred and MLB faced the threat of having its antitrust exemption revoked by Congress. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970. The Ford C. Frick Award recognizes outstanding MLB broadcasters.

Frick was born on a farm in Wawaka, Indiana, and went to high school in Rome City, Indiana. He took classes at International Business College in Fort Wayne, then worked for a company that made engines for windmills. He attended DePauw University, where he played first base for the DePauw baseball team and ran track. He graduated in 1915. He had been a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. Frick came to Colorado to play semipro baseball in Walsenburg.

After his stint as a baseball player, Frick lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He taught English at Colorado Springs High School and at Colorado College. Frick moonlighted for The Gazette, covering sports and news until he left to work for the War Department near the conclusion of World War I. When the war was over, Frick worked in Denver for the Rocky Mountain News. Frick returned to Colorado Springs to take a job with the Evening Telegraph, which later merged with The Gazette. Around this time, he had given some thought to starting his own advertising agency.