page_title: Hank O'Day
section_title: Managerial career
hierarchical_section_title: Hank O'Day / Managerial career
caption_attribution_description: English: Hank O'Day as major league manager, 1914
context_page_description: Henry Martin Francis O'Day, nicknamed "The Reverend", was an American right-handed pitcher and later an umpire and manager in Major League Baseball. After a seven-year major league playing career, he worked as a National League umpire for 30 seasons between 1895 and 1927.
  O'Day umpired in ten World Series – second only to Bill Klem's total of 18 – including five of the first seven played, and was behind the plate for the first modern World Series game in 1903. Retiring at age 68 years, 2 months, he remains the oldest umpire in major league history – a fact which was not known until recently, as he routinely shaved five to seven years from his true age throughout his career. His 3,986 total games as an umpire ranked third in major league history when he retired, and his 2,710 games as the plate umpire still rank second in major league history to Klem's total of 3,544. He is largely known for his controversial decision in a pivotal 1908 game, a ruling that still causes debate today. O'Day interrupted his umpiring career twice for single seasons as a manager, leading the Cincinnati Reds in 1912 and the Chicago Cubs in 1914.
context_section_description: O'Day's name was mentioned in connection with a major league managing vacancy as early as 1905. At that time, he said that he liked umpiring and that he was unsure whether he would accept a managing position even if an offer came to him. "I am not the least bit sure that I could better myself by giving up umpiring for a managerial job", O'Day said.
  Several years later, O'Day interrupted his umpiring career to manage major league clubs during two separate seasons. In 1912, he agreed to become the manager of the Cincinnati Reds. This move surprised the baseball world, as O'Day had not been mentioned as a possibility to take the job. The team started off the year winning 20 of its first 25 games, creating the possibility that the Reds would win the World Series under their new manager. The Reds did not hold on to their early hot streak, however, and finished the season with a 75–78 record under O'Day. He resigned after the 1912 season, as the team was negotiating a trade for Joe Tinker and rumors surfaced that Tinker might become manager. In late 1912, O'Day was reported as saying that he would not return to umpiring, but he changed his mind by April and signed with the National League again.
  After umpiring in 1913, he managed for another year, taking over the Chicago Cubs ballclub after player-manager Johnny Evers was traded despite a third-place finish by the Cubs the previous year. He led the Cubs to a 78–76 record and a fourth-place finish; O'Day earned fourth-place finishes in both of his seasons as a manager. In December, the Cubs signed Roger Bresnahan to be their manager, effectively firing O'Day, who returned to being an umpire.
caption: O'Day as Cubs manager (1914)
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image ExifOffset": "90", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "949", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "642"}