Joe McCarthy ( manager ) Joseph Vincent McCarthy ( April 21 , 1887 – January 13 , 1978 ) was a US manager in Major League Baseball , most renowned for his leadership of the " Bronx Bombers " teams of the New York Yankees from 1931 to 1946 . The first manager to win pennants with both National and American League teams , he won nine league titles overall and seven World Series championships – a record tied only by Casey Stengel . McCarthy was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1957 . McCarthy ' s career winning percentages in both the regular season ( . 614 ) and postseason ( . 698 , all in the World Series ) are the highest in major league history . His 2 , 126 career victories rank eighth all - time in major league history for managerial wins , and he ranks first all - time for the Yankees with 1 , 460 wins . Playing years . Born in Philadelphia , where he grew up idolizing Athletics manager Connie Mack , McCarthy was among a handful of successful major league managers who had never played in the majors . After attending Niagara University , he had a 15 - year minor league career from 1907 to 1921 , primarily as a second baseman with Toledo , Buffalo and Louisville . He was briefly a member of Brooklyn ' s Federal League team in 1916 , but the league , then considered a third major league , folded before he could play a game with them . Team success . After a brief managing stint in 1913 while playing in Wilkes - Barre , he resumed his managing career with Louisville in 1919 , leading the team to American Association pennants in 1921 and 1925 before being hired to manage the Chicago Cubs for the 1926 season . He turned the club around , guiding them to the 1929 NL title , but was fired near the end of the 1930 season . He was then hired to manage the 1931 season for the New York Yankees . With the Yankees , his strict but fair managing style helped to solidify the team ' s place as the dominant franchise in baseball , with a World Series title in 1932 , and four consecutively from 1936 to 1939 ; the Yankees became only the third team – and the first in the AL – to win four straight pennants , and the first to win more than two World Series in a row . McCarthy struggled to control his emotions at the moving testimonial held for Lou Gehrig at Yankee Stadium on July 4 , 1939 . After describing Gehrig as " the finest example of a ballplayer , sportsman , and citizen that baseball has ever known " , McCarthy could stand it no longer . Turning tearfully to Gehrig , he said , " Lou , what else can I say except that it was a sad day in the life of everybody who knew you when you [ . . . ] told me you were quitting as a ballplayer because you felt yourself a hindrance to the team . My God , man , you were never that . " Despite the loss of Gehrig , the Yankees went on to win three more AL crowns from 1941 to 1943 before McCarthy resigned in May 1946 , partially due to conflict with new club operator Larry MacPhail . McCarthy returned as manager of the Boston Red Sox from 1948 to June 1950 , but was unable to capture a pennant despite reaching a one - game playoff with the Cleveland Indians in 1948 . Coaching style . Despite his teams ' great performance , McCarthy was not without his detractors , who believed he was simply fortunate enough to be provided with great talent and was not a strong game tactician . During his peak period from 1936 to 1943 , when the Yankees won seven pennants in eight seasons , White Sox manager Jimmy Dykes described McCarthy as a " push - button " manager . Yet McCarthy was an outstanding teacher and developer of talent , and was particularly adept at handling temperamental players such as Babe Ruth , who had hoped to become New York ' s manager and resented a team " outsider " being hired . While managing , McCarthy utilized a low - key approach , never going to the mound to remove a pitcher or arguing with an umpire except on a point of the rules , preferring to stay at his seat in the center of the dugout . He also declined to wear a numbered uniform with the Yankees and Red Sox . In order to draw attention to his presumed masterful leadership of the Yankees , McCarthy was given the nickname of " Marse Joe " by sportswriters . " Marse " is a Southern English rendition of the word " master " . McCarthy ' s success throughout his career was such that in 32 years of managing , his 1922 Louisville club was the only team which finished either with a losing record or below fourth place . McCarthy was named Major League Manager of the Year by " The Sporting News " in 1936 – the first year the award was given – and again in 1938 and 1943 . Legacy . In a 1969 poll by the Baseball Writers Association of America to commemorate the sport ' s professional centennial , McCarthy finished third in voting for the greatest manager in history , behind John McGraw and Casey Stengel . In a similar BBWAA poll in 1997 to select an All - Century team , he finished second behind Stengel . On April 29 , 1976 , the Yankees dedicated a plaque for their Monument Park to McCarthy . The plaque calls him " One of baseball ' s most beloved and respected leaders . " In honor of his his commitment to Buffalo , McCarthy became a charter member of the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985 . McCarthy died of pneumonia at age 90 in Buffalo , New York , and is buried in Mount Olivet ( Roman Catholic ) Cemetery in Kenmore , New York . Ten Commandments . McCarthy ' s " 10 Commandments for Success in the Majors " : Source : " Baseball ' s Greatest Managers " ( 1961 ) .