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When Jimmie Dykes first starting playing professional baseball in 1917 he was a fresh-faced 20-year old. By the time he left the game for the broadcast booth, nearly a half-century passed.

After one lone season in the minor leagues, Dykes debuted with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1918 in the last year of World War I. Two seasons later skipper Connie Mack penciled his name in the lineup 142 times.

Playing second, third, and short, Dykes played for the Athletics for 15 seasons. His finest campaign came in 1929 when he hit a career-high .327, helping Mack’s men capture the American League pennant. Philadelphia finished 18 games better than the two-time defending champion New York Yankees.

The infielder hit .421 against the Cubs in the Fall Classic and played a pivotal role in a game that changed the Series. Dykes’ Athletics were up two-games-to-one entering Game 4. The Cubs held an 8-0 at the 7th-inning stretch. It looked like the Series would be tied.

Philadelphia had other plans. The prolific offense that featured Hall of Famers Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Mickey Cochrane erupted for 10 runs in the bottom of the 7th. Dykes did his part in the inning with two hits, three runs batted in and a run scored.

The Athletics shut down the Cubs in the final two innings. Cooperstown man Lefty Grove recorded four of the last six outs via strikeout. He two scoreless frames secured the victory and put the A’s on the brink of the title. Two days later Dykes and company claimed the Athletics’ first championship since 1910.

Dykes and the A’s won three consecutive pennants from ’29-’31, claiming the World Series in each of the first of the two years.

With the Great Depression in full swing, Mack was soon forced to dismantle the dynasty, selling off his best players. He received $100,000 from the White Sox for Dykes, Simmons, and Mule Haas. Three years later Foxx was part of a deal with Boston that netted Mack another $150,000.

Dykes flourished in Chicago. In his first season he was the starting third basemen in baseball’s inaugural All Star game. Seven of the nine AL starters ended up in Cooperstown as did 14 of the 18 men on the All Star roster.

Sixteen games into his second season Dykes was named player/manager of the White Sox. He made the All Star team once again. In his 13 years as the Chicago pilot Dykes pushed his teams to 899 wins. The victory total remains the highest of any manager in White Sox history.

Dykes also holds the distinction of taking the reigns of the Athletics after Connie Mack’s 50-year run as manager.

As a player, Dykes’ career totals include 2,256 hits, 453 doubles, 1,069 RBI, three pennants and two rings. As a manager Dykes lasted 21 years and presided over six teams that won 1,406 contests.

In the collection is this photo of Dykes with lifelong baseball man Paul Richards. Both men have signed the image.

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The Philadelphia Athletics were one of baseball’s best teams in the late 20’s and early 30s. In 1927 they won 91 games; the following season they pushed the victory total to 98. Each season they finished second to the Yankees.

Then Connie Mack’s club reeled off three consecutive pennant-winning seasons. World Champs in 1929 and 1930, the A’s struggled to stay financially solvent in the heart of the depression.

In September of ’32 Mack sold Jimmie Dykes, Mule Haas, and Al Simmons to the White Sox. The price tag was a hefty $100,000.

Chicago hoped to return to respectability in ’33 after a dismal ’32 campaign that featured a 49-102-1 record. At the helm of the club was player/manager Lew Fonseca. The 1929 batting champ when he hit .369, Fonseca guided the team to an 18-game improvement.

The team won only 4 of its first 15 games to start 1934. Fonseca was sent packing; Dykes was tabbed as the skipper. He remained in the position for 13 seasons and won a franchise-record 899 games.

Dykes managed for a total of 21 years, guiding his clubs to 1,406 victories.

In the collection is this letter written and signed by the man Dykes played for and replaced, Lew Fonseca. On Cubs letterhead, it is dated December 2, 1980.

The lifetime .316 hitter reflects on the great players he faced in his career. “The best baseball player I ever saw was Ty Cobb, however, “Babe” Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby, Ted Williams and a number of others were great ones during my active playing years.”

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Jimmie Dykes managed the White Sox from 1934-1946. At the start of his tenure the ace of the Chicago staff was aging Hall of Fame hurler Ted Lyons.

From 1934-1937 Lyons posted 48 wins, reaching double figure win totals each season. In his age-37 season of 1938 Lyons’ record slipped to 9-11.

Dykes came up with an innovative plan for 1939 to help the 17-year veteran Lyons. The skipper decided to pitch Lyons just once a week. The Chicago favorite pitched primarily on Sundays, a move to help his body recover and also to draw a large weekend crowd.

Lyons responded with an all star performance. The right-hander started 21 games and completed them all. He held opposing hitters to a league-low .273 on-base percentage. Lyons also led the league in WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched).

From his age-38 season until he retired at age 45, Sunday Teddy remained effective. His winning percentage under Dykes’ plan was .609 for the second-division club. The Cooperstown man also completed more than 85% of his starts during that time.

Shown here is a 1933 Goudey baseball card autographed by Hall of Famer Ted Lyons.

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When Jimmie Dykes took his first managerial job in 1934, he presided over the debut of pitcher Monty Stratton. The lanky right-hander learned the ropes before blossoming in 1937.

That season Stratton won 15 games with a sparkling 2.40 ERA. His performance earned him an All Star berth. He followed that up with another 15-campaign in 1938.

In the offseason Stratton had a hunting accident that resulted in the amputation of his right leg. His courageous comeback captivated the country. Though he never made it all the way back to the big leagues, he pitched professionally until 1953.

Dykes was the only manager Stratton played for in the major leagues.

In 1948 while the hurler was still active in the minors, MGM Studios produced a full-length feature film. Jimmy Stewart starred in the title role of The Stratton Story. The film was a box-office success, earning more than $1 million in profit. During the Oscars it won the Academy Award for best writing in a Motion Picture Story.

At the time of the film’s production, Dykes was the manager of the Pacific Coast League’s Hollywood Stars. With his proximity to the studios, it was only natural that Dykes appear in the film as himself.

Portions of the film were shot in PCL parks including the Stars home stadium, Gilmore Field. Big leaguers Gene Beardon, Merv Shea, and Hall of Fame catcher Bill Dickey also appeared.

In the collection is this contract dated November 15, 1948 calling for Dickey to appear in the movie. The Yankee backstop had previous acting experience playing himself in the Lou Gehrig biopic The Pride of the Yankees. In The Stratton Story Dickey appears in multiple scenes with speaking parts, becoming the only Major League player to be in two Academy Award-winning baseball films.

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Connie Mack was the manager of the Athletics for all of Jimmie Dykes’ 15 seasons in Philadelphia. In fact, Mack piloted the club for an astounding fifty years.

After the 1950 season Athletics hero Mickey Cochrane was named General Manager. On October 18th, Mack officially stepped down. Dykes was tabbed as the one to replace the Grand Old Man of Baseball.

Dykes guided the team to an 18-game improvement in his first season. He followed that up with a 79-75-1 record in ’52. That turned out to be the Athletics last winning season for another 16 years.

Dykes was fired after a 95-loss season in 53.

In the collection is this letter signed by Dykes’ predecessor Connie Mack. Dated three days before Opening Day of Dykes’ final year as Athletics manager, the letter is written to sports editor Jack Lang.

So respected was Lang that he ascended to the role of secretary-treasurer of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, a position he held from 1966 until 1988. In that capacity, Lang was responsible for tallying the writers’ votes for elections to the Hall of Fame and calling players who were elected. In all, he called 44 players spanning from Red Ruffing to Willie Stargell.

Mack writes to Lang about a promotion in which the Carstairs Whiskey company chose an all-time team that was attributed to Mack.

Connie clarifies, “…I did not pick (Pie) Traynor and George Sisler. The sport writers picked the team that you wrote…I did pick George Sisler at one time. I never have picked Traynor at third. I was in favor of Corcoran who was a Buffalo man.”

The letter is written by the 90-year old Mack in his final year of ownership of the Philadelphia Athletics on beautiful team letterhead of the era.