View source for Frank Selee

{{short description|American baseball manager}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Frank Selee
|image=Frank Selee Hall of Fame.jpg
|position=[[Manager (baseball)|Manager]]
|bats=
|throws=
|birth_date={{birth date|1859|10|26}}
|birth_place=[[Amherst, New Hampshire]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1909|7|5|1859|10|26}}
|death_place=[[Denver]], Colorado, U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=April 19
|debutyear=1890
|debutteam=Boston Beaneaters
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=June 27
|finalyear=1905
|finalteam=Chicago Cubs
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=Games
|stat1value=2,180
|stat2label=Managerial record
|stat2value=1,284–862–34
|stat3label=Winning %
|stat3value=.598
|teams=
*[[Boston Beaneaters]] ({{mlby|1890}}–{{mlby|1901}})
*[[Chicago Cubs|Chicago Orphans / Cubs]] ({{mlby|1902}}–{{mlby|1905}})
|highlights=
* 5× [[National League (baseball)|NL]] champion (1891–1893, 1897, 1898)
|hoflink = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
|hoftype = National
|hofdate=[[1999 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|1999]]
|hofmethod=Veterans Committee
}}
'''Frank Gibson Selee''' (October 26, 1859 – July 5, 1909) was an American [[Major League Baseball]] [[manager (baseball)|manager]] in the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] (NL).  In his 16-year Major League career, he managed the [[Boston Beaneaters]] (1890–1901) and [[Chicago Cubs|Chicago Orphans / Cubs]] (1902–1905),<ref name="obit">{{cite web|url=http://www.thedeadballera.com/Obits/Selee.Frank.Obit.html |title=Frank Selee's Obituary |date=July 6, 1909 |work=The New York Times, Tuesday |access-date=2008-12-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080419070513/http://www.thedeadballera.com/Obits/Selee.Frank.Obit.html |archive-date=April 19, 2008 }}</ref> winning 1,284 games. Selee managed the Beaneaters during their 1890s run of five NL championships. His 1892 and 1898 teams each won [[List of Major League Baseball 100 win seasons|100 games]], becoming the first teams to ever achieve the mark in baseball history (only one other team achieved the feat in the 19th century); their 102 wins in each season would not be surpassed by a National League team until 1902. After joining the Orphans, he helped build the team that would become the Cubs dynasty of the 1900s. He was elected to the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1999.

==Early life==
Selee was born in [[Amherst, New Hampshire]].<ref name="retrosheet">{{cite web|url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/S/Pselef801.htm|title=Frank Selee's career statistics|publisher=retrosheet.org|access-date=2008-12-17}}</ref> He was described as a "balding little man with a modest demeanor and a formidable mustache that gave his face a melancholy cast",<ref name=library/> and was shy and reticent in public.  Selee left a job at a watch manufacturer in [[Waltham, Massachusetts]], in 1884 to form a [[minor league baseball|minor league]] team in the Massachusetts State League. In 1885 and 1886, he managed the [[Haverhill, Massachusetts|Haverhill]] team in the [[New England League]]. The following year Selee managed the [[Oshkosh, Wisconsin]] based [[Oshkosh Indians]] franchise in the Northwest League, winning the league championship. In 1888 he was hired to manage at the [[Omaha Omahogs]] in the [[Western Association]]. In 1889 he led Omaha to the pennant while posting the highest team winning percentage in all of organized baseball, after signing a teenage [[Kid Nichols]] to the Omaha roster.<ref>[https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/frank-selee/ Frank Selee bio by David Fleitz] at [[SABR]].org</ref> Selee's managerial success in the minor leagues propelled him to the major leagues in 1890.

==Major league managerial career==
===Boston Beaneaters===
Selee was a rare 19th century major league manager who did not double as a player or rise from the ranks of former players. His only experiences playing professional baseball were brief roster appearances with minor league teams in Waltham and [[Lawrence, Massachusetts]], in 1884. Thereafter his only professional role was as manager.

[[File:The team that represented Boston in 1892 - DPLA - 0b1b60ce2f34d360cf0c263e805b3454.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Selee (middle row, fourth from left) with the 1892 Boston Beaneaters]]
In Selee's [[1890 Boston Beaneaters season|first season]], he signed Kid Nichols to a major league contract and the Beaneaters finished with a 76–57–1 record, 12 games behind the [[Los Angeles Dodgers|Brooklyn Bridegrooms]]. In the [[1891 Boston Beaneaters season|following year]], the schedule increased to 140 games. His team finished 87–51–2, while winning the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] pennant by {{frac|3|1|2}} games over the [[Chicago Cubs|Chicago Colts]], their first pennant since 1883. In 1892, the schedule increased to 150 games, while having a split season. The Beaneaters went 102–48–2 overall while winning the first half of the season, with the [[Cleveland Spiders]] winning the second half; the two teams played a "World's Championship Series" at the end of the season, with Boston winning five of the seven games played. They were the first team to ever [[List of Major League Baseball 100 win seasons|win 100 games in a single season]]. In 1893, the Beaneaters went 86–43–2 while winning the league pennant for the third consecutive year, winning by five games over the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]]. 

The 1894 season was a disappointment. Though the team had a winning record (83-49), they finished in third place, eight games behind the [[Baltimore Orioles (19th century)|Baltimore Orioles]]. The following year, the team went 71–60–2 while finishing in a tie for fifth place with the [[History of the Brooklyn Dodgers|Brooklyn Grooms]] and {{frac|16|1|2}} games behind the Orioles. The team rebounded a bit the following year, finishing 74-57-1 and in fourth place, although it was 17 games back of the Orioles. The 1897 season was a return to prominence as they went 93–39–3 while winning the National League pennant by two games over the Orioles. This was their fourth league pennant. After the season, the two teams played in the [[Temple Cup]], with Boston losing in five games. The 1898 team went 102–47–3 while winning the league pennant once again, doing so by six games over the Orioles. This was the fifth and final pennant for Selee and the Beaneaters. As it turned out, it was the peak of his tenure with the team.

The following year the team went 95–57–1, placing second behind Brooklyn. The team finished the 1900 season in fourth place with a record of 66–72–4, the first sub-.500 season under Selee's reign and the first for the team since 1886. He closed out his tenure with the Beaneaters in 1901 with a 69–69–2 record and a fifth place finish ({{frac|20|1|2}} games behind the Pirates). On September 20, he won his 1,000th career game, doing so in the second game of a doubleheader with the Chicago Orphans, winning 7–0.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/?date=1901-09-20|title=Major League Scores, Standings, Box Scores for Friday, September 20, 1901}}</ref> During his years with Boston, he won 1,004 games and lost 649, with 24 ties.

===Chicago Orphans / Cubs===
[[File:1903 Chicago Cubs portraits.jpg|thumb|300px|Selee (middle row, center) with the 1903 Chicago Cubs]]
In 1902, Selee was hired to manage the Chicago Orphans (which served as a name after the team fired famed manager [[Cap Anson]], although they were also known as "Remnants"). Selee managed them to a 68–69–6 record, finishing in fifth place (34 games behind the Pirates), which was an improvement from the team's 53–86 record the previous year. The following year the team (in their first season referred to as "Cubs" in print) improved to an 82–56–1 record, finishing in 3rd place, eight games behind the pennant-winning Pirates. They improved to a 93–60–3 record in Selee's third season, finishing in second place, 13 games behind the [[History of the New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]]. 

With the Cubs, Selee developed the famous [[Joe Tinker|Tinker]]-to-[[Johnny Evers|Evers]]-to-[[Frank Chance|Chance]] infield combination, by converting Frank Chance from [[catcher]] to [[first baseman|first base]], Joe Tinker from [[third baseman|third base]] to [[shortstop]], and Johnny Evers from shortstop to [[second baseman|second base]].<ref name=library/> Selee also traded two players to the [[St. Louis Cardinals]] to acquire a rookie pitcher named [[Mordecai Brown|Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown]]; Brown became a major factor in the Cubs' post-Selee success and went on to a Hall of Fame career.<ref name=HoF/>

The 1905 season was Selee's last in the majors, as he resigned in June due to illness; at the time, the Cubs had a record of 37–28, and Chance would lead them to a 92–61 record. It was the third straight season they had finished in the top three in the National League, which was the first time they had three consecutive seasons of first division finishes since the 1885–1891 seasons. Chance would lead the Cubs to four National League titles and two [[World Series]] victories during his tenure.<ref name="chancemanager">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/chancfr01.shtml|title=Frank Chance's managerial statistics|publisher=baseball-reference.com|access-date=2008-12-17}}</ref>  The last Cubs' championship under Chance was in 1910;<ref name=chancemanager/> eight of the top thirteen players from the 1905 squad were major contributors on that 1910 club.<ref name=library/>

==Later life and legacy== 
Selee managed the [[Pueblo Indians (baseball)|Pueblo Indians]] of the minor league [[Western League (1900–1958)|Western League]] from 1906 to 1908. The team had a losing record each year and never finished higher than fifth place.{{cn|date=October 2022}} In 1909, Selee died of [[tuberculosis|consumption]] (tuberculosis) at the age of 49 in [[Denver, Colorado]],<ref name=obit/> and was interred at Wyoming Cemetery in [[Melrose, Massachusetts]].<ref name=retrosheet/>

In total, Selee had 1,284 victories in 2,180 games as a manager during his 16-year MLB career, with a winning percentage of .598.<ref name=retrosheet/> Twelve of his players went on to be inducted into the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Baseball Hall of Fame]].<ref name="library">{{cite web|url=https://baseballbiography.com/frank-selee-1859|title=The Ballplayers: Frank Selee|publisher=baseballbiography.com|access-date=2008-12-17}}</ref> Selee was noted for his ability to assess and hire talented players, which helped earn him five NL titles with the Beaneaters. He repeated the feat in Chicago, where he built the basis for the Cubs' later success by signing and developing the talents of Frank Chance, Joe Tinker, and Johnny Evers, among others. Baseball historian [[David Nemec]] wrote that Selee had "a flair for bending players acquired from here, there and everywhere. [He was] a master at putting together a team better than the sum of its parts."<ref name="HoF">[https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/selee-frank Frank Selee biography at BaseballHall.org]</ref>

In 1999, Selee was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the [[Veterans Committee]] for his achievements as a manager.<ref name="halloffame">{{cite web|url=http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/detail.jsp?playerId=492582 |title=Frank Selee's Biography |publisher=baseballhalloffame.org |access-date=2008-12-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829205113/http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers/detail.jsp?playerId=492582 |archive-date=August 29, 2007 }}</ref> According to his bio at the Hall of Fame, "Contrary to the rough tactics of rival clubs like the [[Baltimore Orioles (1882–1899)|Baltimore Orioles]], Selee encouraged his players to play a more civilized style. His teams surpassed brawnier opponents by hitting behind runners, employing the [[Bunt (baseball)|bunt]] and utilizing the [[double steal]]."<ref name=HoF/> Selee is one of only two people from [[New Hampshire]] to be inducted into the Hall of Fame;<ref name="nhhistory">{{cite web|url=http://www.nhhistory.org/baseballquiz/baseball15.html|title=New Hampshire Historical Society|publisher=nhhistory.org|access-date=2008-12-17|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302051655/http://www.nhhistory.org/baseballquiz/baseball15.html|archive-date=2009-03-02}}</ref> the other is [[Carlton Fisk]], who was enshrined in 2000.<ref name="fiskref">{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/f/fiskca01.shtml|title=Carlton Fisk's career statistics|publisher=baseball-reference.com|access-date=2008-12-17}}</ref>

Selee appeared as a character in the 1991 episode "Batter Up" of the animated ''[[Back to the Future: The Animated Series|Back to the Future]]'' series, which involved [[Marty McFly]] and the Brown children traveling back to 1897 to help one of Marty's ancestors, a player for the Beaneaters, to improve his game. Selee was portrayed without his well-known mustache.

==Managerial record==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="5"|Regular season !! colspan="4"|Postseason
|-
!Games!!Won!!Lost!!Win %!!Finish!! Won !! Lost !! Win % !! Result
|-
![[1890 Boston Beaneaters season|BOS]]|| {{mlby|1890}}
||134||{{WinLossPct|76|57}}|| 5th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-style="background:#fde910"
![[1891 Boston Beaneaters season|BOS]]|| {{mlby|1891}}
||140||{{WinLossPct|87|51}}|| '''1st in NL''' || – || – || – || –
|-style="background:#fde910"
!rowspan="2"| [[1892 Boston Beaneaters season|BOS]]|| rowspan="2"| {{mlby|1892}}
||77||{{WinLossPct|50|26}}||'''1st in NL''' || - || - || - || - 
|-
||75||{{WinLossPct|52|22}}|| 2nd in NL || 5 || 0 || 1.000{{efn|Game 1 ended in a tie}} || '''Won [[1892 World Series|World Series]] ([[1892 Cleveland Spiders season|CLE]])'''
|-style="background:#fde910"
![[1893 Boston Beaneaters season|BOS]]|| {{mlby|1893}}
||131||{{WinLossPct|86|43}}|| '''1st in NL''' || - || - || - || - 
|-
![[1894 Boston Beaneaters season|BOS]]|| {{mlby|1894}}
||133||{{WinLossPct|83|49}}|| 3rd in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1895 Boston Beaneaters season|BOS]]|| {{mlby|1895}}
||133||{{WinLossPct|71|60}}|| 6th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1896 Boston Beaneaters season|BOS]]|| {{mlby|1896}}
||132||{{WinLossPct|74|57}}|| 4th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-style="background:#fde910"
![[1897 Boston Beaneaters season|BOS]]|| {{mlby|1897}}
||135||{{WinLossPct|93|39}}|| '''1st in NL''' || 1 || 4 || .200 || Lost [[Temple Cup]] ([[1897 Baltimore Orioles season|BAL]])
|-style="background:#fde910"
![[1898 Boston Beaneaters season|BOS]]|| {{mlby|1898}}
||152||{{WinLossPct|102|47}}|| '''1st in NL''' || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1899 Boston Beaneaters season|BOS]]|| {{mlby|1899}}
||153||{{WinLossPct|95|57}}|| 2nd in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1900 Boston Beaneaters season|BOS]]|| {{mlby|1900}}
||142||{{WinLossPct|66|72}}|| 4th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1901 Boston Beaneaters season|BOS]]|| {{mlby|1901}}
||140||{{WinLossPct|69|69}}|| 5th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
!colspan="11"|
|-
![[1902 Chicago Orphans season|CHC]]|| {{mlby|1902}}
||143||{{WinLossPct|68|69}}|| 5th in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1903 Chicago Cubs season|CHC]]|| {{mlby|1903}}
||139||{{WinLossPct|82|56}}|| 3rd in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1904 Chicago Cubs season|CHC]]|| {{mlby|1904}}
||156||{{WinLossPct|93|60}}|| 2nd in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
![[1905 Chicago Cubs season|CHC]]|| {{mlby|1905}}
||65||{{WinLossPct|37|28}}|| 3rd in NL || – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|Total{{efn|Selee also managed in 34 games that ended in ties}} ||2,180||{{WinLossPct|1284|862}}|| ||  6||4 || .600|| 
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Baseball}}
* [[List of Major League Baseball managers with most career wins]]
* [[Honor Rolls of Baseball]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*{{bbhof|selee-frank}}
*[https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/seleefr99.shtml Baseball-Reference.com] – managerial statistics and analysis
*{{Find a Grave|4954}}

{{1999 Baseball HOF}}
{{Baseball Hall of Fame members}}
{{Honor Rolls of Baseball}}
{{1891 Boston Beaneaters}}
{{1892 Boston Beaneaters}}
{{1893 Boston Beaneaters}}
{{1897 Boston Beaneaters}}
{{1898 Boston Beaneaters}}
{{Atlanta Braves managers|width=100}}
{{Chicago Cubs managers|width=100}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selee, Frank}}
[[Category:1859 births]]
[[Category:1909 deaths]]
[[Category:National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Boston Beaneaters managers]]
[[Category:Chicago Orphans managers]]
[[Category:Chicago Cubs managers]]
[[Category:Minor league baseball managers]]
[[Category:People from Amherst, New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Tuberculosis deaths in Colorado]]
[[Category:20th-century deaths from tuberculosis]]
[[Category:Oshkosh (minor league baseball) players]]