Happy birthday to longtime A's manager/owner Connie Mack, who would have been 150 today

By the time Connie Mack retired as manager of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1950, he was a living vestige of a bygone baseball era. He never managed in anything but a business suit; players addressed him as "Mr. Mack;" his time with the team began in 1901, the American League's inaugural season.

Mack (whose legal name was Cornelius McGillicuddy) also owned the A's for much of his tenure and was known as "The Tall Tactician" for his lanky frame and cerebral nature. He owns the most wins, and most losses, of any manager in history, and led his squad to nine World Series, winning five.

His first World Series appearance, in 1905, provides an example of how his legacy is still felt. During that season, John McGraw, manager of the Giants (the Athletics' World Series opponent), said that Mack had "a big white elephant on his hands." Mack adopted an elephant as the A's mascot and put it on their uniforms -- where it remains today.

-- Dan Wohl / MLB.com