John McHale

Thursday was a day for telling John McHale stories, as friends and colleagues sadly but fondly recalled the man who spent five decades in baseball as a player and an executive.

Mr. McHale, who helped bring the Atlanta Braves and Montreal Expos to West Palm Beach for spring training, died Thursday at a hospice near his home in Palm City. He was 86.

Gary Carter remembered the day in 1984 when Mr. McHale, the Expos' general manager, told him the club's board of directors wanted to trade him. Mr. McHale wanted to find Carter the best possible situation with a new team. That turned out to be the New York Mets, with whom Carter went on to win a World Series championship in 1986.

"I thought he handled it with kid gloves," the Hall of Fame catcher and Palm Beach Gardens resident said. "I was always very appreciative of that."

Marlins broadcaster Tommy Hutton recalled Mr. McHale breaking the news of his release as a player in 1981, but then opening another door of opportunity.

"I remember sitting in the dugout on the bench during batting practice," Hutton said. "He said 'We're going to release you, but we know you have an interest in broadcasting. Would you like to remain with the club the rest of the year and fill in on the radio?' And that's essentially how I earned my broadcasting career."

Both stories illustrate the essence of Mr. McHale, said Rob Rabenecker, former general manager of the West Palm Beach Expos. "The game's always been a business," Rabenecker said. "But it doesn't have to be a business without a heart. He showed that you could have a heart and be in the business."

After playing 64 games as a first baseman for the Detroit Tigers from 1943-48 (including Detroit's 1945 World Series champions), Mr. McHale moved into the front office. He served as general manager of his hometown Tigers in 1957-58, then took the same job with the Milwaukee Braves. In 1966, the Braves' first year in Atlanta, he was named deputy to Commissioner William D. Eckert.

Although many people believed Mr. McHale was in line to become baseball's next commissioner, in 1968 Charles Bronfman persuaded him to become president of the Expos, who would begin play in the National League the following year. Mr. McHale in 1978 added the title of general manager, a post he held until 1984. He remained Expos president until 1986.

Under Mr. McHale, the Expos made the playoffs for the only time in their history in 1981. "He built a great scouting and farm system that was the envy of baseball through the '70s and early '80s," said Marlins radio voice Dave Van Horne, who was hired by Mr. McHale as the Expos' first broadcaster in 1969.

Mr. McHale established his ties to South Florida with the Braves, who held spring training in West Palm Beach. The Expos would come to train here, too, sharing the old Municipal Stadium facility. "The Expos wouldn't have been in Palm Beach County had it not been for Mr. McHale," Rabenecker said.

Mr. McHale was a frequent contributor to Cardinal Newman High School, where sons John Jr. (an executive vice president in the baseball commissioner's office), Kevin and Brian played football.

Former baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent enjoyed a long friendship with Mr. McHale, who used to tell Vincent about his days as a baseball and football player at Notre Dame.

"He told me that he was one of the few people that ever played to a full house at Yankee Stadium in both football and baseball," Vincent said. "He played for Notre Dame when they played Army (in football) at Yankee Stadium, and he played for the Tigers against the Yankees when they had a full house."

Faith and family were cornerstones of Mr. McHale's life (his wife, Patty, died in 2001). "Whenever we were on the road I'd always see him at church in the morning," said former Expos pitcher Bill Gullickson of Palm Beach Gardens.

"He treated everyone the same - with the utmost respect," Rabenecker said.

Funeral arrangements were pending.