1963 Yankees Management Profiles

"Keeping the Yankees strong is the task which Yankee General Manager Roy Hamey has assumed. And, like Manager Ralph Houk, the proof is in the pudding after his first two years with a pair of pennants and World Championships. Strengthening the Yankee minor league operation is also the aim of Roy Hamey in a determined effort to keep top-flight talent coming to the club. 

Roy has been in baseball 39 years and some 19 of these have been in the Yankee organization. He started in the game in 1925 as a minor league business manager and joined the Yanks nine years later, working up through the farm system. Later, he served as President of the American Association, general manager of both the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies, and twice as assistant GM of the Bombers."

-The New York Yankees Official 1963 Yearbook

"The front office chief of the World Champion New York Yankees, Roy H. Hamey, has virtually a lifetime of baseball experience. In fact, Roy has been in baseball longer (38 years) than the oldest Yankee, Yogi Berra (37 years).

Hamey and his field manager Ralph Houk head into the 1963 American League season looking for a third straight pennant and a third straight World Series championship. Past performances make this team a solid choice to accomplish this feat, but the last man to admit this is Hamey. Baseball, as a business, has been Roy's life, and nowhere along the line has success come easily.

Hamey started in the National League in 1925 when he served as the business manager of his hometown ball club in Springfield, Illinois. Nine years later he joined the New York Yankee organization for the first time and began a steady climb up through the farm system.

He left the Yankee organization for a while, becoming president of the American Association, at that time minor league baseball's number one circuit. Just last fall Hamey attended the convention in Rochester, N.Y., which resulted in the end of the old Triple-A circuit. American Association teams were absorbed by the Pacific Coast and International Leagues in an effort to strengthen baseball's minor league system.

General managership of the National League Pittsburgh and Philadelphia ball clubs are other important chapters of the Roy Hamey story. In between those two posts he served as assistant general manager of the Yankees. He assumed the general manager's position after the 1960 season and immediately began modelling what would be two championship outfits.

The scope of Hamey's operations in New York are not limited to the activities on American League fields alone. He is vitally concerned about every player in the Yankee farm system and is a firm believer in the Topping-Webb theory that world championship teams are first constructed in the minor leagues.

Just by watching Roy work one can appreciate his concern about the younger members of the Yankee organization. He was among the first of the Yankee front office executives to arrive in Fort Lauderdale (he was there before February 1) and spent many studious hours viewing the Yankee farmhands during New York's rookie camp at Fort Lauderdale Stadium."

-1963 New York Yankees Official Spring Guidebook and Scorecard (Fort Lauderdale Stadium)

DAN TOPPING JR. (Assistant General Manager)

"This is the first year that Dan Topping Jr. has served as assistant to the general manager. He has had excellent training for his new position, serving in several capacities at Yankee Stadium. Last year he was the highly successful GM of the Ft. Lauderdale Yankees, helping his club win the Florida State League title."

-The New York Yankees Official 1963 Yearbook

J. ARTHUR FRIEDLUND (Secretary and General Counsel)

"A highly successful Chicago attorney, Art Friedlund has served as secretary and general counsel of the Yankees since the start of the Topping-Webb regime. Director and counsel for many important firms in the country, he finds time to see and represent the Yankees throughout the championship season."

-The New York Yankees Official 1963 Yearbook

1963 Profiles: Dan Topping and Del Webb

"The Yankee co-owners - Dan Topping and Del Webb - certainly have at least one thing in common. That is a dedication to the game of baseball in general and, of course, to their Yankees in particular. Both men are interested in the welfare and progress of our National Game, the American League and certainly of the New York Yankees.

They bought the club near the end of World War II. In the ensuing years, the Yankees have captured 13 American League pennants and 10 World Championships, a record unmatched in the history of baseball.

Topping serves as the acting executive head of the club, residing in New York. While Dan has many other interests, including serving as a board member of several important corporations, his primary concern is the welfare of the New York Yankees. He sees most of the home games and spring training contests and plays an active role in the direction of the team's operations. He comes by his sports interest honestly, having participated in his early years. He was an outstanding amateur golfer, played college baseball, and later co-owned the old Brooklyn Football Dodgers and the New York Yankees of the All-American Conference.

Del Webb was a frustrated baseball player. He was making excellent progress as a pitcher in pro ball when an arm injury forced his retirement from active competition. He turned to carpentry and from there to the construction business, building the Del E. Webb Corporation into one of the largest and most successful firms in its field. Despite an amazing schedule of activity that takes him from one corner of the nation to another almost daily, Del finds time to watch his Yankees and concern himself with the club's problems. He sees the club regularly in Los Angeles, as well as frequently in New York, at spring training and elsewhere during the season.

Both owners are dedicated to bringing Yankee fans the very best in baseball entertainment in the finest ball park in America.

Baseball fans have a primary interest in the field personnel of a baseball team, but the basic success of any club starts at the top. Continuous strong management is vital to the success of any organization, and certainly this is true of the Yankees. Under the Topping-Webb ownership, no club has had a better winning record nor attracted more fans. The Yankees are dedicated to continuing the policies that have made the Yankees the most exciting and greatest attraction in sports."

-The New York Yankees Official 1963 Yearbook

"The New York Yankees have long proven that teamwork pays off in big dividends. As far as the organization is concerned, great teamwork begins right at the top, in the offices of co-owners Dan Topping and Del Webb.

Topping and Webb have been associated with the Yankees since 1945 and the record of their success speaks for itself. Over that stretch the Yankees have captured 13 American League championships and 10 World Series titles.

Dan is an ardent sports fan and has been such all of his life. Although a director of many corporations, he gives most of his time to the operation of the Yankees.

He was named Major League Executive of the Year in 1961 and, that same year, endeared himself to Fort Lauderdale through his efforts to secure a 10-year spring training contract for the Yankees.

In addition to his baseball ties Dan is a strong golfer and certainly enjoys the South Florida links. He was the owner of professional football teams before entering baseball near the end of World War II.

Webb, head of one of the nation's largest construction firms, the Del E. Webb Corporation, almost made it to the major leagues in his younger days as a pitcher. But arm trouble thwarted that dream until he became co-owner of the Yankees.

Both spend considerable time in Fort Lauderdale and can be seen regularly at Yankee spring training games."

-1963 New York Yankees Official Spring Guidebook and Scorecard (Fort Lauderdale Stadium)