Warren Crandall Giles (May 28, 1896 – February 7, 1979) was an American professional baseball executive. Giles spent 33 years in high-level posts in Major League Baseball as general manager and club president of the Cincinnati Reds (1937–1951) and president of the National League (1951–1969), and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Born in Tiskilwa, Illinois, Giles attended Washington and Lee University and served as an infantry officer in France during World War I.
He eventually joined the St. Louis Cardinals' organization and rose to prominence as the president and business manager of their top-level farm teams, the Syracuse Stars (1926–1927) and Rochester Red Wings (1928–1936) of the International League. As a foreshadowing of his most powerful position in professional baseball, Giles spent part of the 1936 season as president of the International League.
Upon the recommendation of Cardinals' executive Branch Rickey, Powel Crosley Jr., owner of the Cincinnati Reds, appointed Giles as his club's general manager on November 1, 1936, succeeding Larry MacPhail. While the 1937 Reds won only 56 games and slid into the basement of the National League, the edition improved by 26 games to finish in the first division, earning Giles the 1938 Major League Executive of the Year award from The Sporting News. That season, he hired a future Hall of Fame manager, Bill McKechnie, to take charge of the Reds on the field. Then, on June 13, 1938, Giles swung one of the most successful trades in Cincinnati history, when he obtained starting pitcher Bucky Walters from the Philadelphia Phillies for catcher Spud Davis, pitcher Al Hollingsworth and cash.
Walters would help lead the Reds of and to back-to-back National League championships. The 1939 Reds, behind Walters' 27 victories and MVP-Award-winning season, captured the NL pennant by games, but they were swept by the New York Yankees in the World Series. Unfazed, the 1940 Reds won 100 games, with Walters accounting for 22 victories and leading the circuit in earned run average for a second straight season. They repeated as league champions by a 12-length margin, then, behind Walters' two complete game victories, they defeated the Detroit Tigers in a seven-game World Series for the second world title in modern club history.
The Reds boasted .500 or above teams through , but declined beginning in and during the post-war era finished in the NL's second division and posted losing records for Giles' last seven seasons as the Reds' top executive. During this postwar period, he was given the added duties of team president by owner Crosley prior to the 1947 season. The same expansion brought Major League Baseball to Texas and the Southwest, with the Houston Colt .45s. In 1969, Giles' last year in office, his league expanded into Canada with the Montreal Expos, adopted divisional play, and played the first National League Championship Series, between the Braves and Mets. Between 1952 and 1969, the NL's member clubs, except the Chicago Cubs, also opened or were planning to open new stadiums.
Giles' presidency also saw the National League widen its advantage over the American League in the signing of African-American and Latin American players, resulting in a three-decade-long domination of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
During the early weeks of the season, Giles became a figure of some controversy after he instructed the NL's umpires to strictly enforce the balk rule then in place. In response, the Senior Circuit's arbiters called 74 balks from the opening of the season on April 8 until April 26, when Giles announced a relaxation of the policy. Only two balks were called in the American League over the same period.
Giles, then 73, announced his intention to retire after the season and on December 5, Giants' executive Chub Feeney was elected to succeed him as president of the National League.
The National League Championship Series trophy is named in his honor. Additionally, Minor League Baseball gives out the Warren Giles Award to outstanding minor league presidents.
Personal life
Giles was married to Jane Mabel Skinner from 1931 until her sudden death from cerebral hemorrhage in 1943. She was the daughter of Moline mayor, Charles T. Porter, President of Moline Paint Manufacturing Company, and the great-granddaughter of John Deere, founder of John Deere