Fred Mitchell (baseball)

Frederick Francis Mitchell, born Frederick Francis Yapp (June 5, 1878 – October 13, 1970), was an American right-handed pitcher, catcher and manager in Major League Baseball. After pitching for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, and Brooklyn Superbas from 1901 to 1905, he returned to the major leagues as a catcher for the New York Highlanders in 1910. He was noted for relieving Hall of Famer Cy Young in the first-ever Red Sox game.

Mitchell was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1917, he joined the Chicago Cubs as team president, and was later hired as manager. In his second year at the helm, he won the 1918 National League pennant, losing to the Red Sox in the 1918 World Series. However, in the middle of the 1919 season, he was relieved of his president duties and one year later, he was out of a job. The Boston Braves hired him as manager for the 1921 season, but his success in Chicago did not follow him to his hometown Braves, where he lost 100 games twice. After he was fired by the Braves, he returned to Harvard University where he had previously coached baseball in 1916. He remained at Harvard for thirty years until his retirement. Mitchell was best known for his excellence in coaching.

Mitchell died in Newton, Massachusetts at age 92. He is buried in Brookside Cemetery in Stow, Massachusetts.