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Vaughan Pallmore " Bing" Devine (March 1, 1916 – January 27, 2007) was an American front office executive in Major League Baseball and a major architect of four National League champions and three World Series champions in the six years from through . He was selected The Sporting News MLB Executive of the Year in back-to-back seasons: and .
Serving as general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals from November 12, 1957, through August 17, 1964, Devine was directly responsible for putting the 1964 world champion Cardinals on the field — even though he had been fired with seven weeks remaining in the season, one of the most bizarre events in baseball annals. Many of the players Devine acquired led the Cardinals to the 1967 world title and the 1968 NL championship, the latter occurring during Devine's second tour (from December 6, 1967, through October 18, 1978) as the Redbirds' general manager.
In between those terms, from 1965 to 1967, Devine was assistant to the president and then, after November 14, 1966, president (and de facto general manager) of the New York Mets, where he helped put together the organization that turned the franchise from baseball's laughingstocks into 1969's world champions as the "Miracle Mets." During the 1980s, he also served as president of the St. Louis football Cardinals of the National Football League before resuming his baseball career as a scout and senior advisor.
As pioneers of the farm system concept, the Cardinals had as many as 40 affiliated or owned teams in their minor league system before World War II. With time out for U.S. Navy service during the war, Devine rose rapidly through the ranks as a business manager of Cardinal farm teams, finally becoming the general manager of the Rochester Red Wings of the Triple-A International League in 1949. After six seasons at the helm of the Redbirds' top farm team, he joined the St. Louis front office in the autumn of 1954. The Cardinals, recently purchased by brewery magnate Gussie Busch, entered a rebuilding mode under trade-happy general manager "Frantic" Frank Lane after the season. The team finished second in the NL in , but Lane had worn out his welcome; he moved on to run the Cleveland Indians and was replaced in St. Louis by the steadier hand of Devine.
In —a season also marked by the final campaign of the Cardinals' longtime superstar, Stan Musial—the Redbirds surged into contention, sparked by the acquisition of shortstop Dick Groat from the Pittsburgh Pirates, 18-win seasons from Gibson and Ernie Broglio, the comeback of left-handed starter Curt Simmons (who had been signed off the scrap heap by Devine), and the strong campaign of young catcher Tim McCarver. The Cardinals challenged the eventual world champion Los Angeles Dodgers into mid-September before finishing second, the club's highest showing since 1957. Devine was chosen as Major League Executive of the Year by The Sporting News for his efforts in returning the Cards to contending status.
Ironically, Brock's impact on the Cardinals' won-lost mark or position in the standings was not felt immediately. The team continued to trail the Phillies by a large margin and it looked to all as though the club's pennant drought would extend to 18 years; by August 17, the Redbirds were mired in fifth place, nine games behind the Phillies. Owner Busch was bitterly disappointed, and decided to clean out his front office. On the advice of his special assistant, legendary Branch Rickey, Busch fired Devine and business manager Art Routzong, and accepted the resignation of director of player personnel Eddie Stanky. Manager Johnny Keane was temporarily spared, but Leo Durocher, then the bench coach of the Dodgers, was secretly negotiating with Busch to take over for 1965. Newspaper article, The Associated Press, October 17, 1964 Meanwhile, Devine's old job went to Rickey protégé Bob Howsam.
As events unfolded, Busch had acted in haste. The Cardinals began to win, while the Phillies suffered an epic September collapse, losing a -game lead with a dozen games to play, sparking a wild, four-team, 11th hour scramble for the pennant. On the final day of the season, after sweeping the Phillies to take first place, the Cardinals prevailed, clinching the NL championship for the first time since 1946 by beating the lowly Mets after losing the first two games of the series. Led by Gibson, the undisputed ace of the staff since Broglio's trade, and McCarver, the Cardinals then defeated the New York Yankees in a seven-game World Series. Even though he had been on the sidelines since August 17, Devine again was cited as the top executive in baseball by The Sporting News. Meanwhile, Keane resigned after the World Series triumph (and became skipper of the Yankees). Instead of Durocher, Cardinal coach Red Schoendienst was named as manager for 1965.
In , the Cardinals won 101 games and ran away with the National League race, winning the pennant by games, then bested the Boston Red Sox in a seven-game World Series. The core of the team was Devine's, but Howsam had contributed significantly to the roster with his 1966 acquisitions of NL Most Valuable Player first baseman Orlando Cepeda and right fielder Roger Maris. At the other extreme, the Mets, with most of their young pitching talent still ripening in the minors, lost 101 games and finished dead last. Baseball people took note of Devine's accomplishments in New York, however, and when Musial, a world champion general manager in his maiden season, decided he did not want to continue in the role, Busch was able to secure Devine's release from the Mets, and brought him back to the Cardinals as executive vice president and general manager on December 2, 1967.
In mid-October 1978, Devine was again replaced as Cardinals' general manager (this time by John Claiborne) and again he departed the organization, working for the San Francisco Giants as assistant general manager, the Montreal Expos as a player development official, and the Phillies as a scout. From 1981 to 1986, he was club president of the St. Louis Cardinals of the NFL. But eventually he returned to the baseball Cardinals, where he served as a special scout and advisor to general manager Walt Jocketty.
Devine died in St. Louis at the age of 90.
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