Long Island native Ed Stack, former Baseball Hall of Fame president, dead at 88

Edward William Stack, former president and chief executive officer of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, died on June 4, at a senior living facility in Port Washington surrounded by his family. He was 88.

Stack was born in Rockville Centre in 1935 to parents Edward Henry Stack and Helen (Leitner) Stack. He grew up in Sea Cliff and attended public school in the North Shore Central School District.

When he was 14, he was stricken with polio and spent nearly a year in St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson. Never one to be kept idle, he used his time to help by doing secretarial work for the hospital. During that time he began writing letters to national figures, urging them to reach out to the children in the hospital. This was the first of what would be a long career dedicated to humanitarian efforts.

Stack went on to receive his bachelor’s degree from Pace University in 1956, and shortly thereafter began working as an accountant for the Clark Estates, where he helped manage the finances for the Clark family of Cooperstown and the organizations affiliated with The Clark Foundation, including the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Throughout the years, he never stopped working for the family’s interests and remained with them for his entire 44-year career, retiring in 2000 as president and director.

Stack spent more than 60 years of his life in various roles with the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was first elected to the Board of Directors in 1961, and would serve as its president from 1977 to 2000, during which time the Hall inducted such legends as Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Reggie Jackson, and countless others.

“Ed Stack’s leadership and vision guided the Museum for six decades as the Hall of Fame grew in size and stature,” Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, said in a statement. “We were privileged to have him serve this institution and the Village of Cooperstown in so many capacities, and his legacy of dedication, generosity and compassion will remain with us forever.”

Most notably, Stack was responsible for implementing the eligibility rule, which has continued to prevent Pete Rose, a baseball legend whose 4,256 career hits, the most in baseball history, qualified him for induction.

Rose, who was a key part of the Cincinnati Reds team during the era of “The Big Red Machine,” was an instrumental part of team’s two World Series titles in 1975 and 1976, and later went on to serve as the team’s manager in the mid-to-late 80s.

Following an investigation, which found that Rose had been betting on baseball games, including those played by his own team, he was permanently banned from the sport by baseball commissioner A. Barlett Giamatti.

Two years later, when Rose would have been a first-time candidate for election to the hall, Stack told Fay Vincent, who was Giamatti’s deputy before succeeding him in 1989, that the board of directors should disqualify anyone on the permanently-ineligible list from being considered for induction.

He also helped oversee the growth and development of several organizations in Cooperstown and the surrounding area, including the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Fenimore Art Museum, Bassett Medical Center, Clara Welch Thanksgiving Home, and Harwick College to name a few.

Stack married his wife, Christina Hunt of Dahlgren, Virginia in 1967, and settled down in Glen Head, where they raised their three daughters — Amy, Kimberly, and Suzanne.

He is remembered as a beloved husband, father, grandfather, friend and humanitarian, who devoted his life to the service of others.

Stack served for many years with SCO Family Services, Mental Health Association of Nassau County, North Shore Kiwanis Club, Sports Angels, the Salvation Army, the New York State Trooper Foundation, and the United Methodist City Society.

He also received many awards including the Congressional Achievement Award, Executive of the Year Award from the U.S. Baseball Federation, and Citizen for the Volunteer of the Year awards from more than dozen organizations that he was involved with.

Stack was preceded in death by his parents; his siblings, Nancy H. Stack and Richard L. Stack; and his nephew, Brian Aasheim. He is survived by his wife, Christina, his three daughters; his grandchildren, Kara, Lucille, and McGill; his sister, Barbara; his brother-in-law, Richard; his niece, Lynn (Fred); his nephews, Thomas (Laura), Robert (Kelly); and his grand-nieces and nephews, Kristen, Kaitlyn, Alexia, Cole, and Luke.

A funeral service was held at the United Methodist Church of Sea Cliff, where he was a lifelong member, on June 15, followed by burial at the Brookville Cemetery in Glen Head.