1901, he played in only three games with the Blues. The AL, established in 1900 by Ban Johnson, former president of the Western League, was by this time in direct competition with the well-established National League (NL). McAleer, a close friend of Johnson and his associate, Charles Comiskey, played a significant role in the new league's development, recruiting scores of experienced players from the NL. St. Louis Browns As manager of the Browns, McAleer lured players such as Hall of Famers Jesse Burkett and Bobby Wallace. In 1902, the Browns took second place in the league, with a record of 78 wins and 58 losses. Between 1903 and 1907, however, the team never ranked higher than fifth or sixth place in the AL. Then, in 1908, the club rebounded, finishing just games out of first place, with a record of 83 wins and 69 losses, landing at fourth in the AL. The Browns ended the 1909 season, however, with a record of 61–89, earning seventh place. McAleer was fired at the close of the season. Browns owner Robert L. Hedges, a Cincinnati carriage maker, replaced the "affable" McAleer with the "crustier" Jack O'Connor, who was expelled from the league in 1910 for seeking to influence the outcome of the annual batting championship. Washington Senators On September 22, 1909, McAleer became the manager of the Washington Senators (popularly known as the "Nationals"), a team that had ceased to be competitive since the death of star hitter Ed Delahanty six years earlier. The team fared little better under McAleer's management, finishing with a lackluster 66–85 record (seventh place) at the close of the 1910 season. The high point of the season was a game in which McAleer initiated what became a baseball tradition. On April 14, 1910, he asked visiting President William Howard Taft to throw out the first ball of a season opener. President Taft, an ardent fan of the game, readily agreed. Baseball historians Donald Dewey and Nicholas Acocella noted that the game "almost put an end to the career" of U.S. Vice President James S. Sherman, who "took a foul ball off the bat of Frank Baker directly in the head". This contest also featured a one-hit performance by pitcher Walter Johnson, who led the Senators to a 3–0 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics. Managerial record Executive career Boston Red Sox Toward the close of the 1911 season, McAleer