with waiver-price acquisitions. Nonetheless, Washington improved every year from 1963 through 1967, but when the team's field manager, Gil Hodges, departed for the New York Mets after the campaign, the Senators regressed and fell back into the American League basement. The December 1967 death of James M. Johnston, one of the club's two principal owners, forced the sale of the team in the autumn of 1968, and Selkirk was fired during the transition. He then returned to the Yankees as a scout. Selkirk died at age 79 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His successful career as a player, and the respect he earned as a general manager, earned Selkirk a place in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Selkirk was, arguably, the greatest Canadian-born baseball player of the first half of the 20th century. Selkirk is mentioned in August Wilson's 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Fences. The protagonist, Troy, confident that he can do better than white ballplayers in the majors, alludes to Selkirk and the .269 average he put up in 1940, his last year as a regular in the Yankee lineup. References External links 1908 births 1987 deaths American League All-Stars Baltimore Orioles executives Baseball executives Baseball people from Ontario Binghamton Triplets managers Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Columbus Red Birds players Jersey City Skeeters players Kansas City Athletics executives Kansas City Blues (baseball) managers Major League Baseball general managers Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from Canada Newark Bears (IL) players New York Yankees players New York Yankees scouts People from Huntsville, Ontario Rochester Red Wings players Rochester Tribe players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players United States Navy personnel of World War II Washington Senators (1961–1971) executives