Larry Lucchino | |
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_(2).jpg) Lucchino in 2013 | |
| Born | Lawrence Lucchino (1945-09-06)September 6, 1945 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | April 2, 2024(2024-04-02) (aged 78) Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Education | Princeton University (BA) Yale University (JD) |
| Occupation(s) | Lawyer andMLB executive |
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Lawrence Lucchino (September 6, 1945 – April 2, 2024) was an American lawyer andMajor League Baseball executive. He served as president of theBaltimore Orioles, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of theSan Diego Padres, and president and CEO of theBoston Red Sox. He was also chairman of theWorcester Red Sox, theTriple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox; chairman ofThe Jimmy Fund, the philanthropic arm of theDana–Farber Cancer Institute; and president and CEOemeritus ofFenway Sports Group, the parent company of the Boston Red Sox andLiverpool F.C. Lucchino playedcollege basketball for thePrinceton Tigers.
Lawrence Lucchino was born on September 6, 1945, inPittsburgh.[1] He graduated fromTaylor Allderdice High School,[2] and attendedPrinceton University, where he playedcollege basketball.[3] He was a member of thePrinceton Tigers men's basketball team for the 1964–65, 1965–66, and 1966–67 seasons.[4][5][6] The1964–65 Tigers, captained byBill Bradley, advanced to theFinal Four of the1965 NCAA University Division basketball tournament.[7]
Lucchino graduated from Princeton in 1967. He earned aJuris Doctor[8] fromYale Law School, where he was a classmate ofHillary Clinton.[9][10]
After law school, Lucchino practiced law with theWashington, D. C., law firm ofWilliams & Connolly.[11] The founder, famed litigatorEdward Bennett Williams, had ownership interest in both theWashington Redskins and theBaltimore Orioles.[9] Lucchino's law practice at Williams & Connolly included a substantial amount of work for those two sports teams. Through that work, Lucchino served on the Redskins' board of directors from 1979 to 1985.[11]
Lucchino became president of theBaltimore Orioles, serving from 1988 to 1993, and president and CEO of theSan Diego Padres, serving from 1995 to 2001.[11] Lucchino subsequently joined theBoston Red Sox as president and CEO whenJohn W. Henry purchased the team in December 2001.[12] Lucchino was known for having initiated the trend of building baseball-only facilities with an old-fashioned charm and smaller seating capacities. Under his watch, both the Orioles and Padres built new stadiums, pioneeringOriole Park at Camden Yards andPetco Park, respectively.[9][11]
He helped build Padres teams that made theplayoffs in1996 and1998. They advanced to the1998 World Series, which was instrumental in winning a city-wide vote in November 1998 to authorize the construction of Petco Park. Lucchino was named to thePadres Hall of Fame in 2022.[13]
Lucchino brought future general managerTheo Epstein with him to the Red Sox from the Orioles and the Padres,[14] having also encouraged Epstein to attend law school while he was working at the Padres.[15]
Following the 2002 season,Pedro Martinez called Lucchino asking him to signDavid Ortiz, who had been released by the Twins.[16] Lucchino "always enjoyed a strong connection with Big Papi throughout his entire career".[17] Lucchino hiredJanet Marie Smith to initiate a nearly $300 million renovation project ofFenway Park over the next ten years, including theGreen Monster seats.[16]
Lucchino is credited with coining the term "Evil Empire" for theNew York Yankees.[16][18]
On August 1, 2015, the Red Sox announced that Lucchino was stepping down after the 2015 season.[12] He retired on October 5, 2015, and became president/CEOemeritus ofFenway Sports Group.[19] Lucchino continued as chairman and co-owner of thePawtucket, Rhode Island–basedPawtucket Red Sox.[17] He was a key figure in the relocation of the franchise toWorcester, Massachusetts, becoming theWorcester Red Sox for the 2021 minor league season.[20][21] Lucchino served as that team's first chairman.[22]
Lucchino previously served on the board of directors forSpecial Olympics.[23] He was a commencement speaker at several colleges in theNew England area, includingBoston University (2008),[24]New England School of Law (2008),Bryant University (2009), andAnna Maria College (2010). He was awarded several honorary degrees, including from Boston University,Suffolk University, andPalomar College.[11]
He was the only person known to haveWorld Series rings (Orioles, 1983; Red Sox 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018), aSuper Bowl ring (Redskins, 1982) and aFinal Four watch (Princeton, 1965).[9][11] He was inducted into theBoston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2016,[25] and into theSan Diego Padres Hall of Fame in 2022.[26] He was also inducted into thePennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, theNational Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, and the Taylor Allderdice High School Hall of Fame.[11] He was named chairman ofThe Jimmy Fund in 2016.[27]
Lucchino was anon-Hodgkin lymphoma survivor,[28][29] undergoing radiation treatment in 1986 after his diagnosis in September 1985. In October 1999, he had surgery atJohns Hopkins Hospital to remove localized prostate cancer.[30] In December 2019, he underwent surgery atBrigham and Women's Hospital in Boston to remove a cancerous blockage in the kidney area.[31] In August 2023, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute presented Lucchino with the Boston Red Sox Jimmy Fund Award for his help in raising $142 million over the years.[32]
He was married to Stacey Johnson,[33] and he adopted her two children, Davis and Blair.[34]
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On April 2, 2024, Lucchino died from heart failure at his home inBrookline, Massachusetts, at the age of 78.[32][35] In August 2024, Red Sox principal owner John W. Henry commented:[36]
Larry was the greatest baseball man I ever met. Usually when you call someone a baseball man, you are talking about his knowledge of the game on the field. In Larry’s case, baseball off the field was greater. He was unequivocally a Hall of Famer. The greatest baseball man.
In this exclusive excerpt from his new book,Feeding the Monster,Seth Mnookin explores the fascinating, curious, and combative relationship between Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino and the young man he hired to build a championship team, general manager Theo Epstein.
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| Preceded by | Boston Red SoxPresident 2002–2015 | Succeeded by |