| Lou Gorman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General Manager | |
| Born:(1929-02-18)February 18, 1929 Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. | |
| Died: April 1, 2011(2011-04-01) (aged 82) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
James Gerald "Lou"Gorman (February 18, 1929 – April 1, 2011)[1][2] was an Americanbaseball executive, and the formergeneral manager of theSeattle Mariners andBoston Red Sox ofMajor League Baseball. He spent more than three decades in baseball operations, as a general manager, assistant GM,farm system director orscouting director, and at the time of his death he was the Red Sox' executive consultant for public affairs with an emphasis on community projects. He also was the coordinator of theBoston Red Sox Hall of Fame, to which he was inducted in 2002.
A native ofSouth Providence, Rhode Island, Gorman grew up a Red Sox fan. At the high school level, atLa Salle Academy in Providence, he was an excellent athlete—he was nicknamed afterLou Gehrig[1]—but was cut from the minors. HisBaseball Reference player page records that a 19-year-old Gorman played in 16 games for the 1948Providence Grays of the Class BNew England League, compiling abatting average of .036 (1-for-28).
After his professional playing career stalled, Gorman enrolled inStonehill College for hisbachelor's degree. He then served in theUnited States Navy, including more than eight years of active duty and two tours inKorea. Gorman's naval career, including his tenure with theUnited States Navy Reserve, lasted for 34 years. He retired with the rank ofcaptain.[3] After his active service, he enteredBridgewater State College for hismaster's in education, which he received in 1961.
Gorman resumed his baseball career in1962 as an executive in theminor leagues when he became general manager with the Class DLakeland Giants in theSan Francisco Giants' system, then, in 1963 with the Single-AKinston Eagles in thePittsburgh Pirates' chain.[4]
Gorman joined theBaltimore Orioles' Major League front office in1964 as assistant farm system director, working underHarry Dalton. He was promoted to director of player development in1966, when the Orioles won their firstWorld Series championship. In1968, Gorman became the first farm system director in the history of theKansas City Royals, where he eventually also assumed control of the team'sscouting department. For his efforts, he was promoted to vice president in1973 and assistant general manager in1976.
But he soon departed for a new expansion team when he was appointed director of baseball operations (in effect, chief baseball officer) of theSeattle Mariners when they entered theAmerican League in1977; he later was formally appointed the club's general manager. Although the under-capitalized Mariners struggled during Gorman's four seasons in Seattle—they posted a 246–400 (.381) record from 1977–1980 with two last-place finishes in theAL West—he obtained early Mariner standoutRuppert Jones in the1976 Major League Baseball expansion draft (from his old Royals' organization) and draftedcenterfielderDave Henderson with his first-ever No. 1 choice in the June1977 Major League Baseball draft.[5]
After building the Seattle organization from scratch, he returned to the East Coast as vice president, player personnel, of theNew York Mets in1980. Working under Mets' GMFrank Cashen, with whom Gorman served with the Orioles, he helped lay the foundation for the Mets'1986 World Series championship—achieved at the expense of his next team, the Red Sox.
In the months preceding the1984 season, the Red Sox were embroiled in a legal dispute involving two ownership factions seeking control of the team. Gorman was named vice president of baseball operations in the Boston front office on February 2, 1984;[6] then, four months later, when the legal case was settled, he was officially appointed vice president and general manager, succeeding co-ownerHaywood Sullivan, who moved up to chief executive officer.[7][8] When Gorman took on the general manager job June 6, the Red Sox already had players likeRoger Clemens,Wade Boggs,Dwight Evans andBob Stanley, stars that would form the nucleus of the talented Red Sox teams of the late 1980s. However, it was Gorman's acquisitions (from the Mariners) of Dave Henderson andSpike Owen and closerCalvin Schiraldi (from the Mets) that helped lead the Red Sox to the1986 World Series. In the spring of 1987, unhappy about his contract, Roger Clemens leftspring training, which prompted Gorman to quip, "The sun will rise, the sun will set, and I'll have lunch."[9]
Though the team made it back to the playoffs in1988 and1990, it never got any closer to a championship than it had in 1986. Gorman made several key trades, such as picking upNick Esasky andRob Murphy fromCincinnati and getting closerLee Smith for World Series goat Schiraldi and pitcherAl Nipper, but he made mistakes as well. It was Gorman who traded away futureAll-StarsJeff Bagwell,Curt Schilling, andBrady Anderson in pennant-stretch deals. The Boston farm system, which had produced players such asMike Greenwell,Ellis Burks,Jody Reed andTodd Benzinger early in Gorman's tenure, developed everyday players such asMo Vaughn,John Valentin,Aaron Sele,Tim Naehring,Carlos Quintana andScott Hatteberg in the early 1990s, but the flow of talent was not enough to keep the club at the forefront of its division. The Red Sox were unable to retain free agentsBruce Hurst, Esasky andMike Boddicker (a front-line starting pitcher acquired for Schilling and Brady Anderson in 1988), and when the team returned to the free agent marketplace after the1989 season, catcherTony Peña and pitchersJeff Reardon andDanny Darwin approached expectations, while high-profile signingsJack Clark,Frank Viola andMatt Young were major disappointments.
The Red Sox won anotherAL East title in 1990, but it was the trade involving Bagwell, at the time a third base prospect in the minor leagues, that would ultimately come back to haunt the team the most. Looking to strengthen the bullpen, Gorman traded him to theHouston Astros for relief pitcherLarry Andersen. Andersen pitched just 15 games for the Red Sox before being declared afree agent as a result of thesecond collusion settlement, while Bagwell would spend his entire 15-year career with the Astros, evolving into one of the most productive and consistent power hitters in major league history. Thus, the trade is now reckoned as one of the most lopsided deals in baseball history, especially as Bagwell was inducted into theBaseball Hall of Fame.[10] Some analysts are less critical of Gorman making a deal to acquire Andersen, and more critical of Gorman selecting Bagwell as the third base prospect to send to Houston rather thanScott Cooper.[11]
After 1990, the Red Sox faded from contention. They finished a distant second in1991, and in1992 collapsed all the way to last place for the first time in 60 years. After another losing campaign in1993, wholesale changes were made in the Red Sox front office. Gorman was relieved of his general manager responsibilities on November 10, becoming senior vice president of baseball operations.[12] Two weeks later,John Harrington, who as executive director of theJRY Trust was the team's managing general partner, bought out minority general partner Sullivan to assume full control. Harrington then hiredMontreal Expos general managerDan Duquette (another nativeNew Englander) as Gorman's permanent successor in February 1994.
In his nine full seasons as general manager, 1985 through 1993, the Red Sox compiled a 751–706 (.515)win–loss record, with three division titles and one American League pennant.
Gorman was a senior vice president, then executive vice president, in the Red Sox' baseball operations department through 1996.[13] He also served as a member of the advisory board of theBaseball Assistance Team, a501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to helping former Major League, Minor League, andNegro league players through financial and medical difficulties. In his later years, Gorman was the chairman of the board of theNewport Gulls of theNew England Collegiate Baseball League, and was instrumental to the team.
After a period of declining health, Gorman died atMassachusetts General Hospital,Boston, at age 82 on the Opening Day of the Red Sox'2011 season.[3] MayorThomas Menino declared April 8, 2011, the day of the home opener at Fenway Park, as Lou Gorman Day in Boston. The Red Sox also paid tribute to Gorman during the game that afternoon.
Gorman was inducted into the Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985, the Stonehill College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989,[14] theBoston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2002,[15] and the Newport Gulls Hall of Fame in 2010.[16]
In September 2011, the Red Sox established an annualLou Gorman Award, given to a minor league player in the Red Sox organization "who has demonstrated dedication and perseverance in overcoming obstacles while working his way to the Major League team."[17]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Seattle Marinersgeneral manager 1977–1980 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Boston Red Soxgeneral manager 1984–1993 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |