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Larry Lucchino

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Larry Lucchino
Lucchino in 2013
Born
Lawrence Lucchino

(1945-09-06)September 6, 1945
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedApril 2, 2024(2024-04-02) (aged 78)
Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S.
EducationPrinceton University (BA)
Yale University (JD)
Occupation(s)Lawyer and MLB executive
Known for
Awards

Lawrence Lucchino (September 6, 1945 – April 2, 2024) was an American lawyer and Major League Baseball executive. He served as president of the Baltimore Orioles, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the San Diego Padres, and president and CEO of the Boston Red Sox. He was also chairman of the Worcester Red Sox, the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox; chairman of The Jimmy Fund, the philanthropic arm of the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute; and president and CEO emeritus of Fenway Sports Group, the parent company of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool F.C. Lucchino played college basketball for the Princeton Tigers.

Early life and education

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Lawrence Lucchino was born on September 6, 1945, in Pittsburgh.[1] He graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School,[2] and attended Princeton University, where he played college basketball.[3] He was a member of the Princeton Tigers men's basketball team for the 1964–65, 1965–66, and 1966–67 seasons.[4][5][6] The 1964–65 Tigers, captained by Bill Bradley, advanced to the Final Four of the 1965 NCAA University Division basketball tournament.[7]

Lucchino graduated from Princeton in 1967. He earned a Juris Doctor[8] from Yale Law School, where he was a classmate of Hillary Clinton.[9][10]

Career

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After law school, Lucchino practiced law with the Washington, D. C., law firm of Williams & Connolly.[11] The founder, famed litigator Edward Bennett Williams, had ownership interest in both the Washington Redskins and the Baltimore 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 the Baltimore Orioles, serving from 1988 to 1993, and president and CEO of the San Diego Padres, serving from 1995 to 2001.[11] Lucchino subsequently joined the Boston Red Sox as president and CEO when John 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, pioneering Oriole Park at Camden Yards and Petco Park, respectively.[9][11]

He helped build Padres teams that made the playoffs in 1996 and 1998. They advanced to the 1998 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 the Padres Hall of Fame in 2022.[13]

Boston Red Sox (2002–2021)

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Lucchino celebrating the Red Sox's 2007 World Series victory at an event at the Massachusetts State House

Lucchino brought future general manager Theo 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 sign David Ortiz, who had been released by the Twins.[16] Lucchino "always enjoyed a strong connection with Big Papi throughout his entire career".[17] Lucchino hired Janet Marie Smith to initiate a nearly $300 million renovation project of Fenway Park over the next ten years, including the Green Monster seats.[18]

Lucchino is credited with coining the term "Evil Empire" for the New York Yankees.[19][20]

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/CEO emeritus of Fenway Sports Group.[21] Lucchino continued as chairman and co-owner of the Pawtucket, Rhode Island–based Pawtucket Red Sox.[17] He was a key figure in the relocation of the franchise to Worcester, Massachusetts, becoming the Worcester Red Sox for the 2021 minor league season.[22][23] Lucchino served as that team's first chairman.[24]

Personal life

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Lucchino previously served on the board of directors for Special Olympics.[25] He was a commencement speaker at several colleges in the New England area, including Boston University (2008),[26] New England School of Law (2008), Bryant University (2009), and Anna Maria College (2010). He was awarded several honorary degrees, including from Boston University, Suffolk University, and Palomar College.[11]

He was the only person known to have World Series rings (Orioles, 1983; Red Sox 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018), a Super Bowl ring (Redskins, 1982) and a Final Four watch (Princeton, 1965).[9][11] He was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2016,[27] and into the San Diego Padres Hall of Fame in 2022.[28] He was also inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, and the Taylor Allderdice High School Hall of Fame.[11] He was named chairman of The Jimmy Fund in 2016.[29]

Lucchino was a non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivor,[30][31] undergoing radiation treatment in 1986 after his diagnosis in September 1985. In October 1999, he had surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital to remove localized prostate cancer.[32] In December 2019, he underwent surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston to remove a cancerous blockage in the kidney area.[33] 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.[34]

He was married to Stacey Johnson,[35] and he adopted her two children, Davis and Blair.[36]

Death

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On April 2, 2024, Lucchino died from heart failure at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, at the age of 78.[34][37] In August 2024, Red Sox principal owner John W. Henry commented:[38]

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.

References

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  1. ^ "Larry Lucchino". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  2. ^ Donoho, Ron (June 1999). "Lucchino!". San Diego Magazine. Archived from the original on September 10, 2002. Retrieved November 27, 2006.
  3. ^ Basil, Anuj, "From Jadwin to Fenway bluegrass" Archived October 13, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Daily Princetonian, January 7, 2005. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  4. ^ "1964–65 Princeton Tigers Roster and Stats".
  5. ^ "1965–66 Princeton Tigers Roster and Stats".
  6. ^ "1966–67 Princeton Tigers Roster and Stats".
  7. ^ "1965 NCAA Tournament Summary".
  8. ^ "Lawrence Lucchino Profile | Ashburn, VA Lawyer | Martindale.com".
  9. ^ a b c d "BU Commencement 2008 | Weekend | Larry Lucchino". Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
  10. ^ "PAW April 7, 2004: Features". princeton.edu.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g "Front Office Directory: Larry Lucchino". MLB.com. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  12. ^ a b Shaughnessy, Dan, "Red Sox CEO Lucchino to leave at season's end", The Boston Globe, August 2, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  13. ^ Posner, Jay (May 13, 2022). "Ted Leitner, Larry Lucchino to join Padres Hall of Fame". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  14. ^ Hohler, Bob, "Epstein was an old pro", boston.com/NESN, October 29, 2004.
  15. ^ Gopisetty, Smita, "For Epstein '95, a dream fulfilled at 28", Yale Daily News, December 11, 2002.
  16. ^ Browne, Ian. "Red Sox mourn passing of former club president Lucchino". mlb.com. MLB Advanced Media, LP. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  17. ^ a b McGair, Brendan, "PawSox owner Larry Lucchino reflects on the career of Red Sox slugger David Ortiz", pawtuckettimes.com, October 9, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  18. ^ Browne, Ian. "Red Sox mourn passing of former club president Lucchino". mlb.com. MLB Advanced Media, LP. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  19. ^ Browne, Ian. "Red Sox mourn passing of former club president Lucchino". mlb.com. MLB Advanced Media, LP. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  20. ^ Landers, Chris (December 24, 2015). "13 years ago, the Yankees signed Jose Contreras, and the 'Evil Empire' was born". mlb.com. MLB Advanced Media, LP. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  21. ^ "Front Office". Boston Red Sox. Retrieved November 14, 2020.[dead link‍]
  22. ^ Chesto, Jon (August 17, 2018). "It's Official: PawSox to Move to Worcester". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  23. ^ Kotsopoulos, Nick (September 12, 2018). "Worcester Council Approves Baseball Stadium Deal, 9–1". Worcester Telegram and Gazette. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  24. ^ "Worcester Red Sox front office". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  25. ^ "Special Olympics: Special Olympics A to Z". specialolympics.org.
  26. ^ Commencement 2008, Boston University. "One of [350] best commenement speeches, ever", NPR, July 2, 2015; with link to text. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  27. ^ "Red Sox Hall of Fame". MLB.com. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  28. ^ "Padres Hall of Fame". MLB.com. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  29. ^ "Meet the Chairman of the Jimmy Fund: Larry Lucchino". jimmyfund.org. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  30. ^ "Larry Lucchino" Archived August 21, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute.
  31. ^ "WHDH-TV – Special Report – Lucchino Speaks of His Battle with Cancer 7NEWS Boston Special Reports". Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
  32. ^ "Lucchino recovering nicely from cancer surgery". North County Times. October 13, 1999. p. 19. Retrieved April 2, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
  33. ^ "Larry Lucchino undergoes surgery to remove cancerous blockage in kidney area". The Boston Globe. December 18, 2019. Retrieved December 20, 2019 – via Boston.com.
  34. ^ a b O'Laughlin, Frank (April 2, 2024). "'Truly irreplaceable': Larry Lucchino, who helped lead Red Sox to 3 World Series titles, dead at 78". Boston 25 News. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  35. ^ Shaughnessy, Dan. "Why we love Larry Lucchino". bostonglobe.com. Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  36. ^ "Larry Lucchino, President/CEO of the Boston Red Sox, Delivers Commencement Address at 93rd Annual Bentley University Commencement on May 19, 2012". Bentley.edu. Bentley University. March 15, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  37. ^ Sandomir, Richard (April 4, 2024). "Larry Lucchino, Top Executive at Three M.L.B. Teams, Dies at 78". The New York Times. p. B11. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  38. ^ Shaughnessy, Dan (August 13, 2024). "ohn Henry and Red Sox offer a final — and well-deserved — salute to the late Larry Lucchino". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 13, 2024.

Further reading

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  • Mnookin, Seth (July 9, 2006). "The Breakup". Sunday Globe Magazine. Retrieved November 14, 2020 – via Boston.com. 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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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Larry Lucchino.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Boston Red Sox President
2002–2015 		Succeeded by
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