Peter Bavasi
Peter Bavasi (born 1942 in Bronxville, New York) is an American former front-office executive in Major League Baseball.
The son of
Career
Los Angeles Dodgers
Bavasi began his baseball apprenticeship under his father and
San Diego Padres
In 1969, Bavasi was named director of minor league operations for the San Diego Padres expansion team,[3] where his father, Buzzie, was president and de facto general manager. In 1973, Peter became the vice president/GM of the Padres.[3] One of the future managers of the Toronto Blue Jays, Cito Gaston, played for the Padres under Bavasi's tenure.
Toronto Blue Jays
Bavasi competed with Frank Cashen, whose previous experience was with the Baltimore Orioles, for the position of general manager of the expansion Toronto Blue Jays. Although some of the club's board members preferred Bavasi because of his interest in the marketing aspect of baseball, the original choice was Cashen. After Cashen withdrew, Bavasi won the job.[4] He was appointed on June 18, 1976.[5]
Bavasi was considered the orchestrator of Blue Jay Mania.
A key issue for Bavasi was hiring a manager. Rumours had spread that the Jays were interested in several candidates, including: Joe Altobelli, Billy DeMars, Preston Gómez, Elston Howard, and Warren Spahn.[7] Bavasi, however, selected Hartsfield, who had enjoyed great success managing the Padres' Triple-A farm team, the Hawaii Islanders, leading them to consecutive Pacific Coast League titles in 1975–76.
The Blue Jays were one of the worst teams in the Majors in the first half of the 1981 season, as the Blue Jays had a record of 16 wins and 42 losses, a percentage of .276.[8] Although the Blue Jays had future stars Jesse Barfield, George Bell, and Lloyd Moseby in the lineup, the team continued to struggle.
The result was one of the more controversial times in franchise history. Bavasi went to see the team in Anaheim against the
Cleveland Indians
Bavasi had joined the Cleveland Indians as its president in November 1984, serving through January 1987. While Cleveland's president, he was a member of the Major League Baseball's executive council.[11] During the 1986 season, the team had an 84–78 record, its best since 1968, and attendance of 1.47 million, its highest since 1959.[12]
Life after Major League Baseball
Bavasi resigned before the 1987 season began, to take over as president and chief executive officer of Telerate Sports.[12]
He also directed the international sports practice at the public relations firm
References
- ^ "Peter Bavasi" at the Baseball America Executive Database
- ^ "Bill Bavasi" at the Baseball America Executive Database
- ^ ISBN 0-14-023978-2
- ISBN 0-14-023978-2
- ^ a b Blue Jays Timeline
- ^ ISBN 0-7735-1120-2
- ISBN 0-14-023978-2
- ISBN 0-14-023978-2
- ISBN 0-14-023978-2
- ISBN 0-14-023978-2
- ^ a b Principals Archived 2007-08-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b New York Times, January 24, 1987