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Thursday, May 01, 2008 |
Buzzie Bavasi Passes
Buzzie Bavasi, former GM for both the Dodgers (1951-1968) and Angels (1978-1984), has passed away at the age of 93, according to the AP.
More stuff at MLB.com, and at Jon's. There's also a Seattle Press-Intelligencer blog piece outlining Bavasi père's career.
Update: It's more work than I can do on such short notice, but some random bullet points about his career in baseball:
- Presided over four World Series titles and eight pennants with the Dodgers.
- Helmed the Dodgers after Walter O'Malley wrested control from Branch Rickey.
- Left for San Diego after it became apparent Walter was leaving things for son Peter, and also the opportunity to become an equity partner in the Padres.
- Built the Angels' first division title winners in 1979 and 1982.
- Worst moment: allowing Roberto Clemente to go on waivers because one of the Dodgers' shareholders thought his addition would put too many minorities on the team.
- Second worst moment: as Angels GM, allowing Nolan Ryan to walk as a free agent. Bavasi negotiated with Ryan in bad faith, which was unsurprising because he totally misread free agency and the kind of player attitudes engendering it.
- Third worst moment: vengefully trading Maury Wills after the 1966 World Series because, banged-up, he declined to follow the team on an exhibition tour of Japan (but eventually did anyway). The Dodgers went on a two-year tour of castoffs at short, putting light-hitting Gene Michael and about-to-be-washed-up Zoilo Versalles in during the 1967 and 1968 seasons. Neither stuck, and the team eventually brought back Wills.
Labels: angels, dodgers, mariners, obituaries
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