Larry Lucchino, Top Executive at Three M.L.B. Teams, Dies at 78
Larry Lucchino, who as a prime government with the Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres oversaw the design and building of contemporary stadiums that evoke their environment — Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore and Petco Park in San Diego — and who as president of the Boston Red Sox preserved Fenway Park for generations, died on Tuesday. He was 78.
The Red Sox introduced the demise however didn’t say the place he died or give a trigger. He had been handled for most cancers thrice.
“Larry’s career unfolded like a playbook of triumphs,” John Henry, the principal proprietor of the Red Sox, mentioned in an announcement, “marked by transformative moments that reshaped ballpark design, enhanced the fan experience and engineered the ideal conditions for championships wherever his path led him, and especially in Boston.”
Mr. Lucchino grew to become president of the Red Sox in 2002 with the ascension of latest possession, led by Mr. Henry. In Mr. Lucchino’s 14 years with the group, the Red Sox received the World Series thrice — the primary of these championships, in 2004, broke an 86-year drought — and reached the postseason seven occasions. He oversaw enhancements to Fenway Park that included putting in seats above the Green Monster, the 37-foot-high left subject wall, and vastly increasing concourses and concession areas.
Rather than changing it with a brand new stadium, Mr. Lucchino envisioned a renovation that will hold Fenway, which opened in 1912, viable for many years.
“Have you learned nothing?” he mentioned to Charles Steinberg, one other Red Sox government, in line with a profile of Mr. Lucchino in The Sports Business Journal in 2021. “You can’t destroy the Mona Lisa. You preserve the Mona Lisa.”
Mr. Lucchino’s combative, aggressive persona performed into the rivalry between the Red Sox and the Yankees. In 2002, after the Yankees signed the Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui and the Cuban pitcher Jose Contreras inside a number of days, Mr. Lucchino instructed The New York Times, “The evil empire extends its tentacles even into Latin America.”
The title caught — at the same time as Boston’s success within the coming years exceeded that of the Yankees. A yr later, Mr. Lucchino additional described the Yankees-Red Sox dynamic.
“It’s white hot,” he instructed The Times. “It’s a rivalry on the field, it’s a rivalry in the press, it’s a rivalry in the front office, it’s a rivalry among the fan base.”
A full obituary will comply with.
