Fred Claire, Dodgers GM who built 1988 World Series championship team, dies at 91
Fred Claire, the Los Angeles Dodgers general manager who oversaw the team's 1988 World Series championship, died Monday on his 91st birthday in Pasadena, California, the team announced Tuesday. Claire had entered hospice care recently after an 11-year battle with squamous cell skin cancer, which was first diagnosed on his lip in January 2015.
Claire spent 30 years with the Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning with a chance opening in the team's public relations department in 1969 after he was covering the club as a beat writer for the Long Beach Press-Telegram. He rose to vice president of public relations and promotions by 1975 and is credited with creating the "Dodger Blue" branding and the "Think Blue" campaign, as well as helping the club become the first MLB team to draw more than 3 million fans in a season, in 1978.
Claire became general manager in 1987 following the forced resignation of Al Campanis, who made widely criticized remarks on ABC's "Nightline" about Black people's capacity to hold leadership positions in baseball. Team owner Peter O'Malley handed Claire full and complete responsibility for baseball operations. Claire's first full season produced a 73-89 record, and O'Malley briefly explored replacing him before deciding to stay the course.
In January 1988, Claire signed outfielder Kirk Gibson, whose pinch-hit, two-run home run off Oakland Athletics closer Dennis Eckersley in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 1 became one of the most cited moments in baseball history. The Dodgers won the Series in five games over the heavily favored Athletics, and Claire was named baseball's executive of the year.