Larry Lucchino
Larry Lucchino was named President/CEO of the Red Sox at the closing of the purchase of the team in February, 2002. Previously President/CEO of the Baltimore Orioles (1988-93) and the San Diego Padres (1995-01), Lucchino is a veteran of 27 years in Major League Baseball. With the Red Sox, Lucchino manages the franchise on a day-to-day basis with the active involvement of, and in collaboration with, Principal Owner John W. Henry and Chairman Tom Werner.
He has won rings with each franchise. The Orioles won the 1983 World Series, the Padres won the 1998 pennant, and the Red Sox of course won the 2004 World Championship in remarkable fashion to end an 86-year drought.Lucchino is the first President/CEO to win pennants for two different franchises—let alone in two different leagues—since Hall of Fame executive Larry MacPhail more than 50 years ago with the Brooklyn Dodgers (1941) and the New York Yankees (1947). They are the only two to have done so. (Al Rosen won pennants as President/CEO of the Yankees in 1978 and as President of the San Francisco Giants in 1989, but Bob Lurie was the Giants’ CEO. Dave Dombrowski won pennants as GM of the Florida Marlins in 1997 and President/GM of the Detroit Tigers in 2006.)
In addition to running championship franchises and setting attendance marks, Lucchino has earned a legacy for creating ballparks that have transformed the structures’ role in the fan experience, influence on franchise value, and place in the community.His vision for Oriole Park at Camden Yards, a traditional old-fashioned downtown ballpark with modern amenities, ushered in an era of revolutionary ballpark architecture and ambiance responsible in part for the game’s resurgence since 1992.
He also had the vision for the ballpark that saved baseball in San Diego. Petco Park, designed to look and feel like San Diego, was approved in a 1998 landslide vote on Proposition C, a campaign that Lucchino spearheaded. As much as the Padres needed a ballpark, the city needed a catalyst to redevelop an under-utilized 26-block area in the city’s downtown. As promised, a ballpark revitalized a key neighborhood, as it had done in Baltimore (and, subsequently, in other cities). The entire design of the park was completed in August, 2001, and construction was well underway when Lucchino left the Padres after the 2001 season and joined John Henry and Tom Werner in a successful effort to purchase the Red Sox, announced on December 20, 2001.
While every other group that sought to purchase the Red Sox advocated a replacement for venerable Fenway Park, the group led by Henry, Werner, and Lucchino was the only one that committed itself to save—and improve—America’s most beloved ballpark. The ownership group officially formalized its commitment to keep Fenway Park long term on March 23, 2005.
Lucchino has overseen the successful additions at Fenway Park of Green Monster Seats, the Right Field Roof Seats, Dugout Seats, the Yawkey Way Concourse, the Big Concourse, the Third Base Concourse, the First and Third Base Decks, the EMC Club, and the State Street Pavilion. These and other well-received innovations enhanced the fans’ experience while respecting the integrity of the historic park and the surrounding neighborhood.
While setting attendance records with all three franchises, Lucchino has made his mark in the cutting-edge marketing of baseball. His efforts at regionalization in Baltimore expanded the Orioles’ fan base from 2 million to 6 million. In his 14 years with the Orioles, the season ticket base increased from 1,600 to 28,000 plus a 13,000-person waiting list.
In his seven years with the Padres, the season ticket base more than doubled from 5,081 to 12,380 through 2000. Under his leadership, the Padres recorded their top four all-time attendance figures at Qualcomm Stadium in his last four years there (1998-2001).In his five seasons in Boston, the club has set franchise records each year, and has now sold out 307 straight games starting May 15, 2003. The streak broke the previous club record of 65, and is now second-longest in the history of Major League Baseball.
Each of the three franchises he has served as chief executive has established a charitable foundation during his tenure (The Orioles Foundation, The Padres Foundation, and The Red Sox Foundation). Under his leadership, each franchise has re-invigorated its philanthropy, its communityrelations efforts, and its ballpark ambiance to ensure that all fans feel welcome.
Lucchino’s passion for ballparks is rivaled by his drive for baseball’s internationalization. He pioneered a ground-breaking relationship in Japan in 1997 with the Chiba Lotte Marines, and he arranged the effort to play Major League Baseball’s first regular season games in Mexico (1996) and Hawaii (1997). He established baseball’s first International Opening Day in Monterrey, Mexico in 1999, and was an early, active supporter of the World Baseball Classic. He also serves on Major League Baseball’s International Committee.
He has served on MLB’s Restructuring Committee, the American League’s Cable Television Committee, and as Chairman of the Player Development Contract Negotiations Committee. He was a member of the Realignment Committee and the Commissioner’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Baseball Economics, which released its recommendations for attacking the game’s economic and competitive balance issues in July, 2000.
Born in Pittsburgh, Lucchino was an All-City League basketball player and a second baseman on the Pittsburgh city championship baseball team at Taylor Allderdice High School. He graduated with honors from Princeton University and is a graduate of the Yale Law School. At Princeton, he was a member of two Ivy League championship basketball teams.
In 1974, he joined Williams and Connolly, the law firm founded by his mentor, friend, legendary sportsman and trial attorney Edward Bennett Williams. He became a partner in 1978 and specialized in sports law and litigation. He was general counsel to the Washington Redskins, of which Williams was president and part owner, and was a member of the Redskins Board of Directors from 1979 to 1985. When EBW bought the Orioles on August 2, 1979, Lucchino became vice president/general counsel. EBW named him president in May, 1988, to rebuild the club’s baseball and business operations. He was an owner of the Orioles from 1989 until the club was sold at the end of the 1993 season, and of the Padres from December, 1994 to 2002.
The avid sportsman has the unique distinction of earning World Series rings (Orioles, ‘83; Red Sox, ‘04), a Super Bowl ring (Redskins, ‘83), and a Final Four watch (Princeton, ‘65). Lucchino has been active in numerous civic and charitable efforts in Baltimore, San Diego, and Boston, with particular involvement in the research and treatment of cancer. He is married to Stacey Johnson Lucchino, and has two stepchildren, Davis (17) and Blair (15).
Larry Lucchino was named President/CEO of the Red Sox at the closing of the purchase of the team in February, 2002. Previously President/CEO of the Baltimore Orioles (1988-93) and the San Diego Padres (1995-01), Lucchino is a veteran of 27 years in Major League Baseball. With the Red Sox, Lucchino manages the franchise on a day-to-day basis with the active involvement of, and in collaboration with, Principal Owner John W. Henry and Chairman Tom Werner.
He has won rings with each franchise. The Orioles won the 1983 World Series, the Padres won the 1998 pennant, and the Red Sox of course won the 2004 World Championship in remarkable fashion to end an 86-year drought.Lucchino is the first President/CEO to win pennants for two different franchises—let alone in two different leagues—since Hall of Fame executive Larry MacPhail more than 50 years ago with the Brooklyn Dodgers (1941) and the New York Yankees (1947). They are the only two to have done so. (Al Rosen won pennants as President/CEO of the Yankees in 1978 and as President of the San Francisco Giants in 1989, but Bob Lurie was the Giants’ CEO. Dave Dombrowski won pennants as GM of the Florida Marlins in 1997 and President/GM of the Detroit Tigers in 2006.)
In addition to running championship franchises and setting attendance marks, Lucchino has earned a legacy for creating ballparks that have transformed the structures’ role in the fan experience, influence on franchise value, and place in the community.His vision for Oriole Park at Camden Yards, a traditional old-fashioned downtown ballpark with modern amenities, ushered in an era of revolutionary ballpark architecture and ambiance responsible in part for the game’s resurgence since 1992.
He also had the vision for the ballpark that saved baseball in San Diego. Petco Park, designed to look and feel like San Diego, was approved in a 1998 landslide vote on Proposition C, a campaign that Lucchino spearheaded. As much as the Padres needed a ballpark, the city needed a catalyst to redevelop an under-utilized 26-block area in the city’s downtown. As promised, a ballpark revitalized a key neighborhood, as it had done in Baltimore (and, subsequently, in other cities). The entire design of the park was completed in August, 2001, and construction was well underway when Lucchino left the Padres after the 2001 season and joined John Henry and Tom Werner in a successful effort to purchase the Red Sox, announced on December 20, 2001.
While every other group that sought to purchase the Red Sox advocated a replacement for venerable Fenway Park, the group led by Henry, Werner, and Lucchino was the only one that committed itself to save—and improve—America’s most beloved ballpark. The ownership group officially formalized its commitment to keep Fenway Park long term on March 23, 2005.
Lucchino has overseen the successful additions at Fenway Park of Green Monster Seats, the Right Field Roof Seats, Dugout Seats, the Yawkey Way Concourse, the Big Concourse, the Third Base Concourse, the First and Third Base Decks, the EMC Club, and the State Street Pavilion. These and other well-received innovations enhanced the fans’ experience while respecting the integrity of the historic park and the surrounding neighborhood.
While setting attendance records with all three franchises, Lucchino has made his mark in the cutting-edge marketing of baseball. His efforts at regionalization in Baltimore expanded the Orioles’ fan base from 2 million to 6 million. In his 14 years with the Orioles, the season ticket base increased from 1,600 to 28,000 plus a 13,000-person waiting list.
In his seven years with the Padres, the season ticket base more than doubled from 5,081 to 12,380 through 2000. Under his leadership, the Padres recorded their top four all-time attendance figures at Qualcomm Stadium in his last four years there (1998-2001).In his five seasons in Boston, the club has set franchise records each year, and has now sold out 307 straight games starting May 15, 2003. The streak broke the previous club record of 65, and is now second-longest in the history of Major League Baseball.
Each of the three franchises he has served as chief executive has established a charitable foundation during his tenure (The Orioles Foundation, The Padres Foundation, and The Red Sox Foundation). Under his leadership, each franchise has re-invigorated its philanthropy, its communityrelations efforts, and its ballpark ambiance to ensure that all fans feel welcome.
Lucchino’s passion for ballparks is rivaled by his drive for baseball’s internationalization. He pioneered a ground-breaking relationship in Japan in 1997 with the Chiba Lotte Marines, and he arranged the effort to play Major League Baseball’s first regular season games in Mexico (1996) and Hawaii (1997). He established baseball’s first International Opening Day in Monterrey, Mexico in 1999, and was an early, active supporter of the World Baseball Classic. He also serves on Major League Baseball’s International Committee.
He has served on MLB’s Restructuring Committee, the American League’s Cable Television Committee, and as Chairman of the Player Development Contract Negotiations Committee. He was a member of the Realignment Committee and the Commissioner’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Baseball Economics, which released its recommendations for attacking the game’s economic and competitive balance issues in July, 2000.
Born in Pittsburgh, Lucchino was an All-City League basketball player and a second baseman on the Pittsburgh city championship baseball team at Taylor Allderdice High School. He graduated with honors from Princeton University and is a graduate of the Yale Law School. At Princeton, he was a member of two Ivy League championship basketball teams.
In 1974, he joined Williams and Connolly, the law firm founded by his mentor, friend, legendary sportsman and trial attorney Edward Bennett Williams. He became a partner in 1978 and specialized in sports law and litigation. He was general counsel to the Washington Redskins, of which Williams was president and part owner, and was a member of the Redskins Board of Directors from 1979 to 1985. When EBW bought the Orioles on August 2, 1979, Lucchino became vice president/general counsel. EBW named him president in May, 1988, to rebuild the club’s baseball and business operations. He was an owner of the Orioles from 1989 until the club was sold at the end of the 1993 season, and of the Padres from December, 1994 to 2002.
The avid sportsman has the unique distinction of earning World Series rings (Orioles, ‘83; Red Sox, ‘04), a Super Bowl ring (Redskins, ‘83), and a Final Four watch (Princeton, ‘65). Lucchino has been active in numerous civic and charitable efforts in Baltimore, San Diego, and Boston, with particular involvement in the research and treatment of cancer. He is married to Stacey Johnson Lucchino, and has two stepchildren, Davis (17) and Blair (15).
