Larry Baer
Born
Laurence Monroe Baer

(1957-04-08) April 8, 1957 (age 66)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA) (1980)
Harvard Business School (MBA (1985))
OccupationSports executive
Known forPresident and CEO of the San Francisco Giants[1]
SpousePamela Baer
Children4

Laurence Monroe Baer is an American businessman. He is best known as the president and chief executive officer of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball.[2] He succeeded Bill Neukom on January 1, 2012.[3]

Early life and education

Born to a Jewish family,[4] Baer attended Lowell High School in San Francisco and the University of California, Berkeley.[5] He served as the sports director and business manager of KALX, the student-run radio station. As a junior, he negotiated with Oakland Athletics' owner Charlie Finley to make KALX the official radio station of the Athletics for its first 16 games.[6] Baer served as the play-by-play announcer.[7] He graduated from Berkeley with a degree in political science in 1980.[8]

That same year, he joined the San Francisco Giants as its marketing director.[2] He left the Giants to attend Harvard Business School and earned his MBA in 1985. After graduating, he worked for Westinghouse Broadcasting and CBS.[2] At CBS, Baer worked as an assistant to the network's then-CEO and chairman Laurence Tisch.[9]

Career

Baer returned to the Giants in 1992 to help form the ownership group that kept the team in San Francisco when an attempt was made to move the franchise to Tampa, Florida.[2] Other members of the group included Charles Bartlett Johnson, Harmon Burns, Scott Seligman, Allan Byer, David S. Wolff and Peter Magowan, the Giants' CEO from 1992 to 2007.[10]

During Magowan's tenure, Baer worked as his chief assistant. He led the design and development of a new ballpark for the Giants starting in 1995. Construction on the park began in 1997 and was completed in 2000. The park opened as Pacific Bell Park before changing names several times through the 2000s. Since 2019, it has been known as Oracle Park, after a $200-million naming rights deal.[10][11]

In 1994, Baer established the first benefit by a professional sports team to fight AIDS.[4] In 1995, Baer received the Sports Torch of Learning Award from the Scopus Society of the American Friends of the Hebrew University. In 2001, the Anti-Defamation League awarded him the Torch of Liberty Award.[12]

In 2008, Baer became the Giants' club president.[13] He succeeded Bill Neukom as the Giants' chief executive officer on January 1, 2012.[3] He was added to the board of directors of the San Jose Giants, the Giants' Minor League Baseball affiliate in the Class A-Advanced California League, in April 2012.[14]

In 2014, Baer received an "Excellence in Achievement" award from UC Berkeley and a Civic Leadership Award from the American Jewish Committee San Francisco.[12] He is the Chairman and CEO of the Giants Development Services, which is oversees the construction of Mission Rock, a 25-acre mixed-use neighborhood located near AT&T Park.[2]

Personal life

He is married to Pamela Baer; they have four children and live in San Francisco.[15] He and his wife are members of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco.[4]

In March 2019 near Oracle Park, a video was released of Baer in a physical altercation as he attempted to wrestle away a cellphone from his wife. He was suspended by MLB[16][17] and returned to the team on July 2, 2019.[18]

The Obama administration appointed Baer as a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.[19] He was a board member of JCC of San Francisco and sits on the Boys and Girls Clubs of America Pacific Region Board of Trustees.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Front Office". MLB.com. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Gurnick, Ken (November 17, 2011). "Owners approve Baer as Giants' control person". MLB.com. Archived from the original on November 23, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Bill Neukom to Retire from the Giants: Team President and COO Larry Baer to Become CEO". MLB.com (Press release). September 15, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
  4. ^ a b c Fox, Nancy (October 20, 1995). "S.F. Giants' exec brings Jewish values to the Major Leagues". J. The Jewish News of Northern California.
  5. ^ "Larry Baer, President & CEO SF Giants". Silicon Valley Local Magazine. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  6. ^ "The Full and Unabridged History of KALX". KALX. UC Regents.
  7. ^ Papanek, John (April 17, 1978). "SCORECARD". Sports Illustrated.
  8. ^ "AT&T Park to play host for Cal in 2011". ESPN.com. Associated Press. May 10, 2010.
  9. ^ Giants President and CEO Larry Baer to deliver SF State Commencement keynote
  10. ^ a b "Peter Magowan, Giants owner who kept team in San Francisco, dies at 76". RSN. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  11. ^ Axisa, Mike. "Giants' stadium AT&T Park renamed Oracle Park ahead of 2019 season". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  12. ^ a b Larry Baer
  13. ^ FitzGerald, Tom (2008-09-28). "Larry Baer, Giants' next president, is built for the role". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  14. ^ "San Jose Giants Announce Board Changes" (Press release). San Jose Giants. April 3, 2012.
  15. ^ "Laurence M. Baer - President and Chief Executive Officer". MLB.com. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  16. ^ "Video shows San Francisco Giants CEO Larry Baer in a physical altercation with wife at public park - SFGate". www.sfgate.com. Archived from the original on 2020-03-05.
  17. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "S.F. Giants CEO Larry Baer In Physical Altercation with Wife on Video | TMZ Sports". YouTube.
  18. ^ "SF Giants President Larry Baer returning July 2 after 3-month suspension". ABC7 San Francisco. 2019-06-30. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  19. ^ United States Holocaust Memorial Council
Categories