Fred Claire, who parlayed early jobs as a sportswriter and editor into a 30-year career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in public relations and as a World Series-winning general manager, has died. He was 91.
Claire died Monday, on his 91st birthday, in Pasadena, the team announced Tuesday. Claire had entered hospice care recently. In January 2015, at age 80, Claire was diagnosed with squamous cell skin cancer on his lip. He had the cells removed, but the cancer later returned in his jaw and again in his neck. He underwent radiation, chemotherapy and immunotherapy as part of his 11-year journey with cancer.
"Fred brought many victories and Dodger legends to our franchise, as well as the 1988 World Series title," team president and CEO Stan Kasten said in a statement. Claire was covering the Dodgers during spring training in Florida for the Long Beach Press-Telegram in 1969 when one of the team's public relations assistants was fired. He expressed interest in the job and was hired that July.
In April 1987, a public relations firestorm occurred over comments 70-year-old general manager Al Campanis made on ABC's "Nightline." Campanis was fired after two decades as GM. Team owner Peter O'Malley handed control to Claire, who accepted on the condition that he would have total and complete responsibility for baseball operations.
Source: ESPN MLB · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing