Charles G. LaMar Jr. (born July 22, 1956) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

, former

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

, and former

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). LaMar was the first general manager of the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one of two major league clubs based i ...

, hired approximately three years before they began play in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

in 1998.

Biography

LaMar was born in

Twin Falls, Idaho Twin Falls is the county seat of and the largest city in Twin Falls County, Idaho, United States. The city had a population of 51,807 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.

and grew up in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

,Chuck LaMar
at rays.mlb.com, URL accessed November 30, 2009. 11/30/09 where his father, Charles LaMar Sr., was an office manager at Alloys of Texas. The younger LaMar attended

Madison High School Madison High School may refer to: * Madison County High School (Alabama), Gurley, Alabama * Madison High School (Idaho), Rexburg, Idaho * Madison Consolidated High School, Madison, Indiana * Madison High School (Kansas), Madison, Kansas * Kentucky: ...

where he was a three-sport captain. He played

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

. After his senior year, LaMar taught and coached at St. Thomas High School in Houston. Larry Smith, former head coach at

Texas Wesleyan University Texas Wesleyan University is a private Methodist university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was founded in 1890 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The main campus is located in the Polytechnic Heights neighborhood of Fort Worth. Its mascot is ...

, tabbed LaMar to be his assistant coach when Smith took the head coaching job at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. LaMar earned his master's degree in physical education from Indiana, then went on to become the head coach at the

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

Major League Baseball

In 1985, Lamar left to become a full-time

with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

. LaMar signed the first working agreement between a Mexico and America professional baseball team. From the Reds, LaMar became the director of minor league operations with the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

, holding the position during 1989–1990. From 1990 to 1992, the Pirates won three

National League East Division The National League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. Along with the American League Central, it is one of two divisions to have every member win at least one World Series title. After having internal, informal divisions for ...

titles.Pittsburgh Pirates Team History & Encyclopedia
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed November 30, 2009. 11/30/09 In 1991, LaMar moved to the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

and served as director of

player development Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

and scouting (through 1993), with the team winning its division in both seasons.Atlanta Braves Team History & Encyclopedia
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed November 30, 2009. 11/30/09 He then served as assistant general manager and director of player personnel (1994–1995), working with

John Schuerholz John Boland Schuerholz Jr. (; born October 1, 1940) is an American baseball front office executive. He was the general manager of Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves from 1990 to 2007, and then served as the Braves president for a decade from ...

during one of the most successful periods in Braves' history, as the club won the

1995 World Series The 1995 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1995 Major League Baseball season, 1995 season. The 91st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National Lea ...

Tampa Bay Devil Rays

LaMar was hired to be the first general manager of the then-

on July 19, 1995, several months after the Tampa Bay franchise was awarded.Rays Timeline
at rays.mlb.com, URL accessed November 30, 2009. 11/30/09 During the eight seasons (1998–2005) when LaMar oversaw the Devil Rays franchise, the expansion team compiled a 518–777 (.400) record and only once won more than 70 games, in 2004.Tampa Bay Rays Team History & Encyclopedia
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed November 30, 2009. 11/30/09 LaMar's tenure was characterized by moves such as trading

Bobby Abreu Bob Kelly Abreu (; ; born March 11, 1974), nicknamed "El Comedulce" and "La Leche", is a Venezuelans, Venezuelan former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, Ne ...

and

Dmitri Young Dmitri Dell Young (born October 11, 1973) is an American former professional baseball player. He played all or parts of 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a left fielder, first baseman, and designated hitter, for the St. Louis Cardinals ...

while receiving

Kevin Stocker Kevin Douglas Stocker (born February 13, 1970) is an American former Major League Baseball shortstop and switch hitter. Stocker played with the Philadelphia Phillies (1993–1997), Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998–2000) and Anaheim Angels (2000). A ...

and Mike Kelly in return. Those trades proved to be failures as Abreu and Young went on to have successful careers. LaMar was also responsible for signing Juan Guzmán,

Wilson Álvarez Wilson Eduardo Álvarez Fuenmayor (born March 24, 1970) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher. During a thirteen-year baseball career, he pitched for the Texas Rangers ...

Wade Boggs Wade Anthony Boggs (born June 15, 1958), nicknamed "Chicken Man", is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He spent 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox. He also played for the New York Ya ...

, Roberto Hernández, and trading for

Fred McGriff Frederick Stanley McGriff (born October 31, 1963) is an American former first baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for six teams from 1986 through 2004. Nicknamed "Crime Dog", a word play on McGruff the Crime Dog, he was one of the ...

. LaMar was fired on October 6, 2005, by incoming owner

Stuart Sternberg Stuart L. Sternberg (born August 8, 1959) is an American Wall Street investor. He is the principal shareholder of the ownership group that owns the Tampa Bay Rays and acts as the team's Managing General Partner since November 2005. Early life T ...

.Sternberg takes over Rays, fires GM LaMar
at espn.com, URL accessed November 30, 2009

11/30/09

Later career

Lamar spent the 2007 season with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

as special assistant to the general manager and national crosschecker.Nationals bolster scouting department
at mlb.com, URL accessed November 30, 2009. 11/30/09 In October 2007, LaMar was appointed director of professional scouting by the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

, later promoted to assistant general manager of player development and scouting in November 2008.Now With the Phillies, an Ex-General Manager Left His Mark on the Rays
by Tyler Kepner at nytimes.com, URL accessed November 30, 2009

11/30/09 On September 6, 2011, Lamar resigned from the Phillies. On November 4, 2011, it was announced that LaMar would be joining the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

as a special assistant for amateur scouting.Blue Jays hire LaMar as special assistant
at mlb.com, URL accessed November 8, 2011. 11/08/11

Personal life

LaMar resides in

Rockport, Texas Rockport is a city and county seat of Aransas County, Texas, United States. The population was 10,070 at the 2020 census. Rockport is adjacent to the town of Fulton, and many refer to the combined communities as "Rockport-Fulton"; however, Ro ...

, and is married with a son and two daughters. He has stated that his hero is

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 193 ...

. LaMar was inducted to the Texas Scout Association's hall of fame in 2017. LaMar's brother Dan was selected in the first round of the

1979 MLB draft The 1979 Major League Baseball draft was held on June 5–7, 1979, via conference call. First round selections The following are the first-round picks in the 1979 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Compensation Picks Other ...

by the Cincinnati Reds; Dan Lamar went on to play in

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

from 1979 through 1985 as a catcher and first baseman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamar, Chuck 1956 births Living people TCU Horned Frogs baseball players Major League Baseball general managers Major League Baseball farm directors Atlanta Braves executives Cincinnati Reds scouts Indiana Hoosiers baseball coaches Mary Hardin–Baylor Crusaders baseball coaches Tampa Bay Devil Rays executives Philadelphia Phillies executives Toronto Blue Jays scouts Washington Nationals executives Washington Nationals scouts People from Rockport, Texas Sportspeople from Twin Falls, Idaho