Lawrence Lucchino (September 6, 1945 – April 2, 2024) was an American lawyer and

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 ...

executive. He served as president of the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

, and president and CEO of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

. He was also chairman of the Worcester Red Sox, the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox; chairman of

The Jimmy Fund The Jimmy Fund, established in Boston in 1948, is made up of community-based fundraising events and other programs that benefit Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Since 1948, millions of people have given money to the ...

, the philanthropic arm of the

Dana–Farber Cancer Institute Dana–Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) is a comprehensive cancer treatment and research center in Boston, Massachusetts. Dana-Farber is the founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Harvard's Comprehensive Cancer Center designated ...

; and president and CEO

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

Fenway Sports Group Fenway Sports Group Holdings, LLC (FSG), is an American multinational sports holding conglomerate which owns Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox, Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins, NAS ...

, the parent company of the Boston Red Sox and

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

Lucchino played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the Princeton Tigers.

Early life and education

Lawrence Lucchino was born on September 6, 1945, in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. He graduated from

Taylor Allderdice High School Taylor Allderdice High School is a public high school in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The school was established in 1927 and is part of the Pittsburgh Public Schools district. It was named for industrialist and S ...

, and attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, where he played

.Basil, Anuj
"From Jadwin to Fenway bluegrass"
, '' Daily Princetonian'', January 7, 2005. Retrieved October 12, 2016. He was a member of the Princeton Tigers men's basketball team for the 1964–65, 1965–66, and 1966–67 seasons. The 1964–65 Tigers, captained by

Bill Bradley William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was a United States Senate, United States senator from New ...

, advanced to the

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

of the 1965 NCAA University Division basketball tournament. Lucchino graduated from Princeton in 1967. He earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

, where he was a classmate of

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

Career

After law school, Lucchino practiced law with the Washington, D. C., law firm of Williams & Connolly. The founder, famed litigator Edward Bennett Williams, had ownership interest in both the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

and the

. Lucchino's law practice at Williams & Connolly included a substantial amount of work for those two sports teams. Through that work, Lucchino served on the Redskins' board of directors from 1979 to 1985. Lucchino became president of the

, serving from 1988 to 1993, and president and CEO of the

, serving from 1995 to 2001. Lucchino subsequently joined the

as president and CEO when John W. Henry purchased the team in December 2001.Shaughnessy, Dan
"Red Sox CEO Lucchino to leave at season's end"
''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', August 2, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2016. Lucchino was known for having initiated the trend of building baseball-only facilities with an old-fashioned charm and smaller seating capacities. Under his watch, both the Orioles and Padres built new stadiums, pioneering

Oriole Park at Camden Yards Oriole Park at Camden Yards, commonly known as Camden Yards, is a ballpark in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home of Major League Baseball (MLB)'s Baltimore Orioles, and the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the ...

and Petco Park, respectively. He helped build Padres teams that made the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. They advanced to the

1998 World Series The 1998 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1998 season. The 94th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion New York Yankees and the National ...

, which was instrumental in winning a city-wide vote in November 1998 to authorize the construction of Petco Park. Lucchino was named to the Padres Hall of Fame in 2022.

Boston Red Sox (2002–2021)

Lucchino brought future general manager Theo Epstein with him to the Red Sox from the Orioles and the Padres, Hohler, Bob
"Epstein was an old pro"
''boston.com''/

NESN New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which owns a controlling 80% interest, and is the owner of the Boston ...

, October 29, 2004. having also encouraged Epstein to attend law school while he was working at the Padres. Following the 2002 season, Pedro Martinez called Lucchino asking him to sign David Ortiz, who had been released by the Twins. Lucchino "always enjoyed a strong connection with Big Papi throughout his entire career". Lucchino hired Janet Marie Smith to initiate a nearly $300 million renovation project of

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...

over the next ten years, including the

Green Monster The Green Monster is a popular nickname for the left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. The wall is from home plate at the left-field Foul line (baseball), foul line, making it a popular target f ...

seats. Lucchino is credited with coining the term "Evil Empire" for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

. On August 1, 2015, the Red Sox announced that Lucchino was stepping down after the 2015 season. He retired on October 5, 2015, and became president/CEO

. Lucchino continued as chairman and co-owner of the

Pawtucket, Rhode Island Pawtucket ( ) is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence, Rhode Island, Prov ...

–based Pawtucket Red Sox.McGair, Brendan
"PawSox owner Larry Lucchino reflects on the career of Red Sox slugger David Ortiz"
''pawtuckettimes.com'', October 9, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2016. He was a key figure in the relocation of the franchise to

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

, becoming the Worcester Red Sox for the 2021 minor league season. Lucchino served as that team's first chairman.

Personal life

Lucchino previously served on the board of directors for

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Ol ...

. He was a commencement speaker at several colleges in the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

area, including

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

(2008), New England School of Law (2008), Bryant University (2009), and Anna Maria College (2010). He was awarded several honorary degrees, including from Boston University,

Suffolk University Suffolk University is a private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. With 7,560 students on all campuses, it is the List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston, tenth-largest university ...

, and

Palomar College Palomar College is a public community college in San Diego County, California. The main campus is in San Marcos and three centers and four education sites are located elsewhere throughout north San Diego County. Academics Palomar College off ...

. He was the only person known to have World Series rings (Orioles, 1983; Red Sox 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018), a Super Bowl ring (Redskins, 1982) and a

watch (Princeton, 1965). He was inducted into the

Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame The Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame was instituted in 1995 to recognize the careers of selected former Boston Red Sox players, coaches and managers, and non-uniformed personnel. A 15-member selection committee of Red Sox broadcasters and executives, ...

in 2016, and into the San Diego Padres Hall of Fame in 2022. He was also inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, and the Taylor Allderdice High School Hall of Fame. He was named chairman of

in 2016. Lucchino was a

non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredn ...

survivor, undergoing radiation treatment in 1986 after his diagnosis in September 1985. In October 1999, he had surgery at

Johns Hopkins Hospital Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1889, Johns Hopkins Hospital and its school of medicine are considered to be the foundin ...

to remove localized prostate cancer. In December 2019, he underwent surgery at

Brigham and Women's Hospital Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH or The Brigham) is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts General Hospital, it is one of the two ...

in Boston to remove a cancerous blockage in the kidney area. In August 2023, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute presented Lucchino with the Boston Red Sox Jimmy Fund Award for his help in raising $142 million over the years. He was married to Stacey Johnson, and he adopted her two children, Davis and Blair. File:Flickr - Official U.S. Navy Imagery - Vice Chief of Naval Operations speaks with Boston Red Sox President..jpg, Lucchino, at right, with Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mark Ferguson in 2012 File:Polar-park-groundbreaking-071119 48266073337 o (1).jpg, Lucchino with Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito at the 2019 groundbreaking ceremony of the Polar Park minor league stadium in

Death

On April 2, 2024, Lucchino died from heart failure at his home in

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...

, at the age of 78. In August 2024, Red Sox principal owner John W. Henry commented:

Larry was the greatest baseball man I ever met. Usually when you call someone a baseball man, you are talking about his knowledge of the game on the field. In Larry’s case, baseball off the field was greater. He was unequivocally a Hall of Famer. The greatest baseball man.

References

External links

Larry Lucchino: Keynote Address at Boston University's 135th Commencement Ceremony
o
BUniverse
Boston University's video archive.
Boston University School of Law Convocation 2017 – Larry Lucchino
via YouTube
Stand Up To Cancer Patient Story: Larry Lucchino
via YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Lucchino, Larry 1945 births 2024 deaths 20th-century American lawyers American chief executives of professional sports organizations American men's basketball players American people of Italian descent Baltimore Orioles executives Boston Red Sox executives Businesspeople from Pittsburgh Deaths from congestive heart failure in the United States Fenway Sports Group people Major League Baseball executives Major League Baseball team presidents Minor league baseball executives Pawtucket Red Sox Princeton Tigers men's basketball players San Diego Padres executives Taylor Allderdice High School alumni Williams & Connolly people Worcester Red Sox Yale Law School alumni 20th-century American sportsmen