Mike Port
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Michael D. Port (born July 24, 1945) is an American former professional baseball executive. He was vice president of umpiring for
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) from August 2005 through March 2011. He previously served as a front-office executive for three MLB clubs, including stints as the
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 ...
of the California Angels and as acting general manager 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 ...
.


Career


San Diego Padres

Port was born in Fallbrook, California. After attending United States International University in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, Port entered baseball in 1969 as a minor league
second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...
for the newly born San Diego Padres of MLB, but after an injury, he retired to become an executive in the Padre organization. In
1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
he became the club's farm system director and moved to the Angels in a similar capacity in
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
.


California Angels

Port was also adept at the business side of baseball, and in 1980, he was promoted by the Angels to vice president and chief administrative officer. He succeeded Buzzie Bavasi, his boss in both
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
and Anaheim, as the Angels' general manager late in 1984. After just falling short of winning the American League West Division title in 1985, the 1986 Angels finished first in their division and led three games to one in the 1986 ALCS; they were one out from their first AL title before the Red Sox started a comeback that ended their pennant hopes. After that disappointment, the Angels, with several veteran players nearing the end of their careers, contended only in 1989. During the 1991 campaign—in which the Angels finished seventh and last in their division, despite a record of 81-81 (.500)—Port was dismissed. Nonetheless, during his tenure with the Angels, the Major League club averaged 85 wins per year and, with the assistance of scouting director Bob Fontaine and player development director Bill Bavasi, the Angels signed and developed players such as Tim Salmon, Jim Abbott, Garret Anderson, Troy Percival, Damion Easley, Gary DiSarcina and Jim Edmonds.


Boston Red Sox

In 1992, Port became the first president of the Arizona Fall League, an annual training ground inaugurated by MLB designed for the elite prospects of all member clubs, then joined the Red Sox as assistant general manager in February 1993. Three years later, he was promoted to the club's post of vice president, baseball operations. In February 2002, immediately after John W. Henry, Tom Werner and New England Sports Ventures took control of the Red Sox, Port was named acting GM. Despite 93 regular-season wins, and Port's midseason acquisition of
outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...
Cliff Floyd, Boston finished second in the AL East and missed the Wild Card. With the appointment of Theo Epstein as Boston's general manager in November 2002, Port resumed his former role. He survived a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
, and continued to serve as the Red Sox' VP, baseball operations through the club's
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
World Championship.


Major League Baseball

On August 1, 2005, he was named as Major League Baseball's vice president of umpiring and served in that capacity for six seasons. He formerly served as a member of the board of directors of the National Association of Sports Officials. During the 2016 National League Championship Series and World Series, he served as a rules analyst for FOX Sports.


References


Further reading

* Baseball America Executive Database. *Boston Red Sox media guide, 2002–2005 editions. {{DEFAULTSORT:Port, Mike 1945 births Living people Arizona Fall League Boston Red Sox executives California Angels executives Major League Baseball farm directors Major League Baseball general managers San Diego Padres executives Baseball players from Los Angeles United States International University alumni