Timothy Gerard Purpura (born March 19, 1958) is an American baseball executive and former lawyer. He is the former general manager of the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

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 ...

team. He was with the club from 2005 to 2007.

Biography

He graduated from Oak Lawn Community High School in Illinois in 1976. Purpura received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from

Loyola University of Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic universities in the United States. Its namesa ...

in 1983 and 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 ...

degree from the

Thomas Jefferson School of Law The Thomas Jefferson School of Law (TJSL) is a private law school in San Diego, California. It offers a Juris Doctor and two Master of Laws programs. The school is not accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA), following the ABA's withd ...

in 1991. He was inducted into the Oak Lawn Community High School (Illinois) Hall of Fame in November 2005. He worked as an assistant in player development for the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

during spring training from 1990 to 1992 and headed special projects for 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. ...

minor league department in 1991. When he started working for the Angels, he was also attending law school. He had also worked as dean of students at

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Sc ...

. Purpura was the

assistant farm director in 1994 and the director of major and minor league player relations from 1995 to 1996. He was the assistant GM and director of player development from 1997 to 2004 and was named general manager of the Astros on November 1, 2004, replacing

Gerry Hunsicker Gerald Hunsicker (born June 10, 1950) is an American baseball executive. He is the senior advisor of baseball operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball. Hunsicker has been an executive with the New York Mets and Tampa Bay R ...

. Under his tenure, the club made its first

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

appearance (against the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

) in 2005. It proved to be the highlight of his career as general manager. Trades to try and keep the Astros window open a bit longer with the twilight of the careers of

Jeff Bagwell Jeffrey Robert Bagwell (born May 27, 1968) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and coach who spent his entire 15-year Major League Baseball (MLB) playing career with the Houston Astros. Originally a Boston Red Sox fourth- ...

and

Craig Biggio Craig Alan Biggio (; born December 14, 1965) is an American former baseball second baseman, outfielder, and catcher who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Houston Astros, from 1988 to 2007. A seven-time National League (baseball), ...

brought the arrival of

Carlos Lee Carlos Noriel Lee (born June 20, 1976), nicknamed "El Caballo", is a Panamanian former professional baseball left fielder and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1999 to 2012 with the Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, ...

in 2007 on a six-year $100 million deal (backloaded to pay more money in the last years). While Lee did have decent offensive numbers with the Astros in five seasons, the Astros could not stop the inevitable plunge; Andy Pettite and

Roger Clemens William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), most notably with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees and also played ...

each departed after the 2006 season. Acquisitions by Purpura such as

Preston Wilson Preston James Richard Wilson (born July 19, 1974) is an American former professional baseball center fielder and currently the manager of the Frederick Keys of the MLB Draft League. He played all or parts of ten seasons in Major League Baseball ...

(signed in 2006 to provide a bat before being released in August),

Woody Williams Gregory Scott "Woody" Williams (born August 19, 1966) is an American baseball coach and former pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, and Houston Astros. Baseball ca ...

, and Jason Jennings (as done by dealing

Willy Taveras Willy Taveras (born December 25, 1981) is a Dominican former professional baseball center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played a total of seven seasons for the Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies, Cincinnati Reds, and Washington Nation ...

) did not pan out. With the Astros at 58–73, owner

Drayton McLane Drayton McLane Jr. (born July 22, 1936) is an American billionaire businessman. He is chairman of the McLane Group, a holding company with a portfolio of various diverse enterprises. He was, until 1990, the CEO of the McLane Company, a grocery an ...

fired Purpura and manager

Phil Garner Philip Mason Garner (born April 30, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an infielder with the Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodge ...

on August 27, 2007.

Ed Wade Ed Wade (born January 31,1956, in Carbondale, Pennsylvania) spent 42 years (1977–2018) as an American Major League Baseball executive, including serving as Vice President and General Manager of the Philadelphia Phillies (1998–2005) and G ...

replaced Purpura as GM on September 20. He was later executive vice president and chief operating office of

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 ...

(2008–2011), the Texas Rangers senior director of player development (2011–2013), and adjunct professor in

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

's Graduate School of Sports Management (2014–2015). In September 2016, he was named president of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. Purpura, his wife, Shari, daughter Brooke, and son Brennan, live in

Bellaire, Texas Bellaire is a city in southwestern Harris County, Texas, United States, within the metropolitan area.. Retrieved on January 24, 2010. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city population was 17,202. It is surrounded by th ...

References

External links

Texas League AnnouncementHigh School Hall of Fame bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purpura, Tim 1958 births Living people Houston Astros executives Major League Baseball farm directors Major League Baseball general managers People from Oak Lawn, Illinois Thomas Jefferson School of Law alumni Loyola University Chicago alumni