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Pat Gillick

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Pat Gillick
Gillick at the 2008 Phillies World Series parade
General manager
Born: (1937-08-22) August 22, 1937 (age 87)
Chico, California, U.S.
Teams
As general manager

As president

Career highlights and awards
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction2011
Vote81.3%
Election methodExpansion Era Committee[1]

Lawrence Patrick David Gillick (born August 22, 1937) is an American professional baseball executive. He previously served as the general manager of four MLB teams: the Toronto Blue Jays (1978–1994), Baltimore Orioles (1996–1998), Seattle Mariners (2000–2003), and Philadelphia Phillies (2006–2008). He guided the Blue Jays to World Series championships in 1992 and 1993, and later with the Phillies in 2008.

He won a national championship in college while pitching for the University of Southern California (USC). Gillick was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997, the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 24, 2011, the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2013, and the Phillies Wall of Fame in 2018.[1][2][3]

Early life

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Gillick was born to former minor league baseball player Larry Gillick in Chico, California. In 1951, he earned his Eagle Scout from the Boy Scouts of America. He continued to stay involved in Scouting and received the Order of the Arrow's Vigil Honor mere months after winning the College World Series at USC. After graduating from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, he hitchhiked to Vulcan, Alberta, to toil as a kid pitcher with the semi-pro Vulcan Elks of the Foothills-Wheatbelt League. Gillick had to wire his grandmother for $25 to finance his last leg from Montana to Vulcan.[4] In 1956 while playing for Vulcan Elks, Gillick was picked up by George Wesley of the Granum White Sox to pitch in tournaments. He threw a no hitter in Medicine Hat, fanned 17 batters in Calgary and pitched Granum to an 18-1 victory in Fernie.

He attended USC and joined the Delta Chi Fraternity. He graduated in 1958 with a degree in business. He was also a gifted pitcher, playing on the 1958 National Title baseball team at USC and spending five years in the minor league systems of the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates, venturing as high as Triple-A. A left-hander, Gillick posted a win–loss record of 45–32 with an earned run average of 3.42 in 164 minor league games.

Front office career

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Pat Gillick is a member of the Toronto Blue Jays' Level of Excellence.

Gillick retired from playing and began a front-office career in 1963, when he became the assistant farm director with the Houston Colt .45s. He would eventually work his way up to the position of director of scouting before moving to the New York Yankees system in 1974, as a coordinator of player development. In 1976, he moved, this time to the expansion Toronto Blue Jays, becoming their vice-president of player personnel, and in 1977, their vice-president of baseball operations and general manager. In 1984, he was named executive vice-president of baseball operations.

As Toronto's general manager, Gillick won five division titles (1985, 1989, 1991, 1992 and 1993) and led the club to their first World Series championships in 1992 and 1993. Shortly after Gillick resigned in 1994, the Blue Jays went into decline, not finishing higher than third place until 2006, and failing to make the playoffs until 2015.

In 1995, Gillick was named the general manager of the Baltimore Orioles to replace Roland Hemond, who had resigned.[5][6] He cited the fact that they were close to winning a championship as a factor to his decision to come out of retirement.[6] He guided the Orioles to the playoffs in 1996 and 1997. He announced on September 20, 1998 his departure from the Orioles when his three-year contract expired after the conclusion of the 1998 season.[7][8] The Orioles struggled shortly after his departure, failing to achieve a winning season until 2012.[9]

Gillick then became the general manager of the Seattle Mariners, who had parlayed their incredible 1995 playoff run into a new ballpark and the financial resources to become a perennial contender. Upon his hiring, the responsibility fell on Gillick to trade Ken Griffey Jr. to Cincinnati after Griffey played out his final season in Seattle. The Mariners made back-to-back playoff appearances for the first (and only) time in franchise history in 2000 and 2001, and the 2001 team, with a 116–46 record, tied the 1906 Chicago Cubs for the all-time Major League Baseball record for most wins in a single season. However, the Mariners failed to make it past the American League Championship Series in either year, and did not make the playoffs for the rest of Gillick's tenure as general manager and advisor. Following his departure, the Mariners would not reach the playoffs again until 2022.[10][unreliable source?]

On November 2, 2005, Gillick was named the Philadelphia Phillies' general manager, after which his first big move was to trade Jim Thome and cash to the Chicago White Sox for Aaron Rowand along with prospects Gio González and Daniel Haigwood, being a move which cleared the way for Phillies' Rookie of the Year Ryan Howard to become the permanent starter. Howard would be named NL MVP that year.[11]

Gillick had permanent residence in Toronto with his wife Doris, however they have since relocated to Seattle after he became the Phillies general manager. He had become a Canadian citizen in 2004.

Gillick retired from his position as general manager after leading the Phillies to a World Series championship in 2008. Assistant general manager Rubén Amaro Jr. was named his successor. Gillick remained in the organization as a senior advisor to Amaro and Phillies president David Montgomery.[12][unreliable source?] In August 2014, Gillick became interim president of the Phillies while Montgomery was on medical leave. In January 2015, Montgomery returned but became Phillies chairman, while Gillick assumed the club presidency on a permanent basis.[13] Gillick returned to his senior advisor role after the Phillies promoted Andy MacPhail to president, who first joined the Phillies organization as a special assistant to Gillick during the 2015 season.[14]

Since 2016, Gillick served as part-owner of teams in the collegiate woodbat Great West League such as the Chico Heat and Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox. He won championships with the Heat in the league's inaugural season in 2016 and their final season in 2018.

Honors and awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Pat Gillick Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by Expansion Era Committee". National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. December 6, 2010. Archived from the original on June 12, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  2. ^ "Pat Gillick". oshof.ca. Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. April 21, 2014. Archived from the original on December 28, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  3. ^ Stolnis, John (February 27, 2018). "Roy Halladay & Pat Gillick are the 2018 Phillies Wall of Fame inductees". Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  4. ^ "Gillick takes winding road to Cooperstown". thestar.com. July 22, 2011.
  5. ^ "Orioles hire Pat Gillick". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. November 28, 1995. p. 3C. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
  6. ^ a b Ginsburg, David (November 28, 1995). "Gillick accepts GM job with O's". Ocala Star-Banner. Ocala, Florida. Associated Press. p. 3D. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
  7. ^ Strom, Rich. "Gillick Steps Down as Orioles' GM," Chicago Tribune, Monday, September 21, 1998. Retrieved August 13, 2021
  8. ^ "Gillick is out as Orioles' GM". The Philadelphia Inquirer. September 21, 1998. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  9. ^ "Orioles Timeline". orioles.com: History. MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Archived from the original on February 16, 2010. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
  10. ^ Rake, Jake (December 6, 2008). "Pat Gillick Rules". Rake Blog. Wordpress.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011.
  11. ^ "Howard beats out Pujols to win NL MVP award". ESPN.com. November 20, 2006.
  12. ^ Sullivan, Stephen. "A Profile of Baseball Hall of Famer Pat Gillick". Yahoo! Voices. Yahoo! Inc. Archived from the original on February 10, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
  13. ^ Zolecki, Todd (January 28, 2015). "Montgomery Returns to Phillies as Chairman". MLB.com. Retrieved February 3, 2015.[permanent dead link‍]
  14. ^ "Phillies Hire Andy MacPhail". June 29, 2015.
  15. ^ Go to 2008 This Year in Baseball Awards and click on "Exec" for results and video. MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  16. ^ The list's only other MLB GMs were Boston's Theo Epstein (No. 3) and Oakland's Billy Beane (No. 10). Friedman, Dick (December 22, 2009). "2000s: Top 10 GMs/Executives". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  17. ^ National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum: Eras: Expansion, "Rules For Election For Managers, Umpires, Executives, And Players For Expansion Era Candidates To The National Baseball Hall of Fame "Eras: Expansion | Baseball Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on April 30, 2013. Retrieved April 13, 2013. Retrieved June 24, 2013
  18. ^ a b Bloom, Barry M. (December 6, 2010). "Gillick newest member of Hall of Fame". MLB.com: News. Archived from the original on December 7, 2010. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  19. ^ "Pat Gillick Inducted Into Eagle Scout Hall of Fame | AdventureForLife". Archived from the original on August 16, 2015.

[1]

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Sporting positions
Preceded by Toronto Blue Jays General manager
1978–1994 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Baltimore Orioles General manager
1995–1998 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Seattle Mariners General manager
1999–2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Philadelphia Phillies General manager
2005–2008 		Succeeded by
  1. ^ "Elliott: Granum loses town status, memories remain, provided by Pat Gillick". www.canadianbaseballnetwork.com. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
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