Larry Lucchino, force behind retro ballpark revolution and drought-busting Red Sox, dies at 78.
BOSTON (AP) – Larry Lucchino, the force behind baseball´s retro ballpark revolution and the transformation of the Boston Red Sox from cursed losers to World Series champions, has died. He was 78.
Lucchino had suffered from cancer. The Triple-A Worcester Red Sox, his last project in a career that also included three major league baseball franchises and one in the NFL, confirmed his death on Tuesday.
“To us, Larry was an exceptional person who combined a Hall of Fame life as a Major League Baseball executive with his passion for helping those people most in need,” Lucchino´s family said in a statement. “He brought the same passion, tenacity, and probing intelligence to all his endeavors, and his achievements speak for themselves.”
A Pittsburgh native who played on the Princeton basketball team – captained by future U.S. Senator and New York Knick Bill Bradley – that reached the 1965 NCAA Final Four, Lucchino went on to Yale Law School and landed a job with Washington lawyer Edward Bennett Williams. Lucchino soon found himself working on Williams´ sports teams, the Washington NFL franchise and the Baltimore Orioles.
Lucchino rose to president of the Orioles, and it was in his tenure that the team replaced Memorial Stadium with a downtown, old-style ballpark that ended the move toward cavernous, cookie-cutter stadiums surrounded by parking lots. Camden Yards became a trend-setter, and Lucchino himself would follow up with a new ballpark for the San Diego Padres, whom he served as president and CEO.
Lucchino´s next stop was in Boston, joining with new owners John Henry and Tom Werner in 2002. Their decision to update Fenway Park rather than replace it – bucking another trend – preserved one of baseball´s jewels, which will open its 113th season on April 9.
But an even bigger overhaul was taking place in the Red Sox front office, and on the field. With 28-year-old Theo Epstein – who started with the Orioles as an intern and followed Lucchino to the Padres – as general manager, the Red ended an 86-year championship drought, and then won another World Series three seasons later.
