Baseball Guru
07-21-2001, 06:44 AM
Padres President Lucchino Steps Down
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Larry Lucchino, who put palm trees beyond the outfield fences and had the San Diego Padres play in Mexico and Hawaii, will step down as the team's president on Oct. 31.
But Lucchino said Friday that he'll remain active with the club, including leading efforts to get its new downtown ballpark finished and representing the Padres at ownership meetings.
Lucchino, 55, the team's president and CEO since December 1994, said he'll retain his ownership stake of about 10 percent.
He'll be replaced by Bob Vizas, 54, the team's executive vice president for legal and business affairs the last two years. Lucchino and Vizas were law school classmates at Yale.
Lucchino said it's time to slow down after seven years as Padres' CEO and 22 years in baseball management. He was with the Baltimore Orioles from 1979-1993, the last six years as president. During that time, he was a key force behind the building of Camden Yards, which started a boom in cities building old-fashioned ballparks.
He added that his decision had nothing to do with two past bouts with cancer, the most recent being surgery for prostate cancer in October 1999. He underwent surgery for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1985.
''I intend to keep myself busy, but while I've been CEO for seven years, I feel like I worked about 14,'' Lucchino said at a news conference. ''Maybe that's the reason I want to slow down a little bit.''
''I do want less demands, less of a rigorous schedule,'' he said. ''The day-to-day battles of a CEO are something that I see Bob perhaps enjoying much more.''
The Padres hoped to be in their new ballpark by 2002, but construction was stopped in October when interim funding ran out. The project was further delayed by lawsuits and a federal investigation into a city councilwoman's stock dealings in a company owned by John Moores, the Padres' majority owner. The councilwoman resigned in January and Moores was cleared of wrongdoing.
The final legal obstacles to the project have been cleared but the city still needs to approve bond sales. The club hopes to be in the ballpark by 2004 and benefiting from the increased revenues it will bring it.
Lucchino also hopes to be involved in the forthcoming labor talks.
''The challenges of major league baseball aren't going to wait a long time either,'' he said. ''The next six months or a year strikes me as a pivotal time for major league baseball, and this may be a good time to lend a hand.''
Lucchino joined with Moores to buy the Padres on Dec. 21, 1994. One week later, the Padres swung the 12-player deal with Houston that brought them Ken Caminiti and Steve Finley.
Under the Moores-Lucchino ownership, the Padres have won two division titles and reached the World Series in 1998.
They also have been more aggressive with marketing and community relations projects than the previous ownership group, which stripped away much of the team's talent during the fire sale of 1992-93.
The Padres were the host team for both the first regular-season series in Mexico and the first season-opening game in Mexico. They also played the first regular-season series in Hawaii.
General manager Kevin Towers said Lucchino ''has been a large part of turning this organization away from being known as one of the more embarrassing ones in major league baseball to one that's on the rise and a lot of people want to come and play for.''
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Larry Lucchino, who put palm trees beyond the outfield fences and had the San Diego Padres play in Mexico and Hawaii, will step down as the team's president on Oct. 31.
But Lucchino said Friday that he'll remain active with the club, including leading efforts to get its new downtown ballpark finished and representing the Padres at ownership meetings.
Lucchino, 55, the team's president and CEO since December 1994, said he'll retain his ownership stake of about 10 percent.
He'll be replaced by Bob Vizas, 54, the team's executive vice president for legal and business affairs the last two years. Lucchino and Vizas were law school classmates at Yale.
Lucchino said it's time to slow down after seven years as Padres' CEO and 22 years in baseball management. He was with the Baltimore Orioles from 1979-1993, the last six years as president. During that time, he was a key force behind the building of Camden Yards, which started a boom in cities building old-fashioned ballparks.
He added that his decision had nothing to do with two past bouts with cancer, the most recent being surgery for prostate cancer in October 1999. He underwent surgery for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1985.
''I intend to keep myself busy, but while I've been CEO for seven years, I feel like I worked about 14,'' Lucchino said at a news conference. ''Maybe that's the reason I want to slow down a little bit.''
''I do want less demands, less of a rigorous schedule,'' he said. ''The day-to-day battles of a CEO are something that I see Bob perhaps enjoying much more.''
The Padres hoped to be in their new ballpark by 2002, but construction was stopped in October when interim funding ran out. The project was further delayed by lawsuits and a federal investigation into a city councilwoman's stock dealings in a company owned by John Moores, the Padres' majority owner. The councilwoman resigned in January and Moores was cleared of wrongdoing.
The final legal obstacles to the project have been cleared but the city still needs to approve bond sales. The club hopes to be in the ballpark by 2004 and benefiting from the increased revenues it will bring it.
Lucchino also hopes to be involved in the forthcoming labor talks.
''The challenges of major league baseball aren't going to wait a long time either,'' he said. ''The next six months or a year strikes me as a pivotal time for major league baseball, and this may be a good time to lend a hand.''
Lucchino joined with Moores to buy the Padres on Dec. 21, 1994. One week later, the Padres swung the 12-player deal with Houston that brought them Ken Caminiti and Steve Finley.
Under the Moores-Lucchino ownership, the Padres have won two division titles and reached the World Series in 1998.
They also have been more aggressive with marketing and community relations projects than the previous ownership group, which stripped away much of the team's talent during the fire sale of 1992-93.
The Padres were the host team for both the first regular-season series in Mexico and the first season-opening game in Mexico. They also played the first regular-season series in Hawaii.
General manager Kevin Towers said Lucchino ''has been a large part of turning this organization away from being known as one of the more embarrassing ones in major league baseball to one that's on the rise and a lot of people want to come and play for.''