Executive of the Year Award by The Sporting News

The Sporting News is nothing short of the most respected and legendary magazine / newspaper in sports history. Their coverage of baseball has no rival and they are simply the most respected source of historical baseball statistics anywhere. Listed below in chronological order are the executives chosen by The Sporting News as recipients of the Executive of the Year Award.

"It's an organizational award and some of the things we experienced this year certainly add to this award for me individually. Unfortunately, the people who contributed to all the things that went right don't get much acknowledgement. I accepted this on behalf of the organization because that's exactly what it is. Everybody affiliated with the Minnesota Twins had a part in this and I'm proud to accept it on behalf of the organization." - Minnesota Twins Vice President & General Manager Terry Ryan
Executive of the Year Award

by The Sporting News ©

Year Name (Quantity) League

Team (Quantity)

1936

Branch Rickey (1) *

NL

St. Louis Cardinals (1)

1937

Ed Barrow (1)

AL

New York Yankees (1)

1938

Warren Giles (1)

NL

Cincinnati Reds (1)

1939

Larry MacPhail (1)

NL

Brooklyn Dodgers (1)

1940

Walter Briggs, Sr. (1)

AL

Detroit Tigers (1)

1941

Ed Barrow (2)

AL

New York Yankees (2)

1942

Branch Rickey (2) *

NL

St. Louis Cardinals (2)

1943

Clark Griffith (1) *

AL

Washington Senators (1)

1944

Billy DeWitt (1)

AL

St. Louis Browns (1)

1945

Phil Wrigley (1)

NL

Chicago Cubs (1)

1946

Tom Yawkey (1)

AL

Boston Red Sox (1)

1947

Branch Rickey (3) *

NL

Brooklyn Dodgers (2)

1948

Bill Veeck, Jr. (1)

AL

Cleveland Indians (1)

1949

Bob Carpenter (1)

NL

Philadelphia Phillies (1)

1950

George Weiss (1)

AL

New York Yankees (3)

1951

George Weiss (2)

AL

New York Yankees (4)

1952

George Weiss (3)

AL

New York Yankees (5)

1953

Lou Perini (1)

NL

Milwaukee Braves (1)

1954

Horace Stoneham (1)

NL

New York Giants (1)

1955

Walter O'Malley (1)

NL

Brooklyn Dodgers (3)

1956

Gabe Paul (1)

NL

Cincinnati Redlegs (2)

1957

Frank Lane (1)

NL

St. Louis Cardinals (3)

1958

Joe Brown (1)

NL

Pittsburgh Pirates (1)

1959

Buzzie Bavasi (1)

NL

Los Angeles Dodgers (4)

1960

George Weiss (4)

AL

New York Yankees (6)

1961

Dan Topping (1)

AL

New York Yankees (7)

1962

Fred Haney (1) *

AL

Los Angeles Angels(1)

1963

Bing Devine (1)

NL

St. Louis Cardinals (4)

1964

Bing Devine (2)

NL

St. Louis Cardinals (5)

1965

Cal Griffith (1)

AL

Minnesota Twins (2)

1966

Lee MacPhail (1)

MLB

Commissioner of Baseball (1)

1967

Dick O'Connell (1)

AL

Boston Red Sox (2)

1968

Jim Campbell (1)

AL

Detroit Tigers (2)

1969

John Murphy (1)

NL

New York Mets (1)

1970

Harry Dalton (1)

AL

Baltimore Orioles (2)

1971

Cedric Tallis (1)

AL

Kansas City Royals (1)

1972

Roland Hemond (1)

AL

Chicago White Sox (1)

1973

Bob Howsam (1)

NL

Cincinnati Reds (3)

1974

Gabe Paul (2)

AL

New York Yankees (8)

1975

Dick O'Connell (2)

AL

Boston Red Sox (3)

1976

Joe Burke (1)

AL

Kansas City Royals (2)

1977

Bill Veeck, Jr. (2)

AL

Chicago White Sox (2)

1978

Spec Richardson (1)

NL

San Francisco Giants (2)

1979

Hank Peters (1)

AL

Baltimore Orioles (3)

1980

Tal Smith (1)

NL

Houston Astros (1)

1981

John McHale (1) *

NL

Montreal Expos (1)

1982

Harry Dalton (2)

AL

Milwaukee Brewers (1)

1983

Hank Peters (2)

AL

Baltimore Orioles (4)

1984

Dallas Green (1) *

NL

Chicago Cubs (2)

1985

John Schuerholz (1)

AL

Kansas City Royals (3)

1986

Frank Cashen (1)

NL

New York Mets (2)

1987

Al Rosen (1) *

NL

San Francisco Giants (3)

1988

Fred Claire (1)

NL

Los Angeles Dodgers (5)

1989

Roland Hemond (2)

AL

Baltimore Orioles (5)

1990

Bob Quinn (1)

NL

Cincinnati Reds (4)

1991

Andy MacPhail (1)

AL

Minnesota Twins (3)

1992

Dan Duquette (1)

NL

Montreal Expos (2)

1993

Lee Thomas (1)

NL

Philadelphia Phillies (2)

1994

John Hart (1)

AL

Cleveland Indians (2)

1995

John Hart (2)

AL

Cleveland Indians (3)

1996

Doug Melvin (1)

AL

Texas Rangers (1)

1997

Cam Bonifay (1)

NL

Pittsburgh Pirates (2)

1998

Gerry Hunsicker (1)

NL

Houston Astros (1)

1999

Billy Beane (1)

AL

Oakland Athletics (1)

2000

Walt Jocketty (1)

NL

St. Louis Cardinals (6)

2001

Pat Gillick (1)

AL

Seattle Mariners (1)

2002

Terry Ryan (1)

AL

Minnesota Twins (4)

2003

Brian Sabean (1)

NL

San Francisco Giants (4)

2004

Walt Jocketty (2)

NL

St. Louis Cardinals (7)

2005

Mark Shapiro (1)

AL

Cleveland Indians (4)

2006

Terry Ryan (2)

AL

Minnesota Twins (5)

2007

Mark Shapiro (2)

AL

Cleveland Indians (5)

2008

Andrew Friedman (1)

AL

Tampa Bay Rays (1)

2009

Dan O'Dowd (1)

NL

Colorado Rockies (1)

2010 Walt Jocketty (3) NL Cincinnati Reds (5)
2011 Dave Dombrowski (1) AL Detroit Tigers (3)
Doug Melvin (2) NL Milwaukee Brewers (2)
2012 Billy Beane (2) AL Oakland Athletics (2)

2013

Not Yet Announced (11-2013)

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Year

Name (Quantity)

League

Team (Quantity)

Executive of the Year Award | * = Former Ballplayer



Branch Rickey, who won the first ever Sporting News Executive of the Year Award in 1936, not only signed Jackie Robinson, but also "invented" the modern farm system.

Multiple winners include George Weiss with four; Branch Rickey & Walt Jocketty with three; Ed Barrow, Billy Beane, Bing Devine, Gabe Paul, Dick O'Connell, Bill Veeck Jr., Harry Dalton, Hank Peters, Roland Hemond, John Hart and Mark Shapiro with two each.

Each of the executives won the Sporting News Executive of the Year Award due to actions they took to improve the game itself or their specific team. If you know specific reasons why each has won, share them with fans on our message board.

     

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