The Bavasi Bunch: Brooklyn and Beyond

Written by: Shai Kushner on 14th June 2010

The Bavasi Bunch: Brooklyn and Beyond | read this item

Buzzie Bavasi played an integral role in the front office of three major league teams while educating his sons from his uniquely qualified perspective.

For many baseball fans, the love of the sport is inherited from the father. Some fathers have a daily catch with their children when the weather permits. Others watch the game on TV with their kids, or if they’re lucky, they take them to the ballpark. And some relay stories of the game from their own childhood to anyone who will listen. And often, the children listen.

As for me, it’s not hard to figure out the source of my baseball appreciation. I am the youngest of five children. Five very different children. While we may differ on surface topics like politics, religion, music, we all share a deep love for baseball. My mother tolerated this love, even fostered it (in-house ballplaying prohibition aside), but the origin of this common thread is my father’s enjoyment of the sport and more specifically, the Brooklyn Dodgers.

If someone pays the slightest bit of attention when meeting my father, they’ll realize pretty quickly that he’s a baseball fan. It’s not about the memorabilia he owns, though he has his share. Nor is it about the stories he tells, and he has plenty of those. Plenty. It’s all about the way he carries himself. He exudes the type of patience that it takes to enjoy the slow pace of the game, the historical knowledge to appreciate the game’s finer points, and the inner-child to enjoy a pitcher’s duel or a game-winning home run. Even if he mentions none of these, you know he possesses these traits. And if you miss it, it’s your loss.

While these characteristics can be learned, they can’t be taught. My father never tried to make any of us enjoy baseball. He has just enjoyed it himself and in such an infectious way, there was never any doubt that we would follow suit.

It is in this spirit that I have taken on the subject of Buzzie Bavasi and his sons.

Before you go running to your baseball encyclopedia (physical, digital or otherwise) to check out Buzzie’s lifetime statistics, let me save you some effort. Buzzie Bavasi never played a moment of professional baseball. He was a forgettable catcher for DePauw University, which is where his playing days met their end. However, by the time Buzzie Bavasi passed away in 2008 at the age of 93, he had left his mark on three franchises, four cities, and really, the entire sport.

Buzzie Bavasi was the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1951-1957 and remained the GM when they moved to Los Angeles in 1958 until leaving the team in 1968 to become part-owner and president of operations for the expansion San Diego Padres. After the 1977 season, Bavasi was named the executive vice president of the California Angels (now known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, for some reason).

During his 18 years as GM of the Dodgers, the team won 8 NL pennants and 4 World Series titles, including the only World Championship in Brooklyn Dodgers history in 1955 (as if you didn’t know). During his time with the franchise, Bavasi helped establish a minor league team in Nashua, as well as a spring training home in Vero Beach, Florida. The Dodgers would call Vero Beach their March home until 2008 when they moved to Arizona. I know many who have moved to Florida when they reached a certain age, and some who moved to Arizona when reaching a similar milestone; but I can’t say I know many who moved from Florida to Arizona. That said, I have seen many senior men at the Y go from the steam room to the sauna, but I digress.

While Bavasi helped institute change within the sport of baseball, he imparted his acumen to his four sons: Bill, Peter, Chris and Bob.

Bill was the executive vice president and general manager of the Angles, and later held the same positions with the Seattle Mariners. He has also worked in the front office for the San Diego Padres and the Cincinnati Reds.

Peter began his baseball management career with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in 1966. He then worked for the San Diego Padres, eventually replacing his father as the team’s GM in 1973. In 1977. Peter became the first GM of the expansion Toronto Blue Jays. This marked the first time that a father and son ran two different major league teams at the same time. A few years after leaving the Blue Jays, Peter became the President of the Cleveland Indians.

Chris is probably best known as a six-term mayor of Flagstaff, Arizona, although he didn’t forsake baseball management entirely. He is a member of the Arizona Baseball and Softball Commission as well as Arizona’s Cactus League Baseball Committee.

Bob is a longtime consultant for major league and minor league teams, helping develop various public relations initiatives as well as assisting with team interests in Japanese players.

While Buzzie Bavasi made a name for himself by the work he did with his teams (creating teams, relocating teams, assembling winning squads), it was the impression that he left on his sons that may be most impressive. The Bavasi boys were sure imbued with their father’s passion for the sport and have tried to carry on his legacy with the type of pride and honor that he deserved.

As Father’s Day transitions baseball from a spring sport to a summer event, fathers and children will honor this change in myriad ways. As we watch, play, enjoy the sport with our fathers and/or children, it’s important to remember that sometimes it’s not what you say that leaves an impression, it’s who you are. And to those fathers who are baseball fans, we say thank you.

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Topics: Baseball Fan, Baseball Fans, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Dodgers, Common Thread, Doubt, Game On Tv, Inner Child, Integral Role, Knowledge, Love, memorabilia, Patience, Perspective, Prohibition, Religion Music, Slow Pace, Spirit, Sport, Weather