Fred Claire, the former Los Angeles Dodgers general manager who helped build the team’s 1988 World Series championship roster and served the City through the Rose Bowl Operating Company board and youth sports programs, died Monday, his 91st birthday, according to longtime Dodgers broadcaster Ross Porter.
Porter announced the death after Claire’s lengthy battle with cancer. Claire spent 30 seasons with the Dodgers, rising from the publicity department to general manager before becoming a cancer research advocate and fundraiser for City of Hope.
“I lost a close friend today. The world lost a good man,” Porter wrote in a Facebook post announcing Claire’s death.
In Pasadena, Claire brought his experience in professional sports to the board overseeing the city-owned Rose Bowl. City records document his service and repeated reappointments, while his community involvement also included the First Tee program of Pasadena, which uses golf to teach young people life skills.
His local work extended to education. After leaving the Dodgers, he taught at Caltech and the University of Southern California and chaired Scoutables, a sports analytics company.
Claire’s defining baseball achievement came during his first full season as general manager.
Taking over a club that had lost 89 games in 1987, he signed outfielder Kirk Gibson and helped acquire shortstop Alfredo Griffin and relievers Jay Howell and Jesse Orosco. The moves strengthened a roster that defeated the heavily favored Oakland Athletics in five games to win the 1988 World Series.
Gibson won the National League’s Most Valuable Player award that season and delivered one of baseball’s most memorable moments with his pinch-hit home run in Game 1 of the World Series. Claire was named The Sporting News’ Major League Executive of the Year.
Born Oct. 5, 1935, in Jamestown, Ohio, Claire moved with his family to Torrance in 1950. He graduated from San Jose State University in 1957 with a journalism degree.
He worked as a sportswriter, editor and columnist for the Whittier Daily News, Pomona Progress-Bulletin and Long Beach Press-Telegram before joining the Dodgers as publicity director in 1969.
Claire advanced through the organization, becoming vice president of public relations and promotions, then executive vice president. He was named general manager in April 1987 after the dismissal of Al Campanis.
His tenure included the arrival of Japanese pitcher Hideo Nomo in 1995 and five consecutive National League Rookie of the Year winners from 1992 through 1996. His Dodgers career ended in June 1998 after Fox acquired the franchise.
In later years, Claire became an advocate for City of Hope after a 2015 cancer diagnosis led to extensive treatment. He and his wife, Sheryl, supported fundraising and awareness efforts, including golf events benefiting head and neck cancer programs.
His experiences were chronicled in the 2004 memoir “Fred Claire: My 30 Years in Dodger Blue” and Tim Madigan’s 2020 book, “Extra Innings: Fred Claire’s Journey to City of Hope and Finding a World Championship Team.”
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