American baseball executive
Walt Jocketty
(born February 19, 1951)
[1]
is an American baseball executive who is the Executive Adviser to the CEO of the
Cincinnati Reds
. Born in
Minneapolis, Minnesota
, he attended the
University of Minnesota
where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration.
[2]
He was the
General Manager
of the
St. Louis Cardinals
from October 14,
1994
until October 3,
2007
.
Oakland and Colorado
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]
Jocketty began working for the
Oakland Athletics
beginning in March 1980, when he was hired by owner
Charlie Finley
as Director of Minor League Operations and Scouting.
[2]
It was in this capacity that Jocketty took a lead role in overhauling the A's minor league system, and was also instrumental in founding the
Arizona Rookie League
and the
Dominican Summer League
.
[2]
Less than five years into his time with Oakland, Jocketty was promoted to Director of Baseball Administration, a post he held the remainder of his time in Oakland. During the 1994 season Jocketty served the
Colorado Rockies
for a brief stint as their assistant general manager of player personnel.
[2]
[3]
St. Louis Cardinals
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Walt Jocketty was hired as general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals on October 14, 1994. When
Anheuser-Busch
sold the team following the 1995 season, the new ownership chose to retain Jocketty. He was instrumental in bringing new manager
Tony La Russa
, whom he had worked with in Oakland, to St. Louis.
During his time as Cardinal GM, the Cardinals compiled seven National League Central Division championships (1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006), two
National League
Championships (2004 and 2006), and one
World Series
Championship (2006). The Cardinals had seven straight winning seasons under Jocketty, including 100+ win seasons in 2004 and 2005. Jocketty has been named the Executive of the Year in
MLB
three times, in 2000, 2004, & 2010.
Jocketty was fired by the Cardinals organization on October 3, 2007. Team owner
Bill DeWitt
cited divisiveness in the baseball operations front office as the reason for Jocketty's dismissal.
[4]
Cincinnati Reds
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Jocketty was hired as a Special Adviser to the Cincinnati Reds on January 11, 2008. Jocketty's role was to advise and assist the team in their baseball operations which includes the front office, personnel, scouting, minor and international operations and training and medical services. He was named the next general manager of the Reds after
Wayne Krivsky
was fired April 23, 2008.
[5]
After the 2010 season, Jocketty was named
Sporting News
Executive Of Year.
[6]
After the 2015 season, he was named to the new position of president of baseball operations.
[7]
On December 27, 2016, he was named executive advisor to the CEO.
[8]
External links
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References
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