Buzzie Bavasi

Brooklyn Dodgers, Front Office Assistant

Americus (Georgia) Pioneers, Class D, Georgia-Florida League: Business Manager

May 25, 1940.  Married Evit Rice in Albany, Ga.  After the ceremony they attended a baseball game of the Americus Pioneers.

Valdosta (Georgia) Trojans, Class D, Georgia-Florida League: Business Manager

Durham (North Carolina) Bulls, Class B, Piedmont League: Business Manager

1943-46: U.S. Army  During World War II, Bavasi served as a machine gunner and infantry staff sergeant in the North African/Italian campaigns

Bavasi awarded the Bronze Star for Bravery in Action

Nashua (New Hampshire) Dodgers, Class B, New England League: Business Manager

Honoring Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe, organized baseball’s first black battery of the 20th century, this mural in Nashua, N.H., remains a testament to the historic integration of the game there in 1946.

Brooklyn Dodgers, Purchasing Agent

Montreal Royals, Class AAA, International League: General Manager

1951-1968: Brooklyn Dodgers/Los Angeles Dodgers, Executive Vice President/General Manager

1951, Evit, Peter, and Chris Bavasi with Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson. 

Brooklyn Dodgers win National League Pennant

Brooklyn Dodgers win National League Pennant

Bavasi with Dodgers stars Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, and Roy Campanella (L-R) after the signing of their contracts

Brooklyn Dodgers win the World Series

Bavasi celebrating after Game 7 of the World Series with VP Fresco Thompson (L) and Owner Walter O’Malley

Brooklyn Dodgers win National League Pennant

Bavasi enjoyed a close relationship with his players. He once kidded a very young Don Drysdale that even he could hit against him. “So I grabbed a bat and stepped in. First pitch, he hit me right in the rear.  So that was the last time I tried that.”

Outside Los Angeles Coliseum, the Dodgers’ new home. The gregarious Bavasi proved a key player in the club’s successful acclimation to the West Coast.

Bavasi named Major League Executive of the Year

Los Angeles Dodgers win World Series

Bavasi wasted little time in bringing winning baseball to the West Coast, capturing a World Series championship for Los Angeles in the club’s second season there.

Bavasi with Yankees GM Roy Hamey at major league meeting

Bavasi with Dodgers Manager Walter Alston and Los Angeles elected officials at City Hall

Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series

Teammates all but bury Sandy Koufax after he pitched them to a 2-1 victory, completing the Dodgers’ sweep of the Yankees for the World Series championship.

Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series

Los Angeles Dodgers win National League Pennant

Bavasi and family with Don Drysdale during the 1968 season

1968-78: San Diego Padres, Founding President/Part-Owner

Bavasi with Padres Manager Preston Gomez at San Diego’s first spring training camp, Yuma, Arizona

For nearly a quarter of a century, Bavasi contributed to the success of all three of Southern California’s major-league franchises, the Angels, Dodgers, and Padres.

Bavasi with Padres new Owner Ray Kroc

1978-84: California Angels Executive Vice-President/General Manager

1978-99: Member, Veterans Committee, Baseball Hall of Fame

California Angels win American League West Division title

Bavasi brought his innovative style and spirit to Anaheim in 1978. The following year the club won its first division title.

Bavasi with George Steinbrenner at the owners meeting.

California Angels win American League West Division title

Bavasi signed future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson to the Angels, shown here with Ron Jackson (R) celebrating the team’s second AL West Division title.

In 1987 Bavasi chronicled his career in “Off the Record.”

Bavasi is inducted in the San Diego Padres Hall of Fame

Awarded the Ray Boone Baseball Family Award

Bavasi preparing to throw out the first pitch at Petco Park. Throughout his life, Bavasi relished every aspect of the game he loved.

May 1, 2008. Buzzie Bavasi is gone now, but his baseball stories and memories still enrich the game he loved.