Jim Bowden (baseball)
- For the rugby league footballer of the 1950s for Great Britain, England, and Huddersfield, see James Bowden
- For the American SCUBA diver, elite technical diver, cave diver, and deep diver, see Jim Bowden (diver)
James Goodwin Bowden IV (born 18 May in Boston, Massachusetts [1]) is a Baseball Analyst and Insider for ESPN. He writes a blog for ESPN.com titled "The GM's Office" and is a co-host of SiriusXM's "Inside Pitch" on MLB Network Radio. He previously was a Host and Co-Host on Fox Sports Radio, a baseball analyst for FoxSports.com and a Baseball Insider for both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels for Fox Sports West. He has held positions of Senior Vice President and General Manager for both the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals. On October 16, 1992 he became the youngest general manager in baseball history. He was named MLB Executive of the Year by Baseball America in 1999. Bowden's teams finished in first place in 1994, 1995 and 1999. Jim has also worked in television for ESPN, Fox Sports West as well as local television and radio stations in both Cincinnati and Washington D.C.
Early life and career
Bowden was born in Boston, MA and raised in Weston, Massachusetts and Boothbay Harbor, ME. He graduated from Rollins College in 1983 with a B.A. degree in Communications and Business Administration. He was the Sports Director at the College radio station as well doing the play by play for both the baseball and soccer teams. HIs broadcast partners included Chris "Mad Dog" Russo (Class of 1982).[2] His entry to professional baseball came as an assistant in the Pittsburgh Pirates media relations department in 1985. He was a former college roommate of Squire Galbreath, whose father Dan and grandfather John were the principal owners of the Pirates. General manager Syd Thrift was impressed with Bowden and asked him to join the Pirates' baseball operations department as an administrator. Bowden computerized the Pirates' scouting files, and became a protege to Thrift. He followed Thrift to the New York Yankees,[3] and eventually moved to the Cincinnati Reds where he was later promoted by the Reds Owner, Marge Schott, to General Manager. He also served as team president during her suspension in 1993.
General manager
His first role as a general manager was with the Cincinnati Reds at age 31 in 1992. When he took this position, he was the youngest general manager in the history of Major League Baseball. He continued with the Reds until being fired in 2003.
Bowden is perhaps best known for his drafting of Joey Votto, Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Dunn, and Aaron Boone, and his trades for Ken Griffey, Jr. Denny Neagle, John Smiley, Kevin Mitchell, Deion Sanders, José Guillén and Alfonso Soriano. He was the first GM to propose the use of Instant Replay in 1992 and also has supported the concept of trading amateur draft picks.
After he was relieved of his duties as GM of Cincinnati after a decade,[4] Bowden worked as a commentator on ESPN before being hired by Major League Baseball to serve as GM of the Montreal Expos, who were soon to become the Washington Nationals.
Bowden was the general manager of the Washington Nationals beginning in November 2004. The team acquired such players as Ryan Zimmermann, Alfonso Soriano, Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham, José Guillén, Danny Espinosa, Tyler Clippard, Luis Atilano, Jordan Zimmermann, Chris Marrero and Derek Norris during his tenure.
Controversy
In 1993 Bowden fired rookie manager Tony Perez after only 44 games.[5] Perez was a star player in Cincinnati and immensely popular with Reds fans. At the time, it was the earliest firing of a first-year manager in 65 years.[6] The firing drew significant criticism from Cincinnati fans.[7] However, he replaced Perez with Davey Johnson, who went on to lead the Reds to a division title in 1995.
In 1998 Bowden traded Jeff Shaw to the Los Angeles Dodgers for infielder Paul Konerko and left-hander Dennis Reyes.[8] This move was met with shock in the Cincinnati area as Shaw, an all-star and Cincinnati native, signed with the Reds at a discounted rate prior to the season.[9] At the time Shaw was quoted as saying "We had a handshake deal that he wasn't going to trade me. Three months later, he traded me ... If I had been in the room with him, I would have killed him."[10]
Sources
- ^ BR Bullpen page Accessed 4 March 2009
- ^ Robinson, Joshua, and Michael S. Schmidt. "Nationals’ G.M. Resigns as Scandal Deepens", The New York Times, 1 March 2009.
- ^ "Yanks Dismiss Thrift's Top Aide". The New York Times. 31 August 1989.
- ^ "Reds clean house, ax Bowden, Boone". SFGate.com. 29 July 2003. Retrieved July 29, 2003.
- ^ "BASEBALL; Ready, Blame, Fire: Just 44 Games for Perez". nytimes.com. 25 May 1993. Retrieved May 25, 1993.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Edes, Gordon (30 May 1993). "Firing Reds' Perez Act Of A Small Man". Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
- ^ NIGHTENGALE, BOB (13 October 1995). "Reds' Bowden Seeks Wins, Not Popularity". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
- ^ "Reds Trade All-Star Shaw To L.A." cbsnews.com. 4 July 1998.
- ^ "Shaw trade another sign of what's ahead for Reds". LubbockOnline.com. Retrieved July 5, 1998.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Sullivan, Tim. "Bowden makes deals - and enemies". April 01, 2001. The Cincinnati Enquirer.
References
- "Nationals extend GM Bowden's contract through April", USA Today. 27 October 2005.
- "Jim Bowden's Segway", Washington Times. 19 February 2008.
- "Bowden makes deals--And enemies", Cincinnati Enquirer. 1 April 2001.
- "Boos for Bowden", Concord Monitor. 13 August 2005.