Hall of Fame-worthy team executives
By Bill Felber
Buzzie Bavasi
Emil Joseph ‘Buzzie’ Bavasi became general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers following the departure of Branch Rickey in 1951, and remained through the team’s relocation to Los Angeles. Between his arrival and his resignation after the 1968 season, Bavasi’s Dodger teams won 57 percent of their games and eight pennants, four of those ending in World Series victories.
Later in his career, Bavasi also ran the front office for the San Diego Padres (1969 to 1972) and California Angels (1978 to 1984). That included bring the Angels that franchise’s first division title in 1979.
But it was his work with the Dodgers that makes Bavasi Hall-worthy. For much of Bavasi’s tenure the Dodgers were the National League’s dominant force. Their eight pennants represented more than half of the 15 decided between 1952 and 1966. With field manager Walter Alston, he was the transitional link between the Hodges-Snider-Robinson Brooklyn teams of the 1950s and the Koufax-Drysdale Los Angeles powerhouse of the 1960s.
Bavasi’s name has from time to time made it to what is now known as the Expansion Era ballot, but he has never approached the required three-fourths support to win enshrinement. Bavasi died in 2008.