Jim Bowden (baseball)

For the record setting technical diver, see Jim Bowden (diver).

James Gordon Bowden IV (born 1961 in Boston, Massachusetts) was the general manager of the Washington Nationals from 2004 until 2009, having resigned in the wake of multiple controversies.

Early life and career

Bowden was born in Boston and raised in Weston, Massachusetts. 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, and eventually moved to the Cincinnati Reds as an assistant to the general manager. Bowden is a graduate of Rollins College in Winter Park, FL.

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---as GM of the Reds---his acquisition of OF Ken Griffey, Jr. from Seattle in February of 2000. His Reds teams made just one playoff appearance in 1995, when they lost in the NLCS to the Atlanta Braves.

After his time in Cincinnati came to an end, 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 never finished over .500 during Bowden's tenure.

Controversy

As a general manager, Bowden is known for his frequent roster moves, accessibility to the media, willingness to sign players with track records for personal problems, and affection for athletic outfielders. In his 16 years as an MLB general manager, his teams have made the playoffs just once (the aforementioned '99 Reds did play in a one-game playoff).

Bowden has been involved in several other controversies:

• In 1993, he fired Reds manager and former star player Tony Pérez after just 44 games. Coming on the heels of racially charged comments by Reds owner Marge Schott, the firing prompted criticism of Bowden and the team for treating Pérez, one of the league's few minority managers, unfairly.
• In 1998, he traded All-Star reliever and Cincinnati native Jeff Shaw to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Shaw claimed at the time that Bowden had agreed not to trade him as part of a contract that involved Shaw taking less money from the Reds than he could have gotten elsewhere. “We had a handshake deal that he wasn't going to trade me,” Shaw said. “Three months later, he traded me. ... If I had been in the room with him, I would have killed him.”
• In 2000, Reds coach Ron Oester reportedly was offered the job of manager by Bowden, but that when Oester didn't accept immediately, Bowden offered the job to Bob Boone without contacting Oester.
• In 2003, he was fired as general manager of the Reds following comments comparing the MLB players union to the terrorist organization al Qaeda. Commenting on the possibility of a strike by the players, he said, “If they (the players) do walk out ... I encourage all of them, "Make sure it's Sept. 11th. Be symbolic about it. Let [union head] Donald Fehr drive the plane right into the building, if that's what they want him to do,'" Bowden later apologized for the remarks.
• On April 17, 2006, Bowden was arrested for drunk driving in Miami, Florida.
• As the GM of the Nationals, he made a deal with the Reds in mid-season 2006 involving Gary Majewski, who received a cortisone shot shortly before the trade. In May 2007 the Reds filed a grievance claiming they didn't know they were getting damaged goods. However, after an indepth and time-consuming investigation, MLB cleared Bowden and the Nationals.
• As of February 23, 2009 Bowden is being investigated by the FBI for taking signing bonus money from Latin American baseball players for his own personal gain.
• Bowden's ex-wife Amy is married to one of Bowden's former bosses in Cincinnati, Reds' minority owner Bill Reik.
• Is know to frequently wear leather pants.
• Is a devout Republican.

Trivia

An avid Segway enthusiast, he on a few occasions rode a custom version in Washington Nationals team colors to visit the Nationals' workouts, which are located more than an 1/4 mile down the street from his Space Coast Stadium office.

References

• Bowden, Jim. "Scouting our way to the top", The San Francisco Examiner. April 5, 2006.
• "Nationals extend GM Bowden's contract through April", USA Today. October 27, 2005.
• "Jim Bowden's Segway", Washington Times. February 19, 2008.
• "Bowden makes deals--And enemies", Cincinnati Enquirer. April 1, 2001.
• "Boos for Bowden", Concord Monitor. August 13, 2005.
• "Reds GM sorry for remarks", Cincinnati Enquirer. August 2, 2002.