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John Schuerholz

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John Schuerholz
Schuerholz in 2010
General manager / Executive
Born: (1940-10-01) October 1, 1940 (age 85)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Teams
As general manager

As president

Career highlights and awards
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction2017
Vote100%
Election methodToday's Game Era Committee[1]

John Boland Schuerholz Jr. (/ˈʃɜːrhɒlts/; born October 1, 1940) is an American baseball front office executive. He was the general manager of Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves from 1990 to 2007, and then served as the Braves president for a decade from 2007 until 2016. Before joining Atlanta, he spent 22 years with the Kansas City Royals organization, including nine (1982–1990) as the club's general manager. Among the teams he built are the 1985 Royals and 1995 Braves, both World Series champions. His teams have also won their division 16 times, including 14 consecutive times in Atlanta. During his time with the Braves, they won five National League pennants and played in nine National League Championship series. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017.

Personal life

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Schuerholz was born in Baltimore, the son of John Schuerholz Sr., who played in the Philadelphia Athletics minor league system from 1937 to 1940.[2][3] He is a graduate of the Baltimore City College High School, Towson University and Loyola University.[4] While at Towson, Schuerholz applied for officer candidate school and was rejected, as he was partially deaf.[5] Before his career in baseball, Schuerholz was a teacher at North Point Junior High in Baltimore.[4] Upon leaving his teaching job, he was drafted by the United States Army to serve in the Vietnam War. After entering Major League Baseball with the Baltimore Orioles, Schuerholz joined the United States Army Reserve.[5]

He donated $250,000 to Towson in 1999. This money was used to upgrade the school's baseball facility, which was named after Schuerholz.[6]

Schuerholz's son, Jonathan Schuerholz, was selected by Atlanta in the eighth round of the 2002 MLB draft[7] and played in the minor leagues until 2007. Jonathan retired from baseball in August 2007 to go back to Auburn University to complete his business degree. The younger Schuerholz, who finished his six-year career in the minor leagues with a .223 batting average,[8] was named manager of the Rome Braves (Atlanta's Class-A minor league affiliate) in 2014.[9][10] After the season, Jonathan was reassigned to the Braves front office to serve as an assistant player-development director.[11]

Career

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The Baltimore Orioles hired Schuerholz in 1966 as a result of a letter Schuerholz wrote to team owner Jerold Hoffberger. Schuerholz worked under Frank Cashen, Harry Dalton, and Lou Gorman. In 1969, Major League Baseball expanded to Kansas City. Gorman and Schuerholz left for the Royals. Schuerholz was named general manager of the Royals during the 1981 offseason, and became Major League Baseball's youngest general manager at the time. Schuerholz built a strong relationship with Royals owner Ewing Kauffman, but left the team as it began to struggle. He joined the Braves in 1990, succeeding Bobby Cox who returned to the dugout to manage the team.[4] The duo of Schuerholz and Cox produced an unprecedented run of success for the franchise, highlighted by the 1995 World Series Championship. On October 11, 2007, Schuerholz resigned as the Atlanta Braves general manager, but was promoted to club president, replacing Terry McGuirk. Schuerholz's top assistant Frank Wren was named the general manager.[12] When Schuerholz stepped down as club president in March 2016, his duties were split between Derek Schiller, as president of business, and Mike Plant, as president of development.[13][14]

Schuerholz has sent many assistants to general manager positions around the league, including Wren and Braves former GM John Coppolella. Dayton Moore, the Braves' former director of scouting and assistant GM under Schuerholz, was the GM of the Kansas City Royals from 2006 to 2021 and won a World Series in 2015, he replaced Allard Baird.[15]

In 2006, Schuerholz published a book, Built To Win, which chronicled his tenure with the Braves and some of his most important moves as a GM.[16] Included in his book is a trade the Braves almost made with the Pirates in 1992. Had the deal gone through the Braves would have sent pitcher Alejandro Pena and outfielder Keith Mitchell to the Pirates in exchange for Barry Bonds.[17]

On December 4, 2016, Schuerholz was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. He was formally inducted on July 30, 2017.[18]

Record as general manager

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Team Year Regular season Postseason
Games Won Lost Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
KC 1982 162 90 72 .556 2nd in AL West – – – –
KC 1983 162 79 83 .488 2nd in AL West – – – –
KC 1984 162 84 78 .519 1st in AL West 0 3 .000 Lost ALCS (DET)
KC 1985 162 91 71 .562 1st in AL West 8 6 .571 Won World Series (STL)
KC 1986 162 76 86 .469 3rd in AL West – – – –
KC 1987 162 83 79 .512 2nd in AL West – – – –
KC 1988 161 84 77 .522 3rd in AL West – – – –
KC 1989 162 92 70 .568 2nd in AL West – – – –
KC 1990 161 75 86 .466 6th in AL West – – – –
KC total 1,456 754 702 .518 8 9 .471
ATL 1991 162 94 68 .580 1st in NL West 7 7 .500 Lost World Series (MIN)
ATL 1992 162 98 64 .605 1st in NL West 6 7 .462 Lost World Series (TOR)
ATL 1993 162 104 58 .642 1st in NL West 2 4 .333 Lost NLCS (PHI)
ATL 1994 114 68 46 .596 2nd in NL East – – – –
ATL 1995 144 90 54 .625 1st in NL East 11 3 .786 Won World Series (CLE)
ATL 1996 162 96 66 .593 1st in NL East 9 7 .563 Lost World Series (NYY)
ATL 1997 162 101 61 .623 1st in NL East 5 4 .556 Lost NLCS (FLA)
ATL 1998 162 106 56 .654 1st in NL East 5 4 .556 Lost NLCS (SD)
ATL 1999 162 103 59 .636 1st in NL East 7 7 .500 Lost World Series (NYY)
ATL 2000 162 95 67 .586 1st in NL East 0 3 .000 Lost NLDS (STL)
ATL 2001 162 88 74 .543 1st in NL East 4 4 .500 Lost NLCS (ARI)
ATL 2002 160 101 59 .631 1st in NL East 2 3 .400 Lost NLDS (SF)
ATL 2003 162 101 61 .623 1st in NL East 2 3 .400 Lost NLDS (CHC)
ATL 2004 162 96 66 .593 1st in NL East 2 3 .400 Lost NLDS (HOU)
ATL 2005 162 90 72 .556 1st in NL East 1 3 .250 Lost NLDS (HOU)
ATL 2006 162 79 83 .488 3rd in NL East – – – –
ATL 2007 162 84 78 .519 3rd in NL East – – – –
ATL total 2,686 1,594 1,092 .593 63 62 .504
Total 4,142 2,348 1,794 .567 71 71 .500

Awards and honors

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In 2019, Schuerholz was named a Georgia Trustee by the Georgia Historical Society, in conjunction with the Office of the Governor of Georgia, to recognize accomplishments and community service that reflect the ideals of the founding body of Trustees, which governed the Georgia colony from 1732 to 1752.

References

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  1. ^ "John Schuerholz, Bud Selig Elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame by Today's Game Committee" (Press release). National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. December 4, 2016. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  2. ^ Ringolsby, Tracy (January 27, 2017). "Hall in Schuerholz's future, but also glimpse into his past". MLB.com. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  3. ^ Stark, Jayson (January 29, 2017). "The Hall of Fame through a Hall of Famer's eyes". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Justice, Richard (December 1, 2014). "Schuerholz a baseball institution after almost 50 years". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  5. ^ a b Bowman, Mark (July 3, 2016). "Braves embrace chance to visit with troops". MLB.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  6. ^ Ewell, Christian (July 14, 2000). "Schuerholz pays visit to 'his' field at Towson". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  7. ^ "What's it like being John Schuerholz's son?". Savannah Morning News. August 10, 2003. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
  8. ^ Bowman, Mark (August 12, 2007). "Young Schuerholz retires". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  9. ^ "2014 Rome Braves Field Staff Announced". Minor League Baseball. December 12, 2013. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  10. ^ Hummer, Steve (July 11, 2014). "Jonathan Schuerholz: 'I want to be the next Bobby Cox'". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  11. ^ Bowman, Mark (December 16, 2014). "Braves announce Minor League coaching staffs". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2014.
  12. ^ Cooper, Jon (October 11, 2007). "Schuerholz gives up Braves' GM job". MLB.com. Archived from the original on September 14, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  13. ^ Bahr, Chris (January 30, 2017). "Longtime executive John Schuerholz steps down as Braves president". Fox Sports. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  14. ^ Tucker, Tim (March 31, 2016). "Schuerholz stepping aside as Braves president". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  15. ^ Tucker, Doug (May 31, 2006). "USATODAY.com - Royals fire Baird in favor of Braves' Moore". Usatoday30.usatoday.com. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  16. ^ McHenry, Justin (March 27, 2006). "Book Review: Built to Win by John Schuerholz". Blogcritics. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2013.
  17. ^ Chass, Murray (March 11, 2006). "Before Balco, Bonds Was Almost a Brave". The New York Times.
  18. ^ Bowman, Mark (December 4, 2016). "Schuerholz unanimously elected to Baseball Hall of Fame". MLB.com. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
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