Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Copyrighted by Sarah Morris, 2026
On his 91st birthday, Fred Claire died.
He was a friend and colleague of mine. He helped me through Tommy Lasorda and my mother’s death. When I needed encouragement to continue writing about the Dodgers, he gave it.
Claire was the architect of the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers’ World Series title. He stepped into the general manager job in April 1987 after Al Campanis made racist remarks on Nightline, which brought disgrace to the Dodgers’ organization.
Before that, Claire was in charge of Press Relations. He had been a sports writer before joining the Dodgers in 1969. He was instrumental in hiring longtime Dodger broadcaster Ross Porter and developing the “Think Blue” campaign.
In 1987, the Dodgers were a sub-.500 team with poor defense and lacked power. They also had no spirit. Claire signed rejected utility man Mickey Hatcher. He traded for Alfredo Griffin, Jay Howell, and Jesse Orosco. He signed free agents Kirk Gibson, Rick Dempsey, and Don Sutton. The 1988 Dodgers slayed the powerful Oakland Athletics in the World Series.
Claire brought Brett Butler to the Dodgers. He let Eric Karros, Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Hideo Nomo, and Todd Hollandsworth develop into the National League Rookie of the Year. He signed the No. 2 pick, Darren Dreifort, in the 1993 Amateur draft. He brought Chan Ho Park from South Korea.
Like most GMs, Claire had mistakes. He signed the underachieving Darryl Strawberry to a five-year contract. He traded for Eric Davis, who was always injured in a Dodger uniform. He traded Pedro Martinez, who won multiple Cy Young Awards, and John Wettland, an All-Star closer.
In May 1998, Fox unceremoniously fired Claire and manager Bill Russell for people of their choosing.
Claire occasionally wrote for Major League Baseball Advanced Media and taught classes about Sports Management at Caltech and Pomona College.
During his courageous eleven-year battle with cancer, Claire developed a good partnership with the City of Hope. He wrote Extra Innings: Fred Claire’s Journey to City of Hope and Finding a World Championship Team.
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