After Cronin retired, Harrington was hired by Red Sox owner
Tom Yawkey as treasurer of the Red Sox. Yawkey died in 1976 and was eventually replaced by his wife
Jean, who sold the team in 1977 to a syndicate headed by
general partners Buddy LeRoux and
Haywood Sullivan. To gain approval of the sale by the
American League, Mrs. Yawkey joined the ownership group in 1978 as its third general partner and club president. Harrington left the team to work for Governor
Edward King of
Massachusetts and then for a
Lloyd's of London insurance affiliate. But he eventually returned to the Red Sox in the mid-1980s, during a period of strife between LeRoux and his partners, and became an important advisor to Mrs. Yawkey. Harrington also became the first non-owner to be the team's president, a position he held during 1987–2001.
CEO After Jean Yawkey's death in 1992, as trustee of the
JRY Trust, Harrington arranged for the Trust to buy out the shares of Sullivan, the last remaining general partner. He completely overhauled the front office, bringing in general manager
Dan Duquette from the
Montreal Expos. Under Harrington's leadership the team compiled one of the best records in baseball; the team won the
1986 American League Championship Series; won the
American League East division in 1986, 1988, 1990 and 1995; and won the
Wild Card in 1998 and 1999. Harrington was instrumental in acquiring
Pedro Martínez,
Manny Ramírez,
Jason Varitek,
Tim Wakefield,
Johnny Damon,
Derek Lowe and other stars. Harrington built a new
spring training facility in
Fort Myers, Florida, and broadened the reach and popularity of Red Sox majority-owned
New England Sports Network (NESN). He was responsible for bringing the
All-Star Game to
Fenway Park in 1999. He also played key roles within Major League Baseball. He was the lead negotiator for baseball owners during the
1994–95 Major League Baseball strike, and led the development of both
interleague play and the creation of the Wild Card playoff format.
Controversies During Harrington's tenure, the Red Sox were also embroiled in several controversial episodes. In 1997, All-Star pitcher
Roger Clemens acrimoniously left the team to sign as a free agent with the
Toronto Blue Jays, where he won a fourth
Cy Young Award. Also in 1997, after infielder
Wil Cordero was arrested on domestic assault charges, a half-dozen Red Sox front office members made a show of support on Cordero's behalf by appearing in court at his arraignment. Weeks later, Harrington initially refused to accept the terms of a negotiated settlement between the
MLBPA players' union and the owners' Player Relations Committee to allow Cordero to return to the team. However, Harrington relented after the union threatened to file a grievance and owners' counsel advised him he was unlikely to prevail in court. In December 1997, Harrington and the club faced charges of racial bias and harassment after a black former employee of the team claimed a framed photo of himself and his fiancee was defaced with a racial epithet. The following month, a civil rights advocate who offered to mediate a settlement for the club abandoned those efforts, accusing Harrington of rebuffing him and failing to deal in good faith. The case led to a hearing before the
Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) and was ultimately settled.
Ballpark In 1999, Harrington proposed the idea of moving the Red Sox into a new ballpark that was scheduled to be built adjacent to Fenway and even named "New Fenway Park", (similar to what would happen to
Yankee Stadium in 2008). This idea was wildly controversial, as many Red Sox fans consider Fenway "a national treasure" of sorts. Harrington was quoted as saying that, "It would be easier to fix the
Leaning Tower of Pisa than Fenway". The team set aside $415 million of $545 million allotted for the new ballpark, with the public financing the rest, estimated at $130 million. The baseball world had seen the closure of
Tiger Stadium that same year, and many hoped Fenway would avoid the same fate. After much outcry from the public, the team was sold prior to the 2002 season to an ownership group,
New England Sports Ventures, headed by
John W. Henry,
Tom Werner and
Larry Lucchino, bringing a close to Harrington's time with the Red Sox. ==Later life==