Larry Lucchino

Lawrence Lucchino was born on September 6, 1945, in Pittsburgh. He graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School, and attended Princeton University, where he played college basketball. He was a member of the Princeton Tigers men's basketball team for the 1964–65, 1965–66, and 1966–67 seasons. The 1964–65 Tigers, captained by Bill Bradley, advanced to the Final Four of the 1965 NCAA University Division basketball tournament. Lucchino graduated from Princeton in 1967. He earned a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School, where he was a classmate of Hillary Clinton. ==Career==

After law school, Lucchino practiced law with the Washington, D. C., law firm of Williams & Connolly. Lucchino was known for having initiated the trend of building baseball-only facilities with an old-fashioned charm and smaller seating capacities. Under his watch, both the Orioles and Padres built new stadiums, pioneering Oriole Park at Camden Yards and Petco Park, respectively. Boston Red Sox (2002–2021) victory at an event at the Massachusetts State House Lucchino brought future general manager Theo Epstein with him to the Red Sox from the Orioles and the Padres, having also encouraged Epstein to attend law school while he was working at the Padres. Following the 2002 season, Pedro Martinez called Lucchino asking him to sign David Ortiz, who had been released by the Twins. Lucchino "always enjoyed a strong connection with Big Papi throughout his entire career". On August 1, 2015, the Red Sox announced that Lucchino was stepping down after the 2015 season. Lucchino continued as chairman and co-owner of the Pawtucket, Rhode Island–based Pawtucket Red Sox. He was a key figure in the relocation of the franchise to Worcester, Massachusetts, becoming the Worcester Red Sox for the 2021 minor league season. Lucchino served as that team's first chairman. ==Personal life==

Lucchino previously served on the board of directors for Special Olympics. He was a commencement speaker at several colleges in the New England area, including Boston University (2008), New England School of Law (2008), Bryant University (2009), and Anna Maria College (2010). He was awarded several honorary degrees, including from Boston University, Suffolk University, and Palomar College. He was the only person known to have World Series rings (Orioles, 1983; Red Sox 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018), a Super Bowl ring (Redskins, 1982) and a Final Four watch (Princeton, 1965). and into the San Diego Padres Hall of Fame in 2022. He was also inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, and the Taylor Allderdice High School Hall of Fame. Lucchino was a non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivor, undergoing radiation treatment in 1986 after his diagnosis in September 1985. In October 1999, he had surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital to remove localized prostate cancer. In December 2019, he underwent surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston to remove a cancerous blockage in the kidney area. In August 2023, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute presented Lucchino with the Boston Red Sox Jimmy Fund Award for his help in raising $142 million over the years. and he adopted her two children, Davis and Blair. File:Flickr - Official U.S. Navy Imagery - Vice Chief of Naval Operations speaks with Boston Red Sox President..jpg|Lucchino, at right, with Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mark Ferguson in 2012 File:Polar-park-groundbreaking-071119 48266073337 o (1).jpg|Lucchino with Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito at the 2019 groundbreaking ceremony of the Polar Park minor league stadium in Worcester, Massachusetts Death On April 2, 2024, Lucchino died from heart failure at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, at the age of 78. In August 2024, Red Sox principal owner John W. Henry commented: Larry was the greatest baseball man I ever met. Usually when you call someone a baseball man, you are talking about his knowledge of the game on the field. In Larry’s case, baseball off the field was greater. He was unequivocally a Hall of Famer. The greatest baseball man. ==References==