Jim Bowden

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Jim Bowden James Gordon Bowden III (born in Boston, Massachusetts) is the general manager of the Washington Nationals.

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 principle 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.

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 2003, then with ESPN and eventually was hired by the Nationals.