Jeffrey Loria

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Jeffrey H. Loria is an art dealer and the owner of the Florida Marlins of the National League, and the former owner of the Montreal Expos of the National League.

A 1957 graduate of New York City's Stuyvesant High School,[1] 1962 graduate of Yale University, and 1968 graduate of Columbia Business School, Loria spent many years as an art dealer, first for Sears and then for his own firm. He also authored two books: 1965's Collecting Original Art and 1969's What's It All About, Charlie Brown? (co-written with Pat K. Lynch). Loria was an All City 2nd Baseman for Stuyvesant in his senior year.

His first baseball venture came in 1989, when he purchased the minor league Oklahoma City 89ers. During the 1990s he attempted to purchase several Major League teams, notably the Baltimore Orioles. Finally, in 1999, he bought a 35 percent interest in the Expos for $50 million, replacing managing partner Claude Brochu. After executing a series of controversial "cash calls" Loria became the team's majority partner at 94%. Loria was instrumental in the firing of manager Felipe Alou, but chose to be unavailable during the news conference.[citation needed]

One of Loria's first acts was to reiterate demands for a new park for the Expos to replace Olympic Stadium, of which he bluntly said, "We cannot stay here." He lost a considerable amount of goodwill with Expos fans when the team was not able to reach an agreement for television and English-speaking radio coverage during the 2000 season, as the Expos tried to increase their revenue from broadcast rights. Both the municipal and provincial governments balked at public financing for the proposed Labatt Park, in part because Olympic Stadium still hadn't been paid for 25 years after being built[2] (and wouldn't be paid for, as it turned out, until 2006).

In 2002, as part of an orchestrated move with Bud Selig and John W. Henry (owner of the Florida Marlins at the time), Loria sold the Expos to "Expos Baseball, LP," a partnership of the other 29 major league clubs, for $120 million. Henry then sold the Marlins to Loria for $158.5 million, including a $38.5 million no-interest loan from MLB. The deal was approved by the other owners before Loria and Henry even signed a contract.[3] Loria moved the Expos' entire front office and on-field staff to Florida. MLB's plans to contract the Expos and Minnesota Twins failed, though, as the Twins were compelled through legal action to fulfill the terms of their lease at the Metrodome. Loria's partners in the Expos ownership consortium filed a RICO lawsuit against Loria and Major League Baseball, but it eventually went to arbitration and was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.[4] The Expos were ultimately transferred to Washington, D.C. as the Nationals.

Loria's first move as owner of the Marlins was to fire 60 employees, replacing them mostly with former Expos staff. Marlins team president David Samson, Loria's step son, mentioned during the 2005 offseason that the Marlins were exploring attempts to relocate.

In 2006, Loria was a central figure in the firing of the Florida Marlins Manager Joe Girardi. He originally fired Girardi after Girardi asked him to stop alienating the umpires from his front row seat next to the Marlins' dugout, but was talked out of doing so until the end of the season. As with the Felipe Alou firing four years before, he chose to be unavailable during the news conference or the actual firing. Girardi, despite the loss of his job won the 2006 National League Manager of the Year.

In March 2007 Yale University announced that Loria had made a major gift to fund the construction of a new building for the History of Art department, adjacent to the Art + Architecture Building.


[edit] References

  1. ^ Smith, Chris (2003-10-27). "No, I'm the Boss". New York Magazine. 
  2. ^ Smith, Curt (2001). Storied Stadiums. New York City: Carroll & Company. ISBN 0786711876. 
  3. ^ From 2002 ESPN Information Please Sports Almanac, Business and Media section
  4. ^ Pahigaian, Josh; Kevin O'Connell (2004). The Ultimate Baseball Road Trip. Guilford, Connecticut: Lyons Press. ISBN 1592281591. 

[edit] External links

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