Robert Henry Gebhard (born January 3, 1943) is an American front-office executive in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

and a former right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the Minnesota Twins and

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

. He was the first

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

in the history of the Colorado Rockies of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

, serving from , the year before the Rockies made their MLB debut, until his resignation near the end of the season.

Career

As a player

Born in

Lamberton, Minnesota Lamberton is a town in Redwood County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 824 at the 2010 census. History Lamberton was platted in 1873, and named for Henry Wilson Lamberton, a railroad official. A post office has been in operation at ...

, Gebhard attended the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

. During his playing career, he stood 6'2" (1.88 m) tall, weighed 210 pounds (95 kg), and batted right-handed. Gebhard was selected by the Twins in the 44th round of the first-ever baseball amateur draft in 1965, but he didn't reach the Twins until the age of 28, on August 2, , when he hurled two scoreless innings against the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. He appeared in 30 games over the 1971 and seasons with Minnesota, then was signed as a free agent by the Expos in January 1974. He appeared in one game for Montreal on September 3, , giving up one

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

and five

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

s in two innings pitched. All told, Gebhard compiled a record of one win, three defeats and an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

of 5.93 over 31 games and 41 innings of Major League play.

In the front office

Gebhard's front office career began with the Expos in as field director of minor league operations. He was a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

on the Expos' Major League staff in 1982, and then served as the club's farm system director from 1983–86. He then returned to the Twins to become assistant general manager under Andy MacPhail, working with Minnesota during its and world championship seasons, before becoming the first GM in Rockies' history during the 1991–92 offseason. He supervised the building of the Rockies' farm system during , ran the

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansio ...

for them, and hired

Don Baylor Don Edward Baylor (June 28, 1949 – August 7, 2017) was an American professional baseball player and manager. During his 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), Baylor was a power hitter known for standing very close to home plate (" crowding ...

as the club's first

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. The early years of the Rockies were successful at the gate and on the field. In , they set a Major League attendance record of 4.483 million fans in their maiden season at

Mile High Stadium Mile High Stadium (originally Bears Stadium until 1968) was an outdoor multi-purpose stadium located in Denver, Colorado from 1948 to 2001. The stadium was built in 1948 to accommodate the Denver Bears baseball team, which was a member of the ...

, led both leagues in attendance four times, and drew over 3.2 million fans every year during Gebhard's tenure. They also enjoyed three consecutive winning seasons from 1995–97, and a National League wild card playoff appearance in . However, successive losing campaigns in 1998–99, amplified by the Rockies' pitching staff's struggles at

Coors Field Coors Field is a baseball stadium in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. Opened in 1995, the park is located in Denver's Lower Downtown neighborhood, two blocks from Union Station. The ...

, resulted in rampant speculation in late 1999 that Gebhard would be replaced as general manager. In response, he turned in his resignation on August 20.The New York Times, August 22, 1999 Gebhard then moved to the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

as vice president and top assistant to general manager

Walt Jocketty Walt Jocketty (born February 19, 1951) is a baseball executive who is the Executive Adviser to the CEO of the Cincinnati Reds. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he attended the University of Minnesota where he earned a bachelor's degree in business a ...

from 2000–04, then joined the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

as interim general manager between Joe Garagiola Jr. and Josh Byrnes from August to October . He then was the D-Backs' vice president and assistant to the general manager for several years before returning to the Cardinals as special assistant to GM

John Mozeliak John Mozeliak (born January 18, 1969) is an American baseball executive who is the president of baseball operations of the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Never a professional baseball player, Mozeliak came to the Cardinals a ...

in 2016.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gebhard, Bob 1943 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arizona Diamondbacks executives Baseball coaches from Minnesota Baseball players from Minnesota Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Colorado Rockies executives Evansville Triplets players Major League Baseball farm directors Major League Baseball general managers Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball pitching coaches Memphis Blues players Minnesota Twins players Minnesota Twins executives Montreal Expos coaches Montreal Expos players People from Lamberton, Minnesota Portland Beavers players St. Cloud Rox players St. Louis Cardinals executives Tacoma Twins players Wilson Tobs players