Dan Duquette (born May 26, 1958) is an American
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
executive. He is the former
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 ...
of the
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 ...
,
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...
, and
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
of
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), ...
.
He is also the founder of the
Dan Duquette Sports Academy.
He has twice been named the
Major League Baseball Executive of the Year by ''
Sporting News'' (1992 with the Expos and 2014 with the Orioles).
Early life and education
Duquette is a native of
Dalton
Dalton may refer to:
Science
* Dalton (crater), a lunar crater
* Dalton (program), chemistry software
* Dalton (unit) (Da), the atomic mass unit
* John Dalton, chemist, physicist and meteorologist
Entertainment
* Dalton (Buffyverse), minor ch ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
. He attended a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
grammar school in Dalton during which time he was a
batboy
In baseball, a batboy or batgirl is an individual who carries baseball bats to the players on a baseball team. Duties of a batboy may also include handling and preparing players’ equipment and bringing baseballs to the umpire during the game. ...
for the
Wahconah Regional High School baseball team. In high school, he was the captain of both the baseball and football teams. After high school, he attended
Amherst College where he was a
catcher
Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...
on the varsity baseball team and a
linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...
on the football team. In the summer of 1977 at the age of 19, Duquette helped organize the
Dalton Collegians, a semi-pro baseball team that operated out of his hometown. In college, Duquette was chosen to the 1979 Boston Herald American All New England College Division All Star team. Duquette was also known to talk to professional scouts who attended Amherst baseball games.
He graduated from college in 1980.
Career
Early career and Montreal Expos
![Dan Duquette in April 2015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Dan_Duquette_in_April_2015.jpeg)
After college, Duquette's baseball coach, Bill Thurston, recommended him to
Harry Dalton
Harry Inglis Dalton (August 23, 1928 – October 23, 2005) was an American front-office executive in Major League Baseball. He served as general manager of three American League (AL) teams, the Baltimore Orioles (1966–71), California Angels (1 ...
, a fellow Amherst alumnus and general manager of the
Milwaukee Brewers. Duquette became a scouting assistant for the Brewers and worked in the scouting department for seven years.
In 1987, the
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 ...
hired Duquette as the Director of Player Development. He spent a few years in that position before being promoted to Vice President and General Manager in 1991 (taking over for the departing
Dave Dombrowski
David Dombrowski (born July 27, 1956) is an American baseball executive who serves as the President of Baseball Operations for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Dombrowski also previously served as the general manager of ...
). Over the course of his six years with the Expos, Duquette had a hand in drafting players like
Rondell White
Rondell Bernard White (born February 23, 1972) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder and designated hitter. As well as being a solid defensive player, White also had a batting ave ...
,
Marquis Grissom
Marquis Deon Grissom (born April 17, 1967) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Montreal Expos, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and ...
,
Cliff Floyd
Cornelius Clifford Floyd Jr. (born December 5, 1972) is a former Major League Baseball left fielder who played for 17 seasons, most notably for the Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins and New York Mets. He is currently a baseball analyst who co-hosts ...
,
Jose Vidro
Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods.
*Jose ben Abin
*Jose ben Akabya
*Jose the Galilean ...
,
Kirk Reuter
Kirk Wesley Rueter ( ; born December 1, 1970), nicknamed "Woody", is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. Rueter played for the Montreal Expos and the San Francisco Giants.
Early life
Rueter was born in Centralia, Illi ...
,
Javier Vasquez, and many more Major League players. He also signed players like
Vladimir Guerrero
Vladimir Alvino Guerrero Sr. (born February 9, 1975), nicknamed "Vlad the Impaler", is a Dominican former professional baseball player who spent 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right fielder and designated hitter. He played for ...
,
John Wetteland
John Karl Wetteland (born August 21, 1966) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (1989–2000). He pitched for four teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal Expos, New York Yankees, and Texas Rang ...
, and
Larry Walker
Larry Kenneth Robert Walker (born December 1, 1966) is a Canadian former professional baseball right fielder. During his 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played with the Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies, and St. Louis Cardinals. I ...
.
In November 1993, Duquette traded
second baseman Delino DeShields
Delino Lamont DeShields (born January 15, 1969), also nicknamed "Bop", is an American former professional baseball second baseman and current first base coach for the Cincinnati Reds. He played for 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for ...
for
Pedro Martínez
Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from to .
At the time o ...
of the
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
. The Expos were competitive from 1992 to 1994, and they had attained the best record in baseball prior to the
1994–95 Major League Baseball strike
The 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike was the eighth and longest work stoppage in baseball history, as well as the fourth in-season work stoppage in 22 years. The strike began on August 12, 1994, and resulted in the remainder of that seaso ...
that ended the season prematurely.
Boston Red Sox
![Dan Duquette Dugout July 13 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Dan_Duquette_Dugout_July_13_2013.jpeg)
In 1994, Duquette returned to Massachusetts to become the General Manager of the Boston Red Sox. He spent eight years at the helm of his hometown team. The Red Sox achieved a record of 656–574 under Duquette, setting attendance records and appearing in the playoffs on three separate occasions (
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...
,
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
, and
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
). The team won the
American League East
The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...
division in 1995, but only advanced as far as the
American League Championship Series once in their three postseason years. They would lose that series to the rival
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
.
As the Red Sox GM, Duquette made several notable moves, including drafting
Nomar Garciaparra
Anthony Nomar Garciaparra (; born July 23, 1973) is an American retired Major League Baseball player and current SportsNet LA analyst. After playing parts of nine seasons as an All-Star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, he played shortstop, third ...
in 1994
and trading for Pedro Martínez in 1997 (and signing him to a six-year, $75 million contract).
He is also known for letting
Roger Clemens
William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox. Clemens was one of the most dominant pi ...
leave in free agency in 1996.
Many of the players that Duquette drafted or signed were on the Red Sox
2004 World Series
The 2004 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2004 season. The 100th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National Leag ...
championship team. He is largely considered to have laid the groundwork for that team by signing, drafting or trading for players like
Tim Wakefield
Timothy Stephen Wakefield (born August 2, 1966) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Wakefield began his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but is most remembered for his 17-yea ...
,
Johnny Damon
Johnny David Damon (born November 5, 1973) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1995 to 2012. During his MLB career, Damon played for the Kansas City Royals (1995–2000), Oakland A ...
,
Jason Varitek
Jason Andrew Varitek (; born April 11, 1972), nicknamed Tek, is an American professional baseball coach and former catcher. He is currently the game planning coordinator, a uniformed coaching position, for the Boston Red Sox. After being traded ...
,
Manny Ramirez
Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida (born May 30, 1972) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for parts of 19 seasons. He played with the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, L ...
,
Derek Lowe, and
Kevin Youkilis
Kevin Edmund Youkilis (; born March 15, 1979), nicknamed "Youk" , is an American former professional baseball first baseman and third baseman, who primarily played for the Boston Red Sox. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, he was drafted by the Red S ...
.
In 2002, Duquette was dismissed from his general manager post less than 24 hours after the Red Sox had officially been sold to a new ownership group that included
John W. Henry
John William Henry II (born September 13, 1949) is an American businessman and investor and the founder of John W. Henry & Company, an investment management firm. He is the principal owner of Liverpool Football Club, the Boston Red Sox, ''The B ...
and
Tom Werner
Thomas Charles Werner (born April 12, 1950) is an American television producer and businessman. Through his investment in Fenway Sports Group, he is currently chairman of both Liverpool Football Club and the Boston Red Sox.
Werner first became ...
.
After Boston
![Beit Shemesh Blue Sox Team Huddle July 2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Beit_Shemesh_Blue_Sox_Team_Huddle_July_2007.jpeg)
After his stint with the Red Sox, Duquette largely stayed out of Major League Baseball for 9 years. In 2003, he opened the Dan Duquette Sports Academy, a sports training center in
Hinsdale, Massachusetts
Hinsdale is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Metropolitan Statistical Area of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The population was 1,919 at the 2020 census.
History
Originally part of Northern Berkshire Towns ...
designed for children aged 8 to 18.
In 2004, he became the owner of the
New England Collegiate Baseball League
The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) is a 13-team collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 1993 and sanctioned by the NCAA and Major League Baseball. Each NECBL team plays an eight-week, 44-game schedule during June ...
's
Pittsfield Dukes (later the Pittsfield American Defenders and now the Mystic Schooners). During his ownership tenure, the Dukes/American Defenders played at his sports academy in Hinsdale and later at
Wahconah Park
Wahconah Park is a city-owned baseball park located in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and nestled in a working-class neighborhood. One of the last remaining ballparks in the United States with a wooden grandstand, it was constructed in 1919 and seats ...
in Pittsfield. In 2008, he was part of an ownership group that included Buddy Lewis,
Terry Allvord, and Jerry O'Connor that purchased what would become known as the American Defenders of New Hampshire, (later the
Pittsfield Colonials
The Pittsfield Colonials were a baseball team in the independent Canadian-American Association of Professional Baseball, based in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The team was previously known as the American Defenders of New Hampshire (often simply ref ...
). He relinquished ownership of both clubs in 2009 and 2010.
Duquette also helped found the
Israel Baseball League
The Israel Baseball League (IBL; Hebrew: ליגת הבייסבול הישראלית, ''Ligat ha-Beisbol ha-Israelit'') was a six-team professional baseball league in Israel. The first game was played on June 24, 2007.
League structure
The six ...
. Despite folding after only one season, it helped 75 players get into professional baseball.
During this time, he also had a part in a production of the musical, ''
Damn Yankees
''Damn Yankees'' is a 1955 musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., dur ...
'', in Western Massachusetts.
Baltimore Orioles
![Dan Duquette Buck Showalter Luke Scott](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Dan_Duquette_Buck_Showalter_Luke_Scott.jpeg)
After spending 9 years away from the MLB, Duquette returned as the General Manager of the Baltimore Orioles in November 2011.
In 2012, the team made the playoffs for the first time since 1997. In 2014, the Orioles won the American League East with 96 wins and made it to the
American League Championship Series.
Many people attribute the success of the Orioles to the management of
Buck Showalter
William Nathaniel "Buck" Showalter III (born May 23, 1956) is an American professional baseball manager for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he served as manager of the New York Yankees ( 1992–1995), Arizona Diamon ...
and Duquette.
Duquette signed
Nelson Cruz
Nelson Ramón Cruz Martínez Jr. (born July 1, 1980) is a Dominican-American professional baseball designated hitter and right fielder who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas ...
to one-year, $8 million contract in February 2014. Cruz went on to lead the league in home runs that year. Other signings and acquisitions under Duquette have included,
Nick Hundley
Nicholas John Hundley (born September 8, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher and current front office executive. He is currently a special assistant to the general manager for the Texas Rangers. He played in Major League Ba ...
,
Delmon Young
Delmon Damarcus Young (born September 14, 1985) is an American professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter for the Melbourne Aces of the Australian Baseball League. He played in Major League Baseball for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Ray ...
,
Steve Pearce, and
Andrew Miller.
In early 2015, the
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
expressed interest in making Duquette their new President/CEO. Because Duquette was under contract until 2018 and the Blue Jays did not offer enough compensation to the Orioles, no deal was struck.
On October 3, 2018 the Orioles decided not to renew the contract of Duquette after two straight losing seasons, in 2018 the Orioles went 47-115, the worst record in franchise history. Both Duquette and Showalter had contracts that expired at the end of the season.
Currently Duquette is a
Baseball Player Development instructor for the online sports-career training school
Sports Management Worldwide
Sports Management Worldwide (SMWW) is an international sports agency and private for-profit sports management training institution based in Portland, Oregon. It is an accredited online Sports Management school and is certified by the Oregon Depar ...
, founded and run by
Dr. Lynn Lashbrook.
Recognition and awards
Duquette has twice received The ''Sporting News'' Executive of the Year Award (1992 with the Expos and 2014 with the Orioles).
He also won the ''
Baseball America'' Major League Executive of the Year honor in 2014 with the Orioles.
Mark Armour and Daniel Levitt ranked Duquette the 17th best general manager in the history of baseball in their 2015 book, ''In Pursuit of Pennants: Baseball Operations from Deadball to Moneyball''.
On May 26, 2022, Dan Duquette was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame via a special awards ceremony, hosted by the Boston Red Sox and Red Sox Foundation, at Fenway Park. Duquette was inducted alongside David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Rich Gedman, and Bill Dinneen.
Personal life
Duquette is married to Amy Aubry-Duquette and has seven children. He lived in
Acton, Massachusetts
Acton is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, approximately west-northwest of Boston along Massachusetts Route 2 west of Concord and about southwest of Lowell. The population was 24,021 in April 2020, according to the Unit ...
, from 1994 through 2011. He currently lives in
Sandwich, Massachusetts
Sandwich is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, and is the oldest town on Cape Cod. The town motto is ''Post tot Naufracia Portus'', "after so many shipwrecks, a haven". The population was 20,259 at the 2020 census.
History
Cape Cod ...
.
[ Duquette's cousin, ]Jim Duquette
Jim Duquette is an American baseball executive. He was the general manager of the New York Mets from 2003–2004, before the team replaced him with Omar Minaya. Duquette subsequently stayed with the Mets in a front office job for a full seas ...
, is a former executive of the Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
and the New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
. His other cousin, Pat Duquette (Jim's brother), is the head men's basketball coach at UMass Lowell
The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is a Public university, public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of Mas ...
.
References
External links
Dan Duquette Sports Academy
U.S. Military All-Stars
Nokona Baseball Factory
Baseball America Executive Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duquette, Dan
1958 births
Living people
Amherst Mammoths baseball players
Baltimore Orioles executives
Boston Red Sox executives
Major League Baseball farm directors
Major League Baseball general managers
Milwaukee Brewers scouts
Montreal Expos executives
People from Dalton, Massachusetts
Sportspeople from Berkshire County, Massachusetts