Grady Lee Fuson (born April 19, 1956) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

and executive who is a special adviser for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

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), ...

Early life and education

Fuson grew up in

Kearny Mesa, San Diego Kearny Mesa is a community in the central part of San Diego, California. It is bounded by State Route 52 to the north, Interstate 805 to the west, Aero Drive to the south, and Interstate 15 to the east. Adjacent communities include Serra Mesa, Cl ...

. He attended Kearny High School. Fuson played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for a

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

before transferring to the

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional an ...

, where he finished his college career with the

Puget Sound Loggers The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional an ...

in Division I of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA). He graduated in 1978.

Career

Fuson played

for the

Salem Senators The Salem Senators are the longest lasting name used by several minor league baseball teams based in Salem in the U.S. state of Oregon. The team name derived from Salem being the capital of Oregon. The team was founded in 1940. The current incar ...

, an independent team. He led the Senators with a .320

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

in 1978, but batted .198 in 1979. He was assistant baseball coach for Puget Sound in 1980 and became head coach in 1981; Fuson was the youngest coach in NCAA's Division I. Before the 1982 season, the

hired Fuson as an area

for the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

and to coach for the Idaho Falls A's. Through 1995, he scouted and coached for various Oakland

farm team In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

s. In 1985, he became manager of the Medford A's. Fuson was Oakand's director of scouting from 1995 to 2001. The Texas Rangers hired Fuson as assistant

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 ...

on November 1, 2001, alongside John Hart as the new general manager, with the agreement that Fuson would succeed Hart after the 2004 season. Fuson was put in charge of the entire farm system. Despite the agreement, the Rangers chose to retain Hart as their general manager for 2005, and dismissed Fuson. In 2005, the Padres hired Fuson as a special assistant to the general manager,

Kevin Towers Kevin Scott Towers (November 11, 1961 – January 30, 2018) was an American executive in Major League Baseball. He served as the general manager of the San Diego Padres from 1995 to 2009 and for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2010 to 2014. Early ...

. He became a vice president of scouting and player development. The Padres fired Fuson after the 2009 season, when they hired

Jed Hoyer Jed Hoyer (born December 7, 1973) is the president of baseball operations of the Chicago Cubs. He has been the general manager of the San Diego Padres and the assistant general manager of the Boston Red Sox. Early and personal life Hoyer was bor ...

as their general manager. In 2010, he returned to Oakland as an adviser on scouting and player development. In 2017, Fuson won the

Sheldon "Chief" Bender Sheldon "Chief" Bender (November 25, 1919 – February 27, 2008) was an American player and manager in minor league baseball and a scout, scouting director and farm system director in Major League Baseball who spent 64 years in the game. Bender i ...

Award, given for service in player development, and the Scout of the Year Award, presented annually at the

Winter Meetings Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...

Personal life

Fuson was portrayed in '' Moneyball'' by

Ken Medlock Kennard Medlock (born October 31, 1949) is an American character actor and former baseball player known for his role in ''Moneyball''. As a player, Medlock was a pitcher for the Decatur Commodores The Decatur Commodores were a professional ...

. In the movie, Oakland Athletics’ General Manager

Billy Beane William Lamar Beane III (born March 29, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player and current front office executive. He is the executive vice president of baseball operations and minority owner of the Oakland Athletics of Majo ...

fires Fuson, though in reality, Fuson appreciated Beane's approach and left for Texas voluntarily.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuson, Grady Living people 1956 births Baseball players from San Diego Baseball infielders Puget Sound Loggers baseball players Salem Senators players Minor league baseball managers Oakland Athletics scouts Texas Rangers executives San Diego Padres executives 20th-century American people 21st-century American people University of Puget Sound alumni Kearny High School (California) alumni