Joseph John Buzas (October 2, 1918 – March 19, 2003)Joseph J. Buzas obituary
The

Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History A ...

(21 March 2003)

Legacy.com Legacy.com is a United States-based website founded in 1998, the world's largest commercial provider of online memorials. The Web site hosts obituaries and memorials for more than 70 percent of all U.S. deaths.Keagle, Lauri Harvey"Death in the D ...

was 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 ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

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 o ...

, executive and entrepreneur. He appeared in 30

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

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), ...

as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

and

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

in during his ten-year active career before becoming an owner of minor league baseball franchises in 1958. Buzas would own and operate 82 minor-league clubs over the next 45 years, and was the owner and

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the Salt Lake Stingers at the time of his death. In 1975, he was presented with the King of Baseball award given by Minor League Baseball. Buzas was born in Alpha, New Jersey and attended Phillipsburg High School.Joe Buzas

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

. Accessed September 1, 2020. "He was a three-sport star at Phillipsburg (New Jersey) High School, where he was the baseball team’s captain and leading hitter." As a student at

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...

he was a standout in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, baseball and

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

. He began his pro baseball career with the Yankees' organization in 1941. Buzas batted and threw right-handed and was listed as tall and . He made it to the major leagues in 1945, the final year of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

manpower shortage; during his 30-game trial, he had 17

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, with two doubles, one triple, six

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

, two

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s, and a .262 batting average. A shoulder injury shortened his playing career, and Buzas briefly became a player-manager in the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

' organization before going into private business in 1951. In 1958, at age 39, he began his ownership career by taking over the moribund

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franchise in the Class A Eastern League. Moving it to

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

, he signed a working agreement with the

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 eight ...

and began a long association that would see Buzas operate Bosox farm clubs at the Class A, Double-A and Triple-A levels over the next 35 years. Notably, he founded the Pawtucket Red Sox in 1970 by moving his

Pittsfield Red Sox The Pittsfield Red Sox was the name of an American minor league baseball franchise based in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, from 1965 through 1969. It was the Double-A Eastern League affiliate in the Boston Red Sox farm system and produced future Maj ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

, and was the PawSox' first chief executive when they became a Triple-A franchise in 1973. He also owned and operated affiliates of other major-league teams beginning in 1967. He moved west in 1986 when he acquired the Portland Beavers of the Triple-A

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. After relocating the Beavers to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

in 1994, his Salt Lake Buzz led the PCL in attendance for their first six years. In 1996, his team received the John H. Johnson President's Award, given each year to the top minor league franchise.

References

External links

Marc Z. Aaron, ''Joe Buzas,''

Biography Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Buzas, Joe 1918 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople Akron Yankees players Baseball players from New Jersey Binghamton Triplets players Bucknell Bison baseball players Bucknell Bison football players Bucknell Bison men's basketball players Bucknell University alumni Businesspeople from New Jersey Major League Baseball shortstops Minor league baseball executives Minor league baseball managers Newark Bears (IL) players New York Yankees players Norfolk Tars players Pawtucket Red Sox People from Alpha, New Jersey Phillipsburg High School (New Jersey) alumni Seattle Rainiers players Sportspeople from Warren County, New Jersey Sunbury Reds players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Trenton Packers players Utica Blue Sox players