Kevin Scott Towers (November 11, 1961 – January 30, 2018) was an American 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), ...

. He served as the

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

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

from 1995 to 2009 and for 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 f ...

from 2010 to 2014.

Early life and education

Towers attended

North Medford High School North Medford High School is a public high school in Medford, Oregon, United States. It is part of Medford School District, and its nickname is the Black Tornado. The school enrolls 1,750 students. History Originally the City of Medford had ...

Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824 and a metropolitan area population of 223,259, making the Me ...

, where he played baseball, football, and basketball. He graduated in 1979.

Playing career

Towers began his

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 ...

career for

MiraCosta College MiraCosta College is a public community college serving coastal North San Diego County in California with two campuses, one in eastern Oceanside and the other in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, and many satellite locations, including the Community Learnin ...

. He transferred to

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

(BYU), where he played for the

BYU Cougars baseball The BYU Cougars baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, United States. The team is a member of the West Coast Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's ...

team in the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

(WAC) for one year. As a

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 ...

, Towers was selected to the All-WAC team. The

selected him in the first round of the secondary phase of the

1982 Major League Baseball Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1982 Major League Baseball Draft. Compensation Picks Other notable players *David Wells†, 2nd round, 30th overall by the Toronto Blue Jays * Allan Anderson, 2nd rou ...

, and he was named a

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

all-star in 1984. Towers pitched in Minor League Baseball in San Diego's

farm system 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 ...

for seven years. Overall, he had a 29–40

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

and a 4.64

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 ...

in 619

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

, including 82

games started In baseball statistics, games started (denoted by GS) indicates the number of games that a pitcher has started for his team. A pitcher is credited with starting the game if he throws the first pitch to the first opposing batter. If a player is lis ...

Post-playing career

Continuing his career in baseball, Towers became a pitching coach for minor league Single-A

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Color ...

in 1989 and 1990. He served as a

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 ...

for the Padres from 1989 through 1991 and for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

from 1991 through 1993. Towers rejoined the Padres as scouting director in 1993. Towers became the Padres' seventh general manager in 1995, succeeding Randy Smith. As GM, Towers led the Padres to four division championships and an appearance in the

1998 World Series The 1998 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1998 season. The 94th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion New York Yankees and the National Le ...

. In November 1998 after the Padres' World Series appearance, San Diego voters approved funding to build the team's new stadium,

Petco Park Petco Park is a baseball stadium in Downtown San Diego, California. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres, and has also been used as a venue for concerts, soccer, golf, and rugby. The ballpark is located between Se ...

. The Padres also finished last in their division five times. Towers was known for his ability to find talented pitchers that many other teams had released. On October 3, 2009, the Padres fired Towers after two disappointing seasons. Towers joined 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 ...

as a special assignment scout for the 2010 season. On September 22, 2010, the

hired Towers as their general manager. In his first season at the helm of the Diamondbacks' baseball operations, the team won 94 games and the

National League West The National League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed for the 1969 season when the National League expanded to 12 teams by adding the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos. For purpose of keeping a re ...

Division title just one season after finishing in last place with 97 losses. Following the 2013 season, Towers fired his pitching coach,

Charles Nagy Charles Harrison Nagy (born May 5, 1967) is an American former Major League Baseball All-Star right-handed pitcher who played for 14 seasons in the major leagues from to . He played for the Cleveland Indians and San Diego Padres. He served as th ...

, partly for refusing to instruct pitchers to hit players on opposing teams, saying, "while in the old days this was known, now you have to teach it." It was duly noted by journalists that the Diamondbacks pitchers hit 60 batters last season, while their batters were hit only 43 times. On May 17, 2014, the Diamondbacks hired

Tony La Russa Anthony La Russa Jr. (; born October 4, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. His MLB career has spanned from 1963 to 2022, in several roles. He is the former manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland At ...

to oversee Towers and all baseball operations. The Diamondbacks dismissed Towers from the general manager position on September 5, while offering him another position in the organization, which he declined. In 2015, he joined 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 ...

as a scout and special assistant to the 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 ...

Death

Towers was diagnosed with cancer in 2016. He died of anaplastic thyroid cancer on January 30, 2018, at a hospital in San Diego. He was elected posthumously into the

San Diego Padres Hall of Fame The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team in Major League Baseball (MLB) based in San Diego, California. The club was founded in 1969 as part of the 1969 Major League Baseball expansion, league's expansion. The team's hall of ...

, and was inducted on May 12, 2018, as part of a week-long celebration of the Padres' 1998 National League championship team.

References

External links

Baseball America Executive Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Towers, Kevin 1961 births 2018 deaths Arizona Diamondbacks executives Baseball players from Oregon Beaumont Golden Gators players BYU Cougars baseball players Charleston Rainbows players Cincinnati Reds scouts Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from thyroid cancer Las Vegas Stars (baseball) players Major League Baseball general managers MiraCosta Spartans baseball players New York Yankees executives Pittsburgh Pirates scouts Reno Padres players San Diego Padres executives San Diego Padres scouts Spokane Indians players Sportspeople from Medford, Oregon Walla Walla Padres players