George Earl Murray Cook (born December 6, 1940) is a Canadian
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 former front office executive in
Major League Baseball. He was the
general manager of three MLB teams: the
New York Yankees (1981–84); the
Montreal Expos (1984–87); and 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 ...
(1988–1990).
Pirates and Yankees
Cook began his baseball career as an infielder in 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 ...
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 ...
in 1962. He then became 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 ...
and farm system administrator, serving Pittsburgh as assistant director of
Minor League
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...
operations (1972–77), then director of scouting (1977–79). He was named the Yankees' scouting director in January 1980.
Yankees
Cook was promoted to general manager of the New York Yankees on June 30, 1981 after Bill Bergesch was hired by
Bob Howsam to be GM of 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 ...
. With manager
Billy Martin at the helm the whole1983 season, the team showed a marked improvement, posting a 91-71 record, good for third place. However,
George Steinbrenner fired Martin for the third time after the season, and brought in
Yogi Berra as the new manager for 1984. Cook had little say in these matters. Murray Cook earned Steinbrenner's wrath when 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 ...
selected pitcher
Tim Belcher from the Yankees in the free agent compensation draft on February 8, 1984. Belcher had been the first player selected in the 1983 amateur draft but had refused to sign with the
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
at the time; the Yankees had scored a coup by selecting him in the secondary phase of the January 1984 amateur draft and signing him to a contract a few days later. However, they had already submitted their list of protected players for the free agent draft and were unable to add the newly signed Belcher, leading to his selection by the Athletics. A furious Steinbrenner reduced Cook's responsibilities, leaving a void in the front office until he named
Clyde King as his replacement on April 9. Cook inherited the title of Vice-President and Director of Scouting in the shuffle, as Steinbrenner stated that "I take the blame of asking a young man to move too fast too soon". He stayed in that role for a few months until he submitted his resignation on August 20, 1984, explaining that he wanted to have a decision-making role again.
Expos
On August 30, the Montreal Expos fired manager
Bill Virdon, followed five days later by general manager
John McHale. Cook was hired on September 5. His first action after taking over was to hire
Buck Rodgers, who had just won the Minor League Manager of the Year Award by leading the Expos' AAA farm team, the
Indianapolis Indians
The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...
to a 91-63 record and the
American Association championship.
Due to a tight budget set by the Expos ownership, Cook had to rely on trades instead of signing free agents. He traded away
Gary Carter
Gary Edmund Carter (April 8, 1954 – February 16, 2012) was an American professional baseball catcher whose 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career was spent primarily with the Montreal Expos and New York Mets.
Nicknamed "the Kid" for his y ...
,
Bill Gullickson, and
Jeff Reardon in order to acquire promising minor league talent. He became known for picking up prospects that other teams were willing to discard, such as
Dennis Martínez and
Pascual Pérez. He also used the
Rule 5 draft to acquire
Jeff Parrett
Jeffrey Dale Parrett (born August 26, 1961) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the Montreal Expos (1986–88), Philadelphia Phillies (1989–90 and 1996), Atlanta Braves (1990–91), Oakland Athletics (1992) ...
.
Scandal
On August 11, 1987, the Expos called a hasty press conference to announce Cook had been fired and Vice-President for Baseball Administration
Bill Stoneman was taking over as general manager. Over the next few weeks, rumours began circulating that the firing was not for baseball reasons. In fact, Cook had been dismissed for having an affair with
Pamela Brochu, wife of Expos President and CEO
Claude Brochu. Cook broke up with his wife of many years to marry his former boss's wife.
Reds
After the 1986 season, Cook was hired to replace Bill Bergesch, the same man he had replaced in New York, as GM of the Cincinnati Reds. They finished second in 1988 and won three more games than the previous season. However, in 1989 the Reds fell to fifth due to the turmoil surrounding manager
Pete Rose being banned from baseball. Cook was replaced by
Bob Quinn after the season. The year after Cook was let go, the Reds won the
World Series.
Later career
From 2002 through 2006, Cook was a major league
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
Boston Red Sox, joining Boston after nearly a decade as a scout for the
Florida Marlins. Since the season, he has been the East Coast regional crosschecker for the
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
.
On Saturday June 21, 2014, Cook was inducted into the
Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, in St. Marys, Ontario, along with former Montreal Expos announcer
Dave Van Horne and their popular long time slugging outfielder
Tim Wallach.
References
*
Baseball America
''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...
Executive Database
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Murray
1940 births
Living people
Batavia Pirates players
Boston Red Sox scouts
Canadian baseball players
Cincinnati Reds executives
Detroit Tigers scouts
Gastonia Pirates players
Major League Baseball scouting directors
Major League Baseball general managers
Miami Marlins scouts
Montreal Expos executives
New York Yankees executives
People from Sackville, New Brunswick
Pittsburgh Pirates executives
Pittsburgh Pirates scouts
Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductees