Daniel Francis O'Brien Sr. (March 26, 1929 – January 16, 2017) 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.
Moder ...
executive who 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 ...
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...
and
California Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...
of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...
and graduated from
Florida Southern College
Florida Southern College (Florida Southern, Southern or FSC) is a private college in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. It offers undergraduate, gradua ...
, where he played varsity baseball and
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 (appro ...
. He served in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
during the
Korean War
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
and was discharged in 1954.
O'Brien was a general manager in
Minor League Baseball
Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...
during 1955–1963 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...
and
Milwaukee Braves
The Milwaukee Braves were a Major League Baseball club that played in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1953 to 1965, having previously played in Boston, Massachusetts, as the Boston Braves. After relocating to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1966 they were rename ...
organizations, then spent another nine years (1964–1972) as the chief assistant to Phil Piton and
Hank Peters
Henry John Peters (September 16, 1924 – January 4, 2015) was an American professional baseball executive who held senior management positions for the Kansas City Athletics, Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball betwee ...
, presidents at the time of the
National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues
Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...
(NAPBL), the governing body of the minor leagues.
O'Brien came to the major leagues when he joined the Texas Rangers as a vice president during the 1973 season, and was promoted to general manager of the Rangers on September 2 of that year; he would continue in that post through 1978, although he shared power with co-general manager Eddie Robinson in both 1977 and 1978. In 1979, O'Brien became president of the
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...
, then in their third year as an
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...
expansion team, and he added the general manager title to his duties during 1981–1983, replacing
Lou Gorman
James Gerald "Lou" Gorman (February 18, 1929 – April 1, 2011) was an American baseball executive, and the former general manager of the Seattle Mariners and Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. He spent more than three decades in baseball op ...
. He left Seattle in October 1983 and joined the front office of the
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...
in 1986, working with Peters again as his top assistant during 1987–1989. O'Brien then moved to the
California Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...
as top aide to general manager
Mike Port
Michael D. Port (born July 24, 1945) is an American former professional baseball executive. He was vice president of umpiring for Major League Baseball (MLB) from August 2005 through March 2011. He previously served as a front-office executive fo ...
, and then succeeded Port as the team's GM from the close of the 1991 season through 1993. He was replaced by
Whitey Herzog
Dorrel Norman Elvert "Whitey" Herzog (; November 9, 1931 – April 15, 2024) was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager, most notable for his Major League Baseball (MLB) managerial career.
Herzog made his major league debut a ...
at the end of the 1993 campaign.
Of O'Brien's three major league teams, only the Rangers of the late 1970s experienced sustained success, contending for, but never winning, the
American League West
The American League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The division has five teams as of the 2013 season, but had four teams from 1994 to 2012, and had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams cu ...
division title. The Mariners climbed to the middle of the pack in the AL West in 1982, then fell into the basement with 102 losses in O'Brien's last year. In Anaheim, O'Brien inherited a .500 team, but the Angels lost 90 games in 1992 and 91 games during the 1993 season.
His son and namesake, Dan O'Brien Jr., served as general manager of the
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...
during 2003–2006.
O'Brien died on January 16, 2017, in
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
,
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
, at the age of 87.Obituary ''Star Telegram''. Retrieved on January 18, 2017.