Fred Claire, the longtime Los Angeles Dodgers executive who helped build the club’s iconic image and later assembled the roster that captured the 1988 World Series, has died at 91.
Claire died Monday in Pasadena, California, on his 91st birthday, the Dodgers announced Tuesday. He had recently entered hospice care.
His remarkable run with the organization spanned three decades, taking him from the press box to the front office and eventually to the general manager’s chair of one of Major League Baseball’s most storied franchises.
Claire had also spent years battling cancer.
He was diagnosed with squamous cell skin cancer on his lip in January 2015 at age 80. The cancer later returned in his jaw and neck, leading to surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and immunotherapy during an 11-year fight.
“Fred brought many victories and Dodger legends to our franchise, as well as the 1988 World Series title,” team president and CEO Stan Kasten said in a statement, “and we are forever grateful for his leadership during such a memorable era.”
Claire’s career with the Dodgers began almost by accident.
While covering the team during spring training in Florida for the Long Beach Press-Telegram in 1969, Claire learned that one of the club’s public relations assistants had been fired.
He expressed interest in the opening and was hired that July.
By 1975, Claire had risen to vice president of public relations and promotions.
He became instrumental in shaping the Dodgers’ public identity, including the Dodger Blue branding and the Think Blue campaign.
During that era, Los Angeles became the first Major League Baseball team to draw more than 3 million fans in a season, reaching 3.3 million in 1978.
Claire was also responsible for one of Dodger Stadium’s most memorable patriotic moments.
In 1976, Chicago Cubs outfielder Rick Monday ran onto the field and snatched an American flag away from two spectators who were attempting to burn it.
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Claire instructed the stadium message board operator to display: “Rick Monday……You Made a Great Play”
Claire’s role changed dramatically in 1987 after general manager Al Campanis was fired following controversial remarks on ABC’s “Nightline.”
“I couldn’t believe what I was reading,” Claire later wrote in his 2004 memoir.
Reflecting on Campanis, Claire wrote: “Those who knew Al expressed shock. There had never been a hint of bigotry in anything he had ever said or done,” Claire wrote. “In my view, what Al had attempted to do that night was to defend his beloved game of baseball in an area where there was no defense.”
Team owner Peter O’Malley then handed Claire control of baseball operations.
Claire accepted on the condition that he would have full responsibility for the team.
The Hall of Fame remembers longtime executive Fred Claire, who passed away Monday on his 91st birthday.
Claire spent 30 years in the Dodgers’ front office and built the club that won the 1988 World Series title. https://t.co/sU9llYwYfI
— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum(@baseballhall) October 6, 2026
His first season as general manager was rocky, with the Dodgers finishing 73-89 in 1987.
But one year later, Claire engineered the season that defined his front-office career.
He signed Kirk Gibson in January 1988, a move that helped transform the Dodgers into champions.
Los Angeles stunned the heavily favored Oakland Athletics in five games to win the World Series.
Gibson provided the defining moment in Game 1 when, despite being injured, he came off the bench and crushed a two-run homer off Dennis Eckersley in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Dodgers a 5-4 victory.
Claire was named baseball’s executive of the year.
“Fred was a talented team player and everyone in the organization enjoyed working with him,” O’Malley said in a statement.
Claire made a number of deals that helped shape the 1988 title team, bringing players including John Shelby, Tim Belcher, Alfredo Griffin, Jay Howell, Jesse Orosco and John Tudor to Los Angeles.
He also acquired future Hall of Famer Eddie Murray twice.
Not every move worked out.
Claire later acknowledged regretting the trade that sent Pedro Martinez to the Montreal Expos. Martinez went on to become one of the greatest pitchers of his generation.
Claire’s tenure with the Dodgers came to an end after the O’Malley family sold the franchise to Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Entertainment Group in 1998.
Two months after the sale, future Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza was traded to the Florida Marlins in a blockbuster deal completed without Claire’s knowledge.
“The seven-player trade was, first and foremost, a television deal. The new team owner simply did not understand the structure of a baseball team and the importance of a franchise player,” Claire wrote. “My reaction to the trade cost me my position with the Dodgers.”
Claire and manager Bill Russell were fired on June 21, 1998.
He never again held a full-time position in baseball, but he remained deeply connected to the sport through writing, radio, consulting and teaching.
Claire taught sports business courses at Caltech, the University of Southern California and Long Beach State.
Born Fredic Marston Claire on Oct. 5, 1935, in Jamestown, Ohio, he grew up attending Cincinnati Reds games with his family before moving to California as a teenager.
He later earned a journalism degree from San Jose State University and began his career as a sports writer earning $65 a week.
That path eventually led him to the Dodgers, where he went from covering the team to helping run it.
Claire is survived by his wife, Sheryl, and his children, Jeff, Jennifer and Kim.
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