Andy MacPhail (born April 5, 1953) is the former president of baseball operations for the Baltimore Orioles. He was the president/CEO of the National League Chicago Cubs from September 9, 1994 until October 1, 2006. He won two World Series championships as general manager of the Minnesota Twins (1987, 1991).
Hired on June 20, 2007, he was named the President of Baseball Operations of the Baltimore Orioles by owner Peter Angelos.
On October 7, 2011, the Baltimore Sun reported that he was leaving the Orioles. His contract with the Orioles expired on October 31, 2011.
He is the son of former American League president Lee MacPhail, and the grandson of Larry MacPhail, the only father-and-son members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Andy's uncle, Bill MacPhail (Lee MacPhail's brother), was President of CBS Sports and later was President of CNN Sports, brought on by Ted Turner to create the department upon the network's launch. Andy MacPhail graduated with a degree in American Studies from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity and a somewhat decent player on an otherwise undistinguished Division III baseball team.
Alexander Emmanuel "Alex" Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975) is an American professional baseball third baseman with the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. Known popularly by his nickname A-Rod, he previously played shortstop for the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers.
Rodriguez is considered one of the best all-around baseball players of all time. He is the youngest player ever to hit 500 home runs, breaking the record Jimmie Foxx set in 1939, and the youngest to hit 600, besting Babe Ruth's record by over a year. Rodriguez has fourteen 100-RBI seasons in his career, more than any other player in history. On September 24, 2010, Rodriguez hit two home runs, surpassing Sammy Sosa's mark of 609 HRs, and became the all-time leader in home runs by a player of Hispanic descent.
In December 2007, Rodriguez and the Yankees agreed to a 10-year, $275 million contract. This contract was the richest contract in baseball history (breaking his previous record of $252 million).
In February 2009, after previously denying use of performance-enhancing drugs, including during a 2007 interview with Katie Couric on 60 Minutes, Rodriguez admitted to using steroids, saying he used them from 2001 to 2003 when playing for the Texas Rangers due to what he called "an enormous amount of pressure" to perform.
William Nathaniel "Buck" Showalter III (born May 23, 1956) is an American Major League Baseball (MLB) manager for the Baltimore Orioles. He has previously served in a similar capacity with the New York Yankees (1992–1995), Arizona Diamondbacks (1998–2000), and Texas Rangers (2003–2006). He was formerly a professional baseball player and a television analyst for ESPN.
A two-time American League (AL) Manager of the Year, Showalter has earned a reputation for building baseball teams into postseason contenders in short periods of time. He helped the Yankees rise from the bottom half of the AL East to first place before a players' strike prematurely ended the 1994 campaign. Under his watch, the Diamondbacks made their first-ever playoff appearance in only its second year of existence. He would leave both franchises just prior to seasons when they won the World Series.
Showalter, who was born in DeFuniak Springs, Florida, on May 23, 1956, grew up in nearby Century. His father, William Nathaniel II, served 23 years as a teacher and principal at Century High School, from which the younger Showalter eventually graduated. Before becoming a teacher, his father had been a Little All-American fullback in 1940 at Milligan College, and had considered a career in the National Football League with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but chose to become a high school coach and teacher instead.
John Rikard Dempsey (born September 13, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player. He played for 24 seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1969 to 1992, most notably for the Baltimore Orioles. Dempsey was known for being one of the best defensive catchers of his era.
Dempsey was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 15th round of the 1967 Major League Baseball Draft out of Crespi Carmelite High School. After two seasons in the minor leagues, he made his major league debut late in the 1969 season for the pennant-winning Twins managed by Billy Martin, however he didn't qualify for the post-season roster. Dempsey spent a few more seasons shuttling between the Twins and their minor league teams, before being traded to the New York Yankees in October 1972. During his tenure with the Yankees, he served as a reserve catcher to Thurman Munson, and received tutoring from Yankees coach and former catching standout, Jim Hegan. After three and a half seasons with the Yankees, he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in June 1976, where manager Earl Weaver made him the Orioles' starting catcher.
Gary Thorne (born June 9, 1948, in Bangor, Maine) is a play-by-play announcer for ESPN and ABC, working National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, college football, and the Frozen Four hockey tournament. He is also the television play-by-play announcer for the Baltimore Orioles and the Professional Bowler's Association.
After graduating from the University of Maine in 1970, University of Maine School of Law in 1973, and Georgetown Law School in 1976 (while paying tuition as a sportscaster/disc jockey), Thorne became Penobscot County assistant district attorney and joined the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court. But eventually, Thorne found courtrooms dull when compared to broadcasting.
Thorne's son-in-law, Damian DiGiulian, is a former assistant coach for the University of Vermont hockey team; Maine (Thorne's alma mater) and Vermont are rivals in the Hockey East conference of Division I hockey. DiGiulian is now a color commentator for ESPNU's college hockey broadcasts.
By 1984, Thorne had enough leverage with baseball's Triple-A Maine Guides to name himself a co-owner.