Doug Melvin | |
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Melvin in 2010.
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Born |
Chatham, Ontario |
August 8, 1952
Nationality | Canadian |
Known for | Baseball, former general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, currently President of Baseball Operations Milwaukee Brewers |
Douglas Robert Melvin (born August 8, 1952 ) is a Canadian front-office executive in Major League Baseball who served as the general manager of the Texas Rangers and Milwaukee Brewers of the American League and National League He held the position with Milwaukee from 2002 to 2015. He is currently a senior advisor for the Milwaukee Brewers.
A former minor-league pitcher who played in the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees farm systems from 1972–78, Melvin began his front office career with the Yankees as an assistant scouting director, then spent nearly a decade (1987–94) as assistant general manager and director of player development of the Baltimore Orioles. In his first general manager posting, with the Texas Rangers from 1994–2001, the Rangers qualified for the postseason three times—the only times the franchise had done so to that point in its history. Melvin spent the 2002 season as a consultant for the Boston Red Sox before taking the reins in Milwaukee.
On September 26, 2002, Melvin became general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. In 2007, he ended the franchise's 15-year streak of losing seasons when the Brewers finished above .500, although a late-season slide eliminated them from the NL Central and wild-card races. In 2008, Melvin moved the Brewers into Wild Card and, briefly, NL Central contention with his bold, mid-season pickup of pitcher CC Sabathia, but another late-season losing streak, which left the Brewers out of contention for their division title and tied for the NL Wild Card, caused Melvin and club owner Mark Attanasio to fire manager Ned Yost with 12 games left in the regular season. Melvin and Attanasio named the Brewers' third base coach Dale Sveum the interim manager for the regular season's final 12 games, and the Brewers clinched the National League Wild Card on the last day of the season, giving the team its first playoff berth since 1982.