Fred Claire
| Fred Claire | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Fred Claire October 5, 1935 Jamestown, Ohio |
| Nationality | USA |
| Alma mater | El Camino College |
| Occupation | Vice-President/General Manager |
| Years active | 1987-1998 |
| Employer | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Predecessor | Al Campanis |
| Successor | Tommy Lasorda |
| Spouse(s) | Sheryl Claire |
Fred Claire (born October 5, 1935 in Jamestown, OH) is a former major league baseball executive who served in numerous roles for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1969–1998 including the role of general manager from 1987 to 1998.
Claire was born on October 5, 1935 in Jamestown, Ohio. His father owned and operated a drugstore. Claire has one brother and a sister. In 1950, Marston and Mary Francis Claire moved their family to Torrance, CA, a suburb of Los Angeles. Fred graduated from Torrance High School, then obtained his bachelor's degree in journalism from San Jose State University. He holds an Associate of Arts degree from Mt. San Antonio College and has been honored by the college as an outstanding alumnus. He also attended El Camino College, located in Torrance. While at El Camino, he had a paper published in Baseball Magazine called "Make Way for the Coast League" which discussed baseball on the west coast and turning the Pacific Coast League into a Major League.
Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s, Claire worked as a sports editor/sports writer for the Whittier Daily News, the Pomona Progress-Bulletin, and the Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram. He married and had three children, Jen, Jeff, and Kim.
In the spring of 1969, Fred was assigned to cover the Dodgers during spring training in Vero Beach, FL for the Press-Telegram. During the season, one of the assistants in the public relations department for the Dodgers was fired. Claire expressed his interest in the position to Dodger executives and was hired in July 1969. He worked in that same position until 1975 when his boss, Dodgers vice president of public relations, Red Patterson, left to work for the California Angels. Claire moved into Patterson's position. During his time as VP of Public Relations, he was instrumental in creating the branding that came to be known as "Dodger blue" and the subsequent "Think Blue" campaign and also the hiring of announcer Ross Porter. Porter would remain a Dodger announcer from 1977 until 2004.
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