Joe Klein (baseball executive)
| Joe Klein | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Joseph Anthony Klein III August 22, 1942 Baltimore, Maryland |
| Died | August 23, 2017 (aged 75) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Cause of death | Quadruple bypass surgery |
| Occupation | Baseball executive |
Joseph Anthony Klein III (August 22, 1942 – August 23, 2017) was an American professional baseball executive. At the time of his death, Klein was the executive director of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent circuit that operates in the Northeast United States. Klein was a farm director, scouting director, and general manager in Major League Baseball from 1976 through 1995.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. During his playing career, Klein was a minor league first baseman in the Washington Senators farm system from 1962 to 1968. A left-handed batter and thrower, he hit .278 in 1,733 at bats. After retiring from the field, he spent 16 years as a minor league manager and front office executive with the franchise, beginning in 1969 when it was still the expansion edition of the Senators, and continuing after it became the Texas Rangers in 1972.
He managed farm clubs in the Class A Western Carolinas League and Carolina League, the Double-A Eastern League (where his 1973 Pittsfield Rangers club won a division championship) and the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League between 1969 and 1978. In 1976, Klein also added the title of assistant farm system director of the Rangers, and was promoted to head of its farm system and then director, player procurement and development, between 1978 and 1982.
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