Ken Kendrick

Earl G. "Ken" Kendrick Jr. is a baseball executive with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He became part-owner with the team's inception in 1995 and Managing General Partner in 2004, replacing Jerry Colangelo after a lengthy disagreement over Colangelo's role with the franchise he founded; Kendrick sought to reestablish fiscal discipline and profitability after the club's high expenses for player salaries (which arguably helped the club win the 2001 World Series) exceeded the initial capital investment by the members of the ownership group.

Kendrick was born in Princeton, West Virginia and graduated from West Virginia University in 1965. He was the founder of Datatel, Inc., a software development company, and served as a banking industry executive in Texas in the 1980's and 1990's; in 1989 he was an investor in Texas-based Woodforest National Bank.

Kendrick is also a major booster of WVU football. After the controversial departure of head coach Rich Rodriguez to the University of Michigan, Kendrick was outspoken in his support for Rodriguez and was one of the first people critical of the subsequent hire of Bill Stewart. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3178538 ESPN - In Stewart, WVU's successor to Rodriguez right under their nose - College Football ] ] Ironically, it was Kendrick who insisted on the $4 million buyout to be included in Rich Rodriguez's contract.

References

External links

* [http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/ari/history/owners.jsp List of Arizona Diamondbacks owners ]

* [http://alumni.wvu.edu/awards/academy/2005/earl_kendrick Kendrick's bio on WVU alumni website]