- Buddy LeRoux
Edward G. "Buddy" LeRoux Jr. (1930 –
January 7 ,2008 ) was a club owner in AmericanMajor League Baseball . LeRoux, a general partner in theBoston Red Sox from by|1978 through by|1986, became a successful businessman after beginning his sporting career as anathletic trainer for theBoston Celtics ,Boston Bruins and — from 1966 through 1974 — the Red Sox themselves. A native ofWoburn, Massachusetts , LeRoux graduated from Woburn High School andNortheastern University and was a veteran of theUnited States Marine Corps .LeRoux invested in real estate and a series of physical therapy and rehabilitation hospitals during the 1970s and by by|1977 he was a wealthy man — wealthy enough to assemble a group of investors seeking to purchase the Red Sox from
Jean Yawkey , the widow ofTom Yawkey , the team's longtime owner who had died in by|1976. LeRoux recruited Red Sox vice presidentHaywood Sullivan , one of Mrs. Yawkey's favorites among her husband's employees, as a member of his syndicate. In 1978, Mrs. Yawkey herself joined it as well, and when theAmerican League approved the sale, the club had three general partners: LeRoux (in charge of business operations), Sullivan (general manager) and Mrs. Yawkey (club president).But LeRoux and his limited partners grew restive when the Red Sox fell from contention and attendance dropped at
Fenway Park . Part of the club's decline was due to fiscal belt-tightening and refusal to sign free agents, although it was not clear which general partner ordered the policy. In the event, in by|1983, the team suffered its first losing campaign since by|1966. On June 6, 1983, at a night benefitting former Red Sox starTony Conigliaro , incapacitated at age 37 by a heart attack, LeRoux took advantage of a crowded press box by announcing that he and his limited partners were exercising an option in their partnership agreement to overthrow Sullivan and Yawkey and take command of the club. Boston called it "the Coup LeRoux."The two ousted general partners immediately filed suit against LeRoux, were granted an injunction, and then battled him in court over the next 12 months. The trial revealed unflattering details about all the principals and how the Red Sox were run, and in the end, LeRoux lost. He was removed as the team's vice president, administration, and his allies were purged from management. Within two years, Mrs. Yawkey had bought him out for a reported $7 million [The New York Times, March 31, 1987] to become majority general partner in the team.
LeRoux then largely faded from the public eye, although from 1986-89 he did own Boston's
Suffolk Downs thoroughbred racetrack. By the late 1980s, he had filed assets of $100 million, "including oil wells, greyhound racing dogs and antique cars." [cite web |url=http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2008/01/09/buddy_leroux_was_part_owner_of_sox_real_estate_baron_at_77/ |title=Buddy LeRoux; was part owner of Sox, real estate baron; at 77 |accessdate=2008-01-09 |publisher=Boston Globe |author=Amalie Benjamin |2008-01-09] [cite web |url=http://www.bostonherald.com/news/obituaries/general/view.bg?articleid=1065457 |title=Obit: Edward “Buddy” LeRoux Jr. |accessdate=2008-01-09 |publisher=Boston Herald |2008-01-09] [cite web |url=http://www.legacy.com/BostonGlobe/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=100934673 |title=Obit: Edward “Buddy” LeRoux Jr. |accessdate=2008-01-09 |publisher=Boston Globe |2008-01-09]LeRoux died at age 77 from natural causes in
Wolfeboro, New Hampshire , on January 7, 2008.ee also
References
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