Dan O'Dowd

Dan O'Dowd has served as the General Manager of the Colorado Rockies since September 20, 1999. Before being hired by the Rockies, he spent 15 years working for the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians, working his way from Accounts Manager to Director of Baseball Operations / Assistant General Manager.^[1]

O'Dowd was raised in Montville, New Jersey.^[2]

The results of O'Dowd's GM career have been mixed. Upon taking over the team, he traded fading stars Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla, and Darryl Kile, opting to build a team around pitching, speed and defense. The following season, after a surprising 82-80 run, O'Dowd signed pitchers Denny Neagle and Mike Hampton to long-term contracts. The acquisitions turned out to be disastrous for the club and were two of the worst free-agency signings in baseball history.^[3] Afterwards, O'Dowd attempted to shed salary and build a foundation of young talent around franchise cornerstone Todd Helton. Under his watch, the team developed everyday players such as Matt Holliday, Troy Tulowitzki, Jeff Francis, and Ubaldo Jimenez.

The 2007 season was arguably the most surprising run by any Rockies team, as the team won 21 of their last 22 games to make it to a tiebreaker against the San Diego Padres. The Rockies, who were making their first playoff appearance in 12 years, swept both the Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks en route to the 2007 World Series, before losing to the Boston Red Sox. O'Dowd was rewarded with a contract extension following the team's successful playoff run. Under O'Dowd's leadership, the Rockies have managed four winning seasons and an overall record of 852-931 as of the 2010 season.

References

1. ^ http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/execdb/showperson.php?idx=O'DowDa01&fname=Dan&lname=O'Dowd
2. ^ Klis, Mike. "O'Dowd no fan of dollar dominance", The Denver Post, October 22, 2000. Accessed October 24, 2007. "He is an adult now, though, much more objective about the game and no doubt considerably less emotionally attached than his childhood buddies from Montville."
3. ^ Neyer, Rob. Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders (2006), pp. 261-264.

See also

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