BOSTON — Larry Lucchino, the former president and CEO of the Boston Red Sox, has died at the age of 78.
Lucchino served in that president and CEO role with the Red Sox from 2002-15, joining the organization alongside Tom Werner as part of John Henry’s ownership group. The group delivered World Series titles in 2004 (ending an 86-year championship drought), 2007 and 2013.
In 2015, Lucchino joined a group that bought the Worcester Red Sox, becoming the chairman and principal owner of the team.
Prior to joining the Red Sox, Lucchino was the president of the Baltimore Orioles from 1988-93 and was the president and CEO of the San Diego Padres from 1995-2001. Lucchino met intern Theo Epstein while with the Orioles and hired him in San Diego before hiring Epstein as the Red Sox’ general manager in 2002. During his time with the Red Sox, he famously referred to the Yankees as “the evil empire” in 2002, a nickname that stuck for years.
A member of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame, Lucchino played in the Final Four with Princeton in 1967.
Lucchino was treated at the Dana-Farber Institute in the mid-1980s for non-Hodgkins lymphoma, He also was treated for prostate cancer in 1999 and kidney cancer in 2019. In 2016, he was appointed chairman of The Jimmy Fund while also being named president/CEO emeritus for the Red Sox.
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