MLB News: Executive Who Won World Series in Oakland, St. Louis, Passes Away

Walt Jocketty, a baseball executive who won World Series championships with the Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals, died. He was 74.

Jocketty was the Cardinals' general manager from Oct. 1994 to Oct. 2007. He built the team that won the World Series in 2006, and won six division titles along the way.

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Originally hired by Oakland in 1980, he ascended the front office ranks to Director of Baseball Administration, the position he held as the A's reached the World Series in 1988, 1989 and 1990.

In Oct. 1995, Jocketty hired Tony La Russa, whom he had worked with in Oakland, to manage in St. Louis. Within a decade, the Cardinals returned to the World Series for the first time since 1987. Their 2006 championship ended a 24-year-long drought.

While general manager in St. Louis, Jocketty was named MLB's Executive of the Year by The Sporting News in 2000 and 2004, and by Baseball America in 2000. In 2004, he also received the Rube Foster Legacy Award from the Negro Hall of Fame as National League Executive of the Year.

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After Jocketty was fired by the Cardinals after the 2007 season, the Cincinnati Reds hired him the following year to advise their President and CEO, Bob Castellini.

In April 2008, Jocketty was promoted to president of baseball operations and general manager, titles he held in Cincinnati until Dec. 2016.

The Reds won two division titles, ending a 15-year drought, during Jocketty's tenure. Their 2012 National League Central title is still the most recent for the franchise.

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After the 2016 season, Jocketty continued to serve the Reds as Executive Assistant to the CEO. This season marked his 50th year in professional baseball.

"Awful news, RIP to Walt Jocketty," wrote former major league first baseman Yonder Alonso on Twitter/X. "My first GM in professional baseball. Who treated me with all the class and respect. Thank you Walt for what you did to this game. A true Legend in Baseball."

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jocketty is survived by his wife, Sue, and their two children, Ashley and Joe. Joe Jocketty is a professional scout for the Cincinnati Reds.

"You would have to look long and hard to find someone that doesn't like and respect Walt Jocketty, and there's a difference," La Russa told the New York Times in 2010. "People like him because he's a good man, but they respect him because he's honest. The reason he makes deals is he isn't hiding information. Both sides prospect and want to make another deal."

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