Larry Baer

Larry Baer is one of the most respected visionaries in the U.S. professional sports arena. A fourth-generation San Franciscan, Baer joined the Giants in 1992 after he and Peter Magowan spearheaded the establishment of a new ownership group to ensure that the Giants remained in San Francisco. Initially named the team’s executive vice president, limited partner, and board member of the new ownership group, Baer was appointed CEO of the Giants on January 1, 2012. During his first year as president and CEO, Baer led the Giants to their second World Series Championship victory in three years, followed by a third World Series title in 2014, earning the team three World Series titles in a span of only five years. Under Baer’s leadership, the Giants also developed and built Oracle Park, the first privately financed Major League ballpark in history. Pacific Bell Park (currently known as Oracle Park) opened in 2000 and has been widely praised as one of the “best ballparks ever built.” In 2008, Sports Business Journal selected Oracle Park as its Sports Facility of the Year, and the Giants were named Sports Business Journal’s Professional Sports Organization of the Year in 2011. From 2011 to 2016, the San Francisco Giants enjoyed a sellout streak that spanned 530 games over 6 seasons, setting a National League home sellout record. Baer oversees the Giants’ management and day-to-day operations and negotiates the club’s major transactions and partnerships. During Baer’s three-decade tenure, he has spearheaded such historical transactions as the signing of Barry Bonds in November 1992, the naming rights agreement with AT&T (formerly Pacific Bell) in 1996, and the club’s naming rights agreement with Oracle in 2019. Baer also developed and led the Giants’ strategic partnership agreement with Comcast to launch the NBC Sports Bay Area regional sports network and led the Giants’ effort to host the 2007 All-Star Game in San Francisco. Baer also serves as chairman and CEO of Giants Development Services, which is currently constructing a mixed-use residential development known as Mission Rock at San Francisco’s Pier 48 on a 28-acre site across from Oracle Park. Scheduled for completion in 2025, Mission Rock encompasses more than 8 acres of parks and open space; 1,500 residential units; 250,000 square feet of retail, restaurants, and public amenities; and a parking structure to serve Mission Rock patrons and stadium visitors. It will also include some 1.3 million square feet of office space, which will house companies such as Visa Inc.’s world headquarters. Baer has additionally served on numerous Major League Baseball boards, as chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, and as a member of the Business and Media Board and the International Committee. He is also active on the Board of the San Francisco Committee on Jobs, the Bay Area Council, and NBC Sports Bay Area and is a trustee of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America Pacific Region. In 2016, Baer was appointed by President Barack Obama as a governing board member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, a duty that he recently completed. Baer is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Harvard University Business School. His background prior to the Giants was working in media and communications for Westinghouse Broadcasting and CBS Inc., where he worked as special assistant to Chairman Laurence Tisch. Throughout his career with the Giants, Baer has received a number of prestigious and significant awards. He was named the San Francisco Boys and Girls Clubs Person of the Year in 2010 and was honored as the Harvard Business School’s Alumnus of the Year in 2012. In 2014, Baer received the University of California Berkeley’s Excellence in Achievement award and the Civic Leadership Award. He was again recognized in 2019 with the American Jewish Committee’s Civic Leadership Award and by the University of California Berkeley’s Baseball Foundation with its Excellence in Leadership Award. Baer currently resides in San Francisco with his wife, Pam, and their four children.

Quotes

• “It’s the perfect coming together…a way to pay tribute to Willie, his legacy and his life. Willie always loved kids, and this is a perfect way to embody how he feels about the youth and a perfect way for our organization to create positive change in our community"
  • Giants launch Willie Mays Scholars program to help S.F. kids earn college degrees, ABC 7 News (May 6, 2021)

• “If you're a fan you have two choices. You can sit in a socially distanced section and have your own pod with six feet separation between your pod and the next pod; or you can sit with others and it can be an unlimited number of others in a vaccinated section, so it allows us to have groups, all the groups who want to come back to the ballpark"
  • SF Giants fans 'feel safer' in new vaccinated-only sections at Oracle Park, ABC 7 News (April 23, 2021)

• “Love this Therapy Bunny, we could all use a therapy bunny right about now!"
  • Therapy bunny in Oracle Park stands a hit with San Francisco Giants' fans, ABC 7 News (April 23, 2021)

• “I believe that a solid team is at the center of any successful organization.”
  • Larry Baer - CEO of The San Francisco Giants', Ideamensch (February 4, 2021)

• “There's no pulling back on the drive to be competitive and get back to the World Series."
  • Giants CEO Larry Baer believes prospects' development is key to future, NBC Sports (February 1, 2021)

• "We share our fans’ top priority of health and safety and we are actively planning for the safe re-opening of Oracle Park in 2021."
  • From the desk of Larry Baer — Health and Safety Update, SFGiants MLBlogs (January 25, 2021)

• "We believe there is an opportunity for institutions like the Giants to create a healing function."
  • Giants' Larry Baer talks about coronavirus impact on baseball season, KTVU (April 3, 2020)

• "We have to understand what sports is and what sports isn't and I think if we do that in the right way sports can come back appropriately that's what we want sports to come back appropriate and I think that's what the governor was eluding to this summer."
  • SF Giants CEO Larry Baer weighs in on MLB returning without fans, ABC 7 News (May 19, 2020)

External Links

• Larry Baer 1 on 1 with SF Giants CEO Larry Baer on Opening Day
• Larry Baer SF Giants CEO talks healing power of baseball, 'no magic date' for return of MLB
• Larry Baer on SF Giants MLB
• Larry Baer on LinkedIn
• Larry Baer on Crunchbase