Chuck LaMar
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Charles G. "Chuck" LaMar (born 1957) was the first general manager of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays franchise in American Major League Baseball, being hired July 19, 1995 — several months after the Tampa Bay franchise was awarded. It began play in the American League East Division in 1998.
During the eight seasons (1998-2005) when LaMar oversaw the Devil Rays franchise, the expansion team compiled a 518-777 (.400) record and only once won more than 70 games (2004).
LaMar's tenure was characterized by moves such as trading Bobby Abreu and Dmitri Young while receiving Kevin Stocker and Mike Kelly in return. Those trades proved to be failures, as Abreu and Young went on to have successful careers. He was also responsible for signing Juan Guzman, Wilson Alvarez, Wade Boggs, Roberto Hernandez, and trading for Fred McGriff.
LaMar was fired on October 6, 2005 by incoming owner Stuart Sternberg in a major front-office shakeup.
The former Rays GM played third base as a collegian at Texas Christian University. Undrafted after his senior year, LaMar taught and coached at a high school in Texas. During this time, his high school-aged brother, Dan, was selected in the first round by the Cincinnati Reds. That was Chuck LaMar's first close encounter with the Reds' front office but wouldn't be his last.
Larry Smith, former head coach at Texas Wesleyan University, tabbed LaMar to be his assistant coach when Smith took the head coaching job at Indiana University in the Big Ten Conference. LaMar earned his masters degree in physical education from Indiana, then left to become a full time scout with the Reds in Texas and the Southwest. Considered one of baseball's young up-and-comers, LaMar left the Reds along with many of their top talent evaluators when then team owner Marge Schott deemed scouts an unnecessary a burden on the payroll.
From the Reds, LaMar became the director of minor league operations with the Pittsburgh Pirates during the period of time when Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke, manager Jim Leyland and company turned the Bucs into a winner. In 1991, LaMar moved to the Atlanta Braves and served as director of player development and scouting (through 1993), than as assistant general manager and director of playing personnel (1994-95), working with GM John Schuerholz during one of those most successful and productive periods in Braves' history, as the club won the 1995 world championship. That post was his springboard to the GM job in Tampa Bay.
In October 2007, LaMar was appointed director of professional scouting by the Philadelphia Phillies. He had spent the 2007 season with the Washington Nationals as special assistant to the general manager and national crosschecker.
Married with a son and two daughters, LaMar resides in Clearwater, Florida.
LaMar has repeated in many interviews that his favorite ruler in the history of the world is Julius Caesar.
In February of 2007 Deadspin guest columnist R.J. Anderson announced LaMaritis; a book about the LaMar reign as GM. [1]
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| Preceded by first general manager |
Tampa Bay Devil Rays General Manager 1995–2005 |
Succeeded by Andrew Friedman |
