Duquette is a native of Dalton, Massachusetts. He attended a Catholicgrammar school in Dalton during which time he was a batboy for the Wahconah Regional High Schoolbaseball team. In high school, he was the captain of both the baseball and football teams. After high school, he attended Amherst College where he was a catcher on the varsity baseball team and a linebacker on the football team. In the summer of 1977 at the age of 19, Duquette helped organize the Dalton Collegians, a semi-pro baseball team that operated out of his hometown. In college, Duquette was chosen to the 1979 Boston Herald American All New England College Division All Star team. Duquette was also known to talk to professional scouts who attended Amherst baseball games. He graduated from college in 1980.
In 1994, Duquette returned to Massachusetts to become the General Manager of the Boston Red Sox. He spent eight years at the helm of his hometown team. The Red Sox achieved a record of 656–574 under Duquette, setting attendance records and appearing in the playoffs on three separate occasions. The team won the American League East division in 1995, but only advanced as far as the American League Championship Series once in their three postseason years. They would lose that series to the rival New York Yankees. As the Red Sox GM, Duquette made several notable moves, including drafting Nomar Garciaparra in 1994 and trading for Pedro Martínez in 1997. He is also known for letting Roger Clemens leave in free agency in 1996. Many of the players that Duquette drafted or signed were on the Red Sox 2004 World Series championship team. He is largely considered to have laid the groundwork for that team by signing and drafting players like Tim Wakefield, Johnny Damon, Jason Varitek, Manny Ramirez, Derek Lowe, and Kevin Youkilis. In 2002, Duquette was dismissed from his general manager post less than 24 hours after the Red Sox had officially been sold to a new ownership group that included John W. Henry and Tom Werner.
After Boston
After his stint with the Red Sox, Duquette largely stayed out of Major League Baseball for 9 years. In 2003, he opened the Dan Duquette Sports Academy, a sports training center in Hinsdale, Massachusetts designed for children aged 8 to 18. In 2004, he became the owner of the New England Collegiate Baseball League's Pittsfield Dukes. During his ownership tenure, the Dukes/American Defenders played at his sports academy in Hinsdale and later at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield. In 2008, he was part of an ownership group that included Buddy Lewis, Terry Allvord, and Jerry O'Connor that purchased what would become known as the American Defenders of New Hampshire,. He relinquished ownership of both clubs in 2009 and 2010. Duquette also helped found the Israel Baseball League. Despite folding after only one season, it helped 75 players get into professional baseball. During this time, he also had a part in a production of the musical, Damn Yankees, in Western Massachusetts.
Baltimore Orioles
After spending 9 years away from the MLB, Duquette returned as the General Manager of the Baltimore Orioles in November 2011. In 2012, the team made the playoffs for the first time since 1997. In 2014, the Orioles won the American League East with 96 wins and made it to the American League Championship Series. Many people attribute the success of the Orioles to the management of Buck Showalter and Duquette. Duquette signed Nelson Cruz to one-year, $8 million contract in February 2014. Cruz went on to lead the league in home runs that year. Other signings and acquisitions under Duquette have included, Nick Hundley, Delmon Young, Steve Pearce, and Andrew Miller. In early 2015, the Toronto Blue Jays expressed interest in making Duquette their new President/CEO. Because Duquette was under contract until 2018 and the Blue Jays did not offer enough compensation to the Orioles, no deal was struck. On October 3, 2018 the Orioles fired Duquette after two straight losing seasons, in 2018 the Orioles went 47-115, the worst record in franchise history. Both Duquette and Showalter had contracts that expired at the end of the season.
Recognition and awards
Duquette has twice received The Sporting News Executive of the Year Award. He also won the Baseball America Major League Executive of the Year honor in 2014 with the Orioles. Mark Armour and Daniel Levitt ranked Duquette the 17th best general manager in the history of baseball in their 2015 book, In Pursuit of Pennants: Baseball Operations from Deadball to Moneyball.
