Larry Baer


Laurence M. Baer is the Chief Executive Officer of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. He succeeded Bill Neukom on January 1, 2012.

Early life and education

Born to a Jewish family, Baer attended Lowell High School in San Francisco and the University of California, Berkeley. He served as the sports director and business manager of KALX, the student-run radio station. As a junior, he negotiated with Oakland Athletics' owner Charlie Finley to make KALX the official radio station of the Athletics for its first 16 games. Baer served as the play-by-play announcer. He graduated from Berkeley with a degree in political science in 1980.
He joined the San Francisco Giants as their marketing director that year. He left the Giants to attend Harvard Business School and work for Westinghouse Broadcasting.

Career

Baer returned to the Giants to help form the ownership group that kept the team in San Francisco when an attempt was made to move the franchise to Tampa, Florida in 1992. Other members of the group include Charles Bartlett Johnson, Harmon Burns, Scott Seligman, Peter Magowan, Allan Byer, and David S. Wolff.
In 1994, Baer established the first benefit by a professional sports team to fight AIDS.
He succeeded Bill Neukom as the Giants' chief executive officer on January 1, 2012. He was added to the board of directors of the San Jose Giants, the Giants' Minor League Baseball affiliate in the Class A-Advanced California League, in April 2012.
Under Baer’s management, the San Francisco Giants won World Series championships in 2012 and 2014.

Personal life

He is married to Pamela Baer; they have four children and live in San Francisco. He and his wife are members of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco.

Suspension from MLB

On March 1, 2019, the website TMZ released a video showing Larry Baer in a physical altercation with his wife, Pam near Oracle Park. In the video, it appeared that Larry Baer shoved Pam causing her to fall back on a chair while he attempted to wrestle away a cellphone. Pam cried for help. TMZ noted that the altercation was eventually broken up by bystanders at the scene.
The video leak sparked outrage among fans and social media. Baer was later suspended by MLB.
On July 2, 2019, The San Francisco Giants Board Directors announced that President and CEO Larry Baer will return to the team. However, Interim CEO Robert Dean will still continue to be the Giants person in charge.