Allard Baird
{{Infobox baseball biography
| name = Allard Baird
| image =
| caption =
| team = Arizona Diamondbacks
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|11|08}}
| birth_place = Rochester, New Hampshire, U.S.
| position = Advisor
| teams =
- Kansas City Royals (1988–2006)
- Boston Red Sox (2006–2018)
- New York Mets (2018–2020)
- Arizona Diamondbacks (2021-)
| highlights =
- 3× World Series champion ({{wsy|2007}}, {{wsy|2013}}, {{wsy|2018}})
}}
Allard Baird ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|l|ər|d|_|ˈ|b|ɛər|d}}; born November 8, 1961) is an American professional baseball executive, currently serving as an advisor for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He previously was the vice president and assistant general manager for scouting and player development for the New York Mets and held executive positions with the Kansas City Royals (where was general manager from June 6, 2000 to May 31, 2006) and Boston Red Sox.
Early years
Baird grew up in Rochester, New Hampshire, where he played baseball for the Spaulding High School Red Raiders. He played college baseball at Southern Arkansas University (SAU) in 1985, coached at SAU in 1986, and then was the head coach at Broward Community College in 1987.{{cite book|last=Gregg|first=Kevin|title=Boston Red Sox Media Guide|year=2017|publisher=Boston Red Sox|page=32}} Baird was inducted to the SAU hall of fame in 2012.{{cite web |url=https://muleriderathletics.com/hof.aspx?hof=2 |title=Hall of Fame: Allard Baird |website=muleriderathletics.com |accessdate=November 29, 2018}}
Career
=Kansas City Royals=
Baird spent 18 years in the Kansas City Royals organization, starting as the hitting coach for Class A Appleton of the Midwest League in 1988.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thebaseballcube.com/teams/roster.asp?Y=1988&T=10084|title = 1988 Appleton Foxes - the Baseball Cube}} He worked his way up the executive ladder, including serving as an assistant to the GM (1998) and assistant GM (1999–2000).[http://legacy.baseballamerica.com/execdb/?show=exec&eid=BairdAl01 Allard Baird], Baseball America Executive Database
Baird replaced Herk Robinson as the Royals' general manager on June 17, 2000. Baird's job was a difficult one: taking a small-market, losing-record team and trying to compete against teams like the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.
During his six full years as general manager, Baird traded away popular players Johnny Damon, Carlos Beltrán, and Jermaine Dye with many Royal fans feeling that the team didn't get equal value. He also signed free agent Juan González to a one-year, $4 million contract, but he played only 33 games due to a back injury.[http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060531&content_id=1481101&vkey=news_kc&fext=.jsp&c_id=kc Royals.com]{{dead link|date=October 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
After a poor start to the 2006 season, Baird was fired on May 31 and replaced by Dayton Moore. During Baird's tenure, the team amassed a win–loss record of 381–576 (.398), including three 100-loss seasons and only one winning season (2003). The Royals did lead MLB in hits for the {{mlby|2000}} season.http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/14707979.htm Kansas City.com
=Boston Red Sox=
Baird joined the Boston Red Sox in 2006 as an assistant to the general manager after his firing in Kansas City, and later was named vice president and director of professional scouting.
Baird later became the senior vice president of player personnel,[https://web.archive.org/web/20111125192748/http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111122&content_id=26028424&vkey=news_bos&c_id=bos mlb.com 2011.11.22] serving under president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. The Red Sox won the World Series three times during Baird's time with the team; 2007, 2013, and 2018.
=New York Mets=
On November 28, 2018, Baird was hired by the New York Mets, to work for new general manager Brodie Van Wagenen.{{cite news |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2018/11/28/red-sox-executive-allard-baird-hired-away-mets/ogUn07idBaepNDUFKOWobJ/story.html |title=Red Sox executive Allard Baird hired away by Mets |first=Peter |last=Abraham |newspaper=The Boston Globe |url-access=limited |date=November 28, 2018|accessdate=November 28, 2018}} He performed that role until November 6, 2020.
References
{{reflist|30em}}
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{{succession box | title=Kansas City Royals General manager| before=Herk Robinson| after=Dayton Moore | years={{By|2000}}–{{By|2006}}}}
{{s-end}}
{{Kansas City Royals general managers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, Allard}}
Category:Baseball coaches from New Hampshire
Category:Boston Red Sox executives
Category:Kansas City Royals executives
Category:Kansas City Royals scouts
Category:Major League Baseball general managers
Category:New York Mets executives
Category:People from Rochester, New Hampshire
Category:Southern Arkansas Muleriders baseball players
Category:Sportspeople from Strafford County, New Hampshire
Category:Junior college baseball coaches in the United States