Walt Jocketty
Jocketty before Opening Day 2006 at Busch Stadium
Born	(1951-02-19) February 19, 1951 (age 62) Minneapolis, Minnesota
Education	University of Minnesota
Known for	General Manager of St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds
Spouse(s)	Sue

Walt Jocketty (born February 19, 1951)^[1] is the General Manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he attended the University of Minnesota where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration.^[2] He was previously the General Manager of the St. Louis Cardinals from October 14, 1994 until October 3, 2007.

Oakland and Colorado [edit]

In addition to his long tenure with the Cardinals, Jocketty also spent 14 years in the Oakland organization beginning in March 1980, when he was hired by owner Charlie Finley as Director of Minor League Operations and Scouting.^[2] It was in this capacity that Jocketty took a lead role in overhauling the A's minor league system, and was also was instrumental in founding the Arizona Rookie League and the Dominican Summer League.^[2] Less than five years into his time with Oakland, Jocketty was promoted to Director of Baseball Administration, a post he held the remainder of his time in Oakland. During the 1994 season Jocketty served the Colorado Rockies for a brief stint as their Assistant General Manager/Player Personnel.^[2][3]

The Cardinal years [edit]

Walt Jocketty was hired as General Manager of the St. Louis Cardinals on October 14, 1994. When Anheuser-Busch sold the team following the 1995 season, the new ownership chose to retain Jocketty. He was instrumental in bringing new manager Tony La Russa, whom he had worked with in Oakland, to St. Louis.

During his time as Cardinal GM, the Cardinals compiled seven National League Central Division championships (1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006), two National League Championships (2004 and 2006), and one World Series Championship (2006). The Cardinals had seven straight winning seasons under Jocketty, including 100+ win seasons in 2004 and 2005. Jocketty has been named the Executive of the Year in MLB three times, in 2000, 2004, & 2010.

Jocketty was fired by the Cardinals organization on October 3, 2007. Team owner Bill DeWitt cited divisiveness in the baseball operations front office as the reason for Jocketty's dismissal.^[4]

Cincinnati [edit]

Walt Jocketty was hired as a Special Adviser to the Cincinnati Reds on January 11, 2008. Jocketty role was to advise and assist the team in their baseball operations which includes the front office, personnel, scouting, minor and international operations and training and medical services.

He was named the next General Manager of the Reds after Wayne Krivsky was fired April 23, 2008.^[5]

After the 2010 season Jocketty was named Sporting News Executive Of Year. Jocketty has also won the award in 2000 & 2004 as Cardinals GM.

External links [edit]

• Baseball America page
• 2004 interview
• Cardinals trade history
• 2002 news conference about the sudden death of Cardinal pitcher Darryl Kile
• 2008 [1] Report naming Jocketty GM of Reds

References [edit]

1. ^ Baseball America Executive Database
2. ^ ^{a b c d} St. Louis Cardinals 2006 Media Guide. Hadler Printing Co.. Page 9.
3. ^ "Walt Jocketty". Baseball America. Retrieved 2007-10-03. 
4. ^ "Cardinals News > Jocketty no longer GM of Cardinals". The Official Site of the St. Louis Cardinals. Retrieved 2007-10-03. 
5. ^ The Official Site of The Cincinnati Reds: Official Info: Reds name Walt Jocketty President of baseball operations and general manager