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Dan Duquette

Daniel F. Duquette (born 1958) is a former front-office executive in Major League Baseball and currently serves as director of baseball operations for the new Israel Baseball League. Duquette was the general manager of the Montreal Expos from September through January and for the Boston Red Sox from 1994 through February . He was fired from his general manager post in 2002 when John W. Henry bought the team from the JRY Trust, headed by John Harrington.

Dan Duquette oversaw quick turnarounds during his tenure as GM of the Expos and Red Sox, expanding fan interest in both markets. As farm system director of the Expos from 1987 to 1991, Duquette helped build the player development operations.

Career

A native of Dalton, Massachusetts, Duquette attended Amherst College, where he was a catcher on the varsity baseball team. Duquette got his start in baseball as a scouting assistant with the Milwaukee Brewers in after a fellow Amherst alumnus, Harry Dalton, the Milwaukee general manager, saw his letter seeking employment in the game. During his seven seasons in Milwaukee, the team drafted future major leaguers Dale Sveum, John Jaha, BJ Surhoff, and Gary Sheffield.

Montreal Expos

In he became Montreal's director of player development. In his three years in that role, the Expos drafted Marquis Grissom, Charles Johnson, Cliff Floyd and Rondell White. Duquette replaced Dave Dombrowski as Expos' GM on September 19, . Under Duquette the Expos acquired elite pitcher Pedro Martínez from the Dodgers for second baseman Delino DeShields. After two seasons in Montreal Duquette became the general manager of his hometown Red Sox.

Boston Red Sox

Duquette's tenure in Boston was often marked by controversy. His administration was viewed as very intolerant to criticism and media-unfriendly and utilized the Internet to communicate directly with fans. He continually disputed with former Red Sox manager Kevin Kennedy (who was abruptly fired in 1996) about the direction of the team and manager Jimy Williams over the coaching staff and center fielder Carl Everett. In 1996 Duquette traded pitcher Jamie Moyer for outfielder Darren Bragg. Moyer went on to win 139 games in just over 9 seasons with the Mariners. He is also famously known for the quote about Roger Clemens in which he said that "we had hoped to keep him in Boston during the twilight of his career" in after Clemens left as a free agent. The free agency losses of Clemens and first baseman Mo Vaughn were major points of discontent amongst some Red Sox fans with regards to Duquette.

Duquette is also noted for several major acquisitions that would ultimately play a part in the Red Sox 2004 championship, including acquiring Pedro Martínez in from Montreal, the trade for pitcher Derek Lowe and catcher Jason Varitek and the free agent signings of Manny Ramírez in and Johnny Damon in December, . After being fired in Duquette started a sports academy for children in Hinsdale, Massachusetts. The academy is described by its website as "a sports training center for boys and girls ages 8–18 who are interested in learning baseball, softball, basketball and life skills from distinguished high school, college and professional coaches."

After Boston

Duquette worked to start the Israel Baseball League after being appointed director of baseball operations, but the league had financial difficulties and folded in 2008 after one season. He had a role in a Western Massachusetts community theatre production of Damn Yankees.

Duquette is also the president and owner of the Pittsfield Dukes, a summer collegiate baseball team in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. He purchased the team, formerly known as the Thread City Tides of Willimantic, Connecticut, after the 2003 season, and moved the team to his Dan Duquette Sports Academy in Hinsdale. After negotiating a deal with the city of Pittsfield, he moved the franchise again in 2005 to historic Wahconah Park, where the team remains today.

His cousin, Jim Duquette, is a former executive of the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Mets. Dan Duquette resides in Stow, Massachusetts. He also owns a summer camp located in Hinsdale, Ma, The Dan Duquette Sports Academy.

Honors

Duquette was twice honored as the Major League Baseball Executive of the Year, first by The Sporting News in 1992 with the Expos, and later by the Boston Baseball Writers Association in 1995 with the Red Sox.