Whitacre Hired as Sockers Executive

The Sockers on Monday hired Fred Whitacre as executive vice president/general manager, filling the position vacated by Randy Bernstein last month.

Oscar Ancira, Sockers managing general partner, said that hiring Whitacre will give him a chance to eventually step down from his role as team president. Ancira wants to spend more time overseeing all of his family’s businesses.

“And this is a step toward that,” Ancira said. “The plan is for me to not be involved in the day-to-day operation. That’s a couple years, or maybe less, away.”

Whitacre has a long resume of sports management experience. He has worked with the Montreal Expos, the Padres, the Vancouver Whitecaps of the old North American Soccer League, and previously served the Sockers from 1980 to 1982.