Syd Thrift, 77; Had Long Career in Major League Baseball

Syd Thrift, 77, a longtime baseball executive best known as general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1985 to 1988 and director of baseball operations for the Baltimore Orioles from 1999 to 2002, died Monday night at a hospital in Milford, Del., after undergoing knee replacement surgery earlier in the day. An autopsy is planned to determine the cause of death.

A native of Locust Hill, Va., Thrift was a left-handed pitcher who signed with the New York Yankee organization after attending Randolph-Macon College. His professional playing career lasted four seasons. He worked as a scout for the Yankees and the Pirates after his playing days.

After the 1967 season, he joined the Kansas City Royals and became the founding director of the team’s Baseball Academy, which produced 14 major league players.

As general manager of the Pirates, he gave Jim Leyland, now the Detroit Tigers skipper, his first job as a major league manager and generally revived a franchise trading high-salaried veterans for prospects who turned out to be quite good.

In Baltimore, his eye for talent brought All-Stars Melvin Mora and B.J. Ryan to the team in sharp trades.

Other teams Thrift worked for included the Oakland A’s, New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs. He was hosting a syndicated radio program in Virginia at the time of his hospitalization.