Former part-owner of Boston Red Sox

Edward G. “Buddy” LeRoux, 77, a former part-owner of the Boston Red Sox and a real estate baron, died Monday in a New Hampshire hospital of what the Boston Globe reported as natural causes.

LeRoux started as a trainer for the Red Sox from 1966 to 1974. He served as the team’s vice president from 1978 to 1979, then became an owner as part of a group that included Haywood Sullivan and Jean Yawkey, widow of longtime team owner Tom Yawkey.

He was forced to sell his share of the team after a failed attempt to wrest control from Sullivan and Yawkey.

“Le Coup LeRoux” occurred June 6, 1983, on a night to honor former Red Sox player Tony Conigliaro, whose career was derailed after he was hit in the face with a fastball in 1967.

Conigliaro was in a coma after suffering a stroke the previous year when LeRoux announced he had enough support from the team’s partners to take control of the team. The announcement turned the Conigliaro celebration into an afterthought.

Red Sox fans were outraged by the timing, and Sullivan and Yawkey later took LeRoux to court, where he lost. Yawkey purchased LeRoux’s piece of the Red Sox in 1987.

Born in Woburn, Mass., LeRoux attended Northeastern University before starting a career as a sports trainer, including with the NBA’s Boston Celtics from 1958 to 1966, during which time the team won eight world championships.

LeRoux invested extensively in real estate in New England and Florida.