New president of the Los Angeles Dodgers Andrew Friedman became a baseball executive because he’s passionate about baseball. A college baseball player at Tulane, Friedman went on to success on Wall Street at a young age. But Friedman’s success wasn’t of the kind where he could go buy a team–he was just a well-compensated analyst. No, Friedman left his Wall Street job to go into baseball because he got an opportunity to impress one of the Tampa Bay Rays owners over a meal. And he never looked back, becoming GM of the Rays by the time he was 28.
Anyone so passionate about baseball that he can talk his way into a whole new career over a meal knows you don’t float into town and send Donnie Baseball packing. Donnie Baseball being Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, of course. One of the first things Friedman said in taking over the Dodgers is that Don Mattingly will “definitely” be the manager next season. Whether they always see eye to eye, the new prez and the manager will always share the passion. Friedman has “the mindset that we’re going to work with Donnie for a long time.”
