Longtime baseball executive Dan O’Brien Sr. dies at 87

The Associated Press
January 17, 2017 at 9:34pm ET

Arlington, Texas (AP) Longtime major league executive Dan O’Brien Sr. has died at 87.

The Texas Rangers said he died Monday in Dallas. The Rangers were one of four major league teams with whom O’Brien held front-office jobs over 45 years in professional baseball. O’Brien was the Rangers’ second general manager, from 1973 to 1978.

He began his baseball career in 1955 as a minor league general manager and spent 10 years in the minors before joining the Rangers. He left Texas to become president and later general manager of the Seattle Mariners. He also worked in the front office with the Cleveland Indians, California Angels, Arizona Fall League and USA Baseball before his retirement in 2000.

His son, Dan O’Brien Jr., was general manager of the Cincinnati Reds during the 2004-05 seasons after working an assistant GM in Texas from 1996 to 2003.

Dan O'Brien
1929 - 2017

Published in Dallas Morning News on Jan. 20, 2017

Dan O'Brien, age 87 of Rockwall, TX, loving husband and devoted father, passed from this earth on January 16, 2017. He was born March 26, 1929, to Daniel Francis O'Brien Sr. and Charlotte (Hoffurth) O'Brien.

A proud native of Elizabeth, NJ, Mr. O'Brien was a distinguished dual sport athlete at Thomas Jefferson High School who was inducted into the Union County Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. He continued as a two sport collegiate athlete and graduated from Florida Southern College in 1952 and then served in the US Army from 1952-1954.

Mr. O'Brien was hired for his first baseball job by Hall of Fame Executive Branch Rickey in 1955 and spent the next 18 years in a variety of Minor League administrative positions. From 1973 to 1993 he served as a Major League front office executive with four different organizations: Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians and California Angels. He worked for the Arizona Fall League (1994-1996), then served as Executive Director of USA Baseball until his retirement in 2000, capping a 45+ year baseball career in the sport he loved.

Mr. O'Brien is survived by his wife of 64 years: Mary Ann; daughter: Lori; son: Dan; daughter-in-law: Gail; grandchildren: Tyler, McKenna and Sydney; and a host of cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents and one son: Tim.

A memorial mass will be held 3:00pm, Sunday, January 22, 2017, at Rest Haven Funeral Home, Rockwall, TX, followed by an informal opportunity to visit with family and friends. A graveside celebration of life will be held in Columbus, OH, at a date and time to be announced.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the Tim O'Brien Memorial Scholarship Fund - The Columbus Foundation, 1234 East Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43205.