California League President Charlie Blaney Retires
May 31, 2021 - California League (CalL1) News Release
The Cal League is today announcing that League President, Charlie Blaney, is retiring as President of the League effective, May 31, 2021.
Blaney, whose career in baseball has spanned more than five decades since it began with the Dodgers in 1966, has been Cal League President for the past eleven years. During his tenure, the League has shown stability, profitability, and record high team franchise values.
Under Blaney's guidance, the Cal League pioneered a League-wide marketing program aimed at developing multi-team sponsorships, and it is the only League in the country to honor its Umpire of the Year with the prestigious Doug Harvey Award, named after the late Cal League and Major League Baseball Hall of Fame Umpire.
Prior to his Cal League Presidency, Blaney served 32 years in the Los Angeles Dodgers Organization as a Minor League General Manager, Managing Director of the Dodgers' former Spring Training Facility known as Dodgertown, and as the Dodgers' Vice President of Player Development. During the time he was a GM, Blaney was named Executive of the Year in both the Texas and Pacific Coast Leagues, and, as Dodgers' VP of Player Development, Blaney oversaw the Dodgers' coaching staff that was instrumental in developing a record five consecutive National League Rookies of the Year from 1992-1996: Eric Karros, Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Hideo Nomo, and Todd Hollandsworth.
Blaney has been inducted into the Florida State League Hall of Fame and the Albuquerque Isotopes Hall of Fame. In 2016, Blaney won the distinguished Warren Giles Award, the highest honor given to a League President. That same year, the Cal League created its own Hall of Fame to recognize the League's past players who went on to become Major League stars. George Brett, Ken Griffey Jr., Don Drysdale, Reggie Jackson, Joe Morgan, Fernando Valenzuela, Pedro Martinez, and Mike Piazza are just some of the League's former players inducted into the Cal League's Hall of Fame.
"With Major League Baseball now assuming operational control of Minor League Baseball, it is time for me to step aside, and I wish them every success," stated Blaney. "As a 'minor league guy' my entire career, working with the marvelous and talented Cal League Owners and Executives has been the perfect, enjoyable, culmination of my career, and I sincerely thank them, the great Cal League players, umpires, fans, and especially my son, Matt, who has been my invaluable Director of Operations these past eleven years. I also want to thank Peter O'Malley for giving me the opportunity to work for the Dodgers for 32 years, and my wife and family for their tremendous support all through the years. Now I get to spend more quality time with my lovely wife, Dawn, our six children, their spouses, and our 19 grandchildren".
Tom Volpe, Vice President of the California League Board of Directors, said "On behalf of all of the Owners of California League teams, I would like to thank Charlie for his outstanding service to the League over the past eleven years. Integrity, fairness and responsiveness were hallmarks of his tenure. I thoroughly enjoyed my time working with Charlie, will miss him greatly, and I thank him for all of his hard work on behalf of the California League".
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