John Henry Connection Brought Dave Dombrowski To Boston Red Sox

BOSTON — With respect to the storied history of the Red Sox, it wasn’t tradition that brought Dave Dombrowski to Boston. It wasn’t the allure of Fenway Park, or even the three World Series trophies that reside in its trophy case.

No, Dombrowski’s decision to sign on as the Red Sox’s president of baseball operations primarily was the result of his longstanding relationship with the team’s principal owner, John Henry.

“The Red Sox, they’re a great organization,” Dombrowski said Wednesday at his introductory news conference. “They’re one of the best teams — storied franchises — in sports and baseball. But for me, having done this for a long time, I think that your relationship — my relationship — with ownership is as important as anything.”

Dombrowksi made a name for himself in the 1990s as general manager of the Florida Marlins, building up an expansion club to the point that it won the World Series in just its fifth year of existence. When Henry purchased the franchise in 1999, the Red Sox owner says, he did so on one condition: that Dombrowski continue on as GM.

He agreed, and the first move made under Henry’s purview was to trade three pitchers to the New York Yankees for third baseman Mike Lowell, who’d go on to win championships with both the Marlins and, in 2007, the Red Sox.

“(Those pitchers) started a total of six games in the majors,” Henry said. “Mike made almost 1,500 starts.”

Lowell, the MVP of the ’07 World Series, was one of several players who eventually made their way from Miami to Boston, a list that also includes Kevin Millar and Dombrowski draftees Josh Beckett and Adrian Gonzalez.

A highly successful 14-year stint with the Detroit Tigers followed Dombrowski’s Marlins tenure, and when he was fired Aug. 4, the Red Sox came calling. Two weeks later, the 59-year-old was sitting before a throng of media in Fenway Park’s State Street Pavilion club, outlining his plan to bring the glory days back to Yawkey Way.

“It’s an extreme honor to join the Red Sox organization,” Dombrowski said.

It was clear that Henry, sitting two seats to his right, was just as happy to have him.

“Today is about the future of the Boston Red Sox,” Henry said. “We have a history of success over the last 14 years characterized by a certain boldness and purpose. That’s very much alive here today.”

Dombrowski doesn’t expect a GM-ownership dynamic devoid of disagreement. Building a successful baseball team is not a one-man job, and the ability to weigh the merits of multiple opinions is a hallmark of any great executive.

What he does expect is a work environment that will be conducive to winning — something the Red Sox have not done a whole lot of these past two seasons.

“Not that John’s not going to get mad at me at times — because he has that right to, and (chairman Tom Werner), too,” Dombrowski said. “But I think that is a situation where having a comfort zone to work with people that you really enjoy working with, that you’re driven to do the same thing — that is where it starts. Because you can also — let’s just say this was a storied franchise, which it is, and you didn’t have people that you had that same confidence and trust in, well, it may not be as appealing as it would be with John in that position.”

Thumbnail photo via Josh Reynolds/Associated Press