Pat OConner Bio

Pat O'Conner was elected the 11th president of Minor League Baseball, a $750 Million Dollar Industry, in December 2007 afterserving as Minor League Baseball's Chief Operating Officer since 1993 and Vice President of Administration since 1995.

Since arriving at Minor League Baseball headquarters O’Conner has overseen a period when Minor League Baseball experienced staggering increases in revenue among its 250+ teams and set new attendance records for five consecutive years. 2008 attendance topped 43-million for the first time in the history of Minor League Baseball.

A native of Grove City, Ohio, O’Conner received a degree in economics and finance from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio and a Masters in Sports Administration from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. He served as general manager of the Greenwood Pirates of the South Atlantic League before serving as assistant general manager of the Beaumont Golden Gators of the Texas League from 1982-1985.

O’ Conner then became head of Florida Operations for the Houston Astros and served as general manager of the Osceola Astros of the Florida State League from 1986-1993. He was named the Florida State League Executive of the Year in 1988 as Osceola posted the best record in the league at 83-54.

O’Conner is credited with negotiating successive Professional Baseball Agreements with Major League Baseball on behalf of Minor League Baseball. These agreements define the relationshipbetween Major League and Minor League Baseball and have framed the modern-era structure for Minor League Baseball throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Latin America while creating a healthy financial environment for all clubs in the association.

O’Conner has successfully led efforts to realign Minor League Baseball leagues in a manner to capitalize on geography and effectively address Major League and Minor League Baseballneeds. Additionally, O’Conner brought together all Minor League Baseball clubs in packaging digital rights and entering an agreement with Major League Baseball Advanced Media in a landmark Internet Management Rights Agreement (“IMRA) between the organizations.

His achievements with Minor League Baseball also include verseeing the negotiations between the Association of Minor League Umpires (AMLU) and the Professional Baseball UmpireCorporation (PBUC), helping to end a 67-day Minor League umpires’ strike which began on April 6, 2006 and ended on June 12.

Minor League Baseball is formally known as the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, Inc (“NAPBL”). Formed in 1901, the NAPBL is the only minor league affiliated with Major League Baseball. Based in St. Petersburg, Florida, the NAPBL oversee 16 leagues and in excess of 250 teams with a staff of 35 full-time employees.

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