Jim Campbell (baseball executive)
James Arthur Campbell (February 5, 1924 – October 31, 1995) was an American baseball executive in Major League Baseball. He worked for the Detroit Tigers for 43 seasons from 1949 to 1992. He was the team's general manager from September 1962 to September 1983, its president from August 1978 to January 1990, and its chairman from January 1990 to August 1992. The Tigers won two World Series championships (1968 and 1984) during Campbell's tenure with the club. He was selected as the Major League Baseball executive of the year in 1968 and was inducted into  the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1985. Early years. Campbell was born in 1924 in Huron, Ohio, and played four sports at Huron High School. His father died after being injured in an electrical accident while Campbell was still in high school. Campbell enrolled at Ohio State University in 1942 and played freshman football. He served in the United States Navy Air Corps from 1943 to 1946 before returning to Ohio State He played as an outfielder for the Ohio State Buckeyes baseball team for three years before graduating in 1949 with a bachelor's degree in commerce. Detroit  Tigers. Campbell joined the Tigers organization in 1949 as the business manager of the Class D (equivalent to Rookie-level today) Thomasville Tigers in Thomasville, Georgia. The stadium in Thomasville burned to the ground after the first game of Campbell's tenure. Campbell gained praise for keeping the team playing with borrowed uniforms and overseeing the prompt reconstruction of the stadium. Campbell was promoted to business manager of the Tigers' farm system in 1952. In 1957, Campbell became the major-league team's business manager, and in 1959 he became a vice president. In September 1962, at age 38, he  became the team's general manager. Notable moves and accomplishments during Campbell's tenure as the Tigers' general manager include the following: In August 1978, he was promoted to team president. However, he had been operating head of the franchise for some time before then. Owner John Fetzer had been nominal team president since 1961, but mostly left the team in Campbell's hands and rarely interfered. In February 1982, Campbell underwent heart bypass surgery, and he was hospitalized briefly in August 1983 after experiencing dizziness. In September 1983, and acting on his doctor's advice, Campbell stepped down as  general manager, turning over that role to longtime assistant Bill Lajoie. However, he remained as the club's president. In February 1985, Campbell was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. In January 1990, Campbell, at age 65, stepped down as the Tigers' president; former Michigan Wolverines football coach Bo Schembechler replaced him. (Schembechler had retired from Michigan weeks earlier.) Campbell remained as chairman and chief executive officer and continued to maintain an office at Tiger Stadium. After owner Tom Monaghan agreed to sell the team to Mike Ilitch, Monaghan fired both Campbell and Schembechler in August 1992. Family  and later years. Campbell was married in 1954 to Helene Grace Mulligan of Lakewood, Ohio. They were divorced in 1969. Campbell later blamed his devotion to the Tigers for the divorce. He recalled in 1989: "I've worked for this club for 40 years, and I've had very few days off. I'm talking about weekends and everything." After being fired in 1992, Campbell did not return to Tiger Stadium. In October 1995, he suffered a heart attack in Lakeland, Florida, and died at the Lakeland Regional Medical Center at age 71.