Bill Giles (baseball)

William Yale Giles (born September 7 1934 in Rochester, New York) is the chairman and part owner of Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies.

Personal

He is the son of former National League president Warren Giles. cite web|url=http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Philadelphia_Phillies |title=Philadelphia Phillies|accessdate=2007-10-23|publisher=BaseballLibrary.com ] His baseball career began in his father's former organization, the Cincinnati Reds, during the 1950s and he was among a group of Reds executives who helped to found the Houston Astros when they debuted as the "Colt .45s" in 1962. Giles was promotions director of the Houston club and his imaginative stunts—especially after the team moved into the Astrodome in 1965—sometimes got him in hot water with his father's league office.

Philadelphia Phillies

Giles started with the Phillies as the Vice President of Business Operations in 1969. He worked his way up in the organization, with stops as Executive Vice President and President, before becoming the Chairman in 1997. cite web|url=http://www.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20030408&content_id=263581&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi |title=Giles and the Vet go hand in hand |accessdate=2007-10-23 |last=Mandel |first=Ken |date=2003-04-08 |publisher=MLB.com ]

Giles was also part of the ownership group that bought the Phillies from the Carpenter family in 1981. The group is composed of Giles, David Montgomery, Claire S. Betz, Tri-Play Associates (Alexander K. Buck, J. Maholn Buck Jr. William C. Buck), & Double Play Inc. (John S. Middelton). cite web|url=http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/team/front_office.jsp?c_id=phi |title=Front Office Directory |accessdate=2007-10-23 |publisher=PhiladelphiaPhillies.com ] The group reportedly purchased the team for $30 million. As of 2005, the Phillies were valued at over $390 million by Forbes magazine. cite web|url=http://www.nbc10.com/news/9499513/detail.html?subid=10101521 |title=Special Report: Who Actually Owns The Phillies? |accessdate=2007-10-23 |publisher=NBC10.com ]

Giles is also honorary president of the National League - the same job his father held on an official full-time basis.

Bibliography

*"Pouring Six Beers at a Time: And Other Stories from a Lifetime in Baseball" ISBN 1572439319

References

External links