Dec. 14, 2016 – Chicago native Ned Colletti was a blue-collar guy who made it to the highest levels of Major League Baseball’s front offices. After working as a sports reporter, in 1982 he began his major- league career in the Chicago Cubs’ media relations department before moving into baseball operations. In 1990 he won MLB’s Robert O. Fishel Award for Public Relations Excellence. He then spent 11 years (1994-2004) with the San Francisco Giants, first as director of baseball operations, then as assistant general manager.

In 2006 Colletti moved on to the Giants’ arch enemy when he was named general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team that had posted a 71-91 record the previous season. In his first year as GM the Dodgers posted a record of 88-74, went to the postseason as a wild card, and were named as Baseball America’s Organization of the Year. In 2011 he reached 500 wins as a general manager in 953 games. The only GM in Dodgers history to reach that milestone in fewer games was Buzzie Bavasi, who in 1951 became the first Italian American to be named a major- league general manager. In Colletti’s nine years as GM the Dodgers went to the postseason five times, including three appearances in the NL Championship Series, and no National League GM had as many wins. Colletti was replaced in 2014, following the Dodgers elimination in the NL Divisional Series, but remained in the Dodgers front office as senior advisor to the president. In 2019 he was hired as a scout by the San Jose Sharks of the NHL.