Omar Minaya is a baseball executive who is currently the general manager of the New York Mets. The first Hispanic to hold a general manager position in Major League Baseball, Minaya is known for his aggressiveness related to player trades and free agent signings.

Born in the Dominican Republic, he moved to Queens, New York City at the age of eight. A star baseball player in high school, Minaya had a short-lived career in the minor leagues as well as stints in leagues in both the Dominican Republic and Italy. After injuries ended his playing career, Minaya joined the Texas Rangers' scouting team in 1985.  In the mid-1990s, Minaya left Texas and returned home to join the staff of the New York Mets, working his way to Assistant General Manager and being a partial architect for that team's late-1990s success. Minaya left the Mets in early 2002 and joined the Montréal Expos, making him the first Hispanic general manager in the sport.

The Mets reached out to Minaya in the summer of 2004  to fill the General Manager position. Minaya officially took the position at the conclusion of the 2004 regular season and made several moves to transform the franchise.

Minaya's work in the 2005 outseason would further shape the franchise, as the Mets roared out of the gate and won the National League East with 97 wins (tied for the best record in baseball). During the season, Minaya fortified the team by making additional trades. Though the Mets would falter in the postseason to the St. Louis Cardinals, the 2006 season was seen as largely a success.

   Bob Watson was drafted as a catcher in January, 1965.  As a California native Bob, known as "The Bull", became a star by 1970 and developed into one of the league's most feared hitters during the mid-Seventies.  Watson was an RBI machine in the middle of the Houston Astros lineup whether playing left field or first base. In 1975, Watson gained notoriety as the player who scored the one-millionth run in major league history. He was named the team's Most Valuable Player that season and later set the club's RBI record in 1977 at 110, a mark that would last 17 years. Watson was traded to Boston during the 1979 season. He left the club as its career leader in hits and RBI, and was among the top three in nine other offensive categories.

Bob returned to the Astros in 1988 as an Assistant General Manager, and later assumed the General Manager role in 1993.  As the first black GM in baseball history, Watson resigned in 1995 to serve as the GM for the New York Yankees, overseeing their return to World Series dominance. Watson is currently the MLB's Vice President of Rules & On-Field Operations and handles on-field disciplinary matters, pace of game initiatives, and also oversees ballpark ground rules, measurements, and standards.

    David Mark Winfield played Major League Baseball for 22 seasons and is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and the College Baseball Hall of Fame. He played for the San Diego Padres, the New York Yankees, the California Angels, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Minnesota Twins, and the Cleveland Indians.

Winfield grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, earning a full scholarship to the University of Minnesota, where he starred in both basketball and baseball.  His 1972 team won a Big 10 basketball championship, the school's first in 53 years.  After hitting and pitching his baseball team to the College World Series in 1973, he was drafted by the San Diego Padres, the Minnesota Vikings (a professional football team) despite not playing college football.  He was also draft by the the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association and the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association (ABA). He is one of only two men ever drafted in three different pro sports, and the only man to be drafted by four leagues.

    Johnnie B. "Dusty" Baker started his professional baseball career as an outfielder for the Atlanta Braves in 1968. After spending sixteen full seasons with the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and Oakland Athletics, Dusty finished his prosperous career as a player with a .278 batting average, 242 home runs, and 1,013 runs batted in.  Furthermore, a few of Dusty’s accomplishments as a player include playing for the National League All-Star team in 1981 and 1982, and winning three League Championship series.  Baker ultimately won a World Series title in 1981 with the Dodgers.

In 1993, Dusty returned to the professional baseball scene once again as manager for the San Francisco Giants, leading them to two divisional titles (1997 and 2000), a 2002 World Series appearance in 2002, where his team lost to the Anaheim Angels. Despite Dusty’s prodigious success, he left the Giants’ organization in 2003, in favor of managing the Chicago Cubs.  Dusty made a major impact with the Cubs in his first season as manager for the ball club.  Dusty spent two seasons with the Cubs and then moved on to to become an ESPN analyst in 2006.

   Dave Stewart was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 16th round of the 1975 amateur draft and made his major league debut on September 22, 1978. He played for the Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies and Oakland Athletics in the early to mid-1980s, and earned the nickname "Smoke."  In 1987 he won 20 games while posting an impressive 3.68 ERA and striking out 205 batters. His new-found stardom would not be short-lived as he won 20 or more games in each of the next three seasons (1988-1990) and led a powerful Athletics club to the World Series each of those years. Remarkably, he pitched over 250 innings in each of those four seasons. In 1989, the Athletics won the World Series championship, with Stewart being named World Series MVP.  In 1990, the A's won their third straight pennant, beating the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series, and Stewart was named MVP.

Stewart was also a part of the 1992 Oakland Athletics team which lost in the ALCS to the Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto went on to win the World Series that year, catching Stewart's eye and prompting him to sign with them in 1993. The Blue Jays made it to the ALCS once again, and triumphed over the Chicago White Sox 4 games to 2, with Stewart winning ALCS MVP honours for the second time in his career. The Blue Jays then went on to defeat the Phillies 4 games to 2 in the World Series.  On June 29, 1990, while with Oakland, Stewart pitched a no-hitter against his future team, the Blue Jays.

   Reggie Smith was originally signed by the Minnesota Twins, but was acquired by the Red Sox in 1963. He hit 149 home runs and drove in 536 runs during his seven years with Boston, both team records for a switch hitter. In 1968, he garnered a Gold Glove Award as an outfielder, with 390 putouts, and in 1970, notched an amazing fifteen outfield assists.  Reggie hit twenty or more doubles for nine straight seasons, twice leading the American League. His 314 career home runs place him fourth on the switch-hitters list. He appeared in seven All-Star games with the Red Sox, the Cardinals (1974-1976), and Los Angeles (1976-1981). Reggie played in four World Series, winning in 1981.

After one-year with the Giants in 1982, Reggie played two years in Japan before retiring. The Dodgers brought him back as Minor League Coordinator.  He became the Dodgers’ hitting instructor and first base coach, before leaving in 1998. Reggie was named the hitting instructor of the United States baseball team for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. He coached the minor league players who stunned a heavily-favored Cuban team in the Gold Medal game.

Reggie was technical consultant on “61,” a film depicting the 1961 home run race between Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Today, Reggie operates the “Reggie Smith Baseball Centers,” consults with major league baseball organizations, conducts youth baseball camps throughout the year, offers private and small-group instruction for players of all levels, and trains and certifies coaches for various amateur and school baseball leagues from around the world.

    Tony Lewis Torchia is a former minor league baseball player and manager. He was a left handed throwing, righthanded batting first baseman who played 13 seasons in the minors. Originally signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers, he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox after his rookie season, 1962, and he would spend 24 years in the Boston organization.  Torchia holds the distinction of having been the only man who has served as a player, coach and manager of the Pawtucket Red Sox. After he retired as a player in 1974, he coached for the "PawSox" in 1975. He then managed Class A and AA Boston farm clubs from 1976-82. His first team, the Winston-Salem Red Sox, won the 1976 Carolina League pennant. Torchia returned to Pawtucket as the third manager in the club's AAA history in 1983. After two seasons there, he served as the bullpen coach for the Red Sox in 1985.  He then managed Boston's AA New Britain farm club in 1986 before leaving the organization for good.  Beginning in 1987, Torchia coached and managed at the minor league level for the San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies and Houston Astros. He most recently managed the Mid-Missouri Mavericks in the independent Frontier League.  Torchia is presently travels around the world teaching baseball to kids and coaches as an Envoy for MLB.