Dick Wagner, 78; built up Cincinnati Reds into a powerhouse in 1970s

PHOENIX -- Dick Wagner, a former president of the Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros who later became a top executive in the commissioner's office, died Thursday at St. Joseph's Hospital. He was 78.

Mr. Wagner died of injuries sustained in a 1999 car crash, his wife, Gloria (Larsen) Wagner, said Friday.

With the Reds, he helped orchestrate the acquisition of pitcher Tom Seaver from the New York Mets in 1977, the firing of manager Sparky Anderson in 1979, and the trade of outfielder George Foster to the Mets in 1982. Mr. Wagner also dealt Seaver back to the Mets after the 1982 season.

``Dick Wagner dedicated his life to the game of baseball," commissioner Bud Selig said. ``Baseball has lost another of its true gentlemen."

Born on Oct. 19, 1927, in Central City, Neb., Mr. Wagner began his baseball career in 1946, when he left the US Navy and was hired by the Detroit Tigers as general manager of their Thomasville farm team in the Georgia-Florida League.

With the Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates, he worked for teams in Flint, Mich., and Lincoln, Neb., and he was selected minor league executive of the year by The Sporting News in the late 1950s.

After leaving baseball for jobs with the Ice Capades and radio station KSAL in Salinas, Kan., he became general manager of The Forum, an arena in Inglewood, Calif.

He returned to baseball in 1964 as promotions director of the St. Louis Cardinals under Bob Howsam. When Howsam moved to the Reds, Mr. Wagner followed him as his deputy in 1967.

He helped build the Big Red Machine into a team that won consecutive World Series titles in 1975 and 1976, then took over from Howsam as team president in February 1978, a position he held until he was fired in July 1983.

An opponent of free agency, Mr. Wagner allowed many of the Reds stars of the '70s to leave for higher salaries elsewhere.

After putting together baseball's best record in the strike-interrupted 1981 season, the Reds wound up with the National League's worst record in 1982.

When Marge Schott was a limited partner of the Reds, before she became controlling owner, she hired an airplane to pull banners over Riverfront Stadium urging the team to fire Mr. Wagner.

Mr. Wagner became the Astros' president and general manager in September 1983, then resigned after the 1987 season when he lost a power struggle with manager Hal Lanier.

Two months later, he became a special assistant in the commissioner's office and worked closely with American League president Bobby Brown.

In February 1993, five months after Selig led the group of owners that forced commissioner Fay Vincent to resign, Selig hired Mr. Wagner to run the staff in New York. Mr. Wagner held the position until January 1994.

He leaves his wife; a son, Randy of Vancouver, Wash.; a daughter, Cynthia Weick of Stockton, Calif.; three grandchildren; and a sister, Kaye Wagner of Tarzana, Calif. A memorial service is scheduled for Oct. 14 in Beatrice, Neb.