John Leo Harrington[1] (born July 12, 1936[citation needed]) is an American retired business manager and former executive in Major League Baseball (MLB).
Yawkey died in 1976 and was eventually replaced by his wife Jean,[4] who sold the team in 1977 to a syndicate headed by general partners Buddy LeRoux and Haywood Sullivan.
Harrington was instrumental in acquiring Pedro Martínez, Manny Ramírez, Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield, Johnny Damon, Derek Lowe and other stars.
Harrington built a new spring training facility in Fort Myers, Florida, and broadened the reach and popularity of Red Sox majority-owned New England Sports Network (NESN).
In 1997, All-Star pitcher Roger Clemens acrimoniously left the team to sign as a free agent with the Toronto Blue Jays, where he won a fourth Cy Young Award.
[13] The following month, a civil rights advocate who offered to mediate a settlement for the club abandoned those efforts, accusing Harrington of rebuffing him and failing to deal in good faith.
After much outcry from the public, the team was sold prior to the 2002 season to an ownership group, New England Sports Ventures, headed by John W. Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino, bringing a close to Harrington's time with the Red Sox.