Former MLB Executive Jimmie Lee Solomon ’78 Passes Away

HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth College and the athletics department mourns the loss of Jimmie Lee Solomon '78, a former top executive with Major League Baseball, who passed away at his home in Houston last week at the age of 64.

A two-sport athlete at Dartmouth, Solomon was a halfback and wide receiver on the football squad as well as a sprinter on the track and field team. He amassed 420 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns on 37 catches, leading the Big Green in receiving yards (318) as a senior, and ran for 92 yards and two more scores on 33 rushes during his gridiron career. On the track, Solomon set a school record in the 60-yard dash and earned All-Ivy League honors during his Dartmouth career.

After graduating, Solomon went on to study at Harvard Law School and was first hired by MLB in 1991 as director of minor league operations. Nine years later, he was promoted to senior vice president of baseball operations, and in another five years became the executive vice president of baseball operations. In these roles he had oversight over on-field discipline, security and ballpark management. He changed roles in 2010 with his appointment as the executive vice president of baseball development, and when he resigned from MLB in 2012, he was one of the highest-ranking Black officials in baseball.

Among his lasting legacies with MLB is the Futures Game, which was first played in 1999 as part of the All-Star Game festivities at Fenway Park and continues to this day, showcasing some of the top prospects throughout the minor leagues. He also was instrumental in establishing a number of youth academies, the first of which opened in 2006 in Compton, California, as part of MLB's efforts to revive baseball in inner cities and increase the number of Black players in the majors. Other academies followed in Houston and New Orleans before he left his post, and more followed in places both domestic and abroad.

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