Jimmie Lee Solomon

Between the records set at Dartmouth College in track and catching thirty-seven passes for 420 yards over two seasons in the football program, Solomon spent the early years of his education in sports and would never leave. He graduated from Harvard with honors in 1981 and immediately started working for the prestigious law firm Baker and Hostetler, in Washington, D.C. Solomon was the firm’s first black attorney. After eight years at Baker and Hostetler, Solomon became a partner. However, he eventually felt burnt out, so he began looking for another career opportunity, which came in the form of Major League Baseball. At around the same time that Solomon was looking for a new venture, the League was looking to fill the new executive position. While practicing law, Solomon had represented a number of clients in the sporting industry, including the NFL Management Council and some professional athletes and coaches. Solomon’s love of sports had not disappeared, and he even toyed with the idea of becoming a sports agent, so when the offer to interview for the position with the MLB arose, Solomon took it. He applied for the post, was hired as Director of Minor League Operations in 1991, and moved to the MLB’s main offices in New York. Solomon was promoted to Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations in 1995. Essentially every important decision in baseball passed across his desk. In June, 2012 Jimmie Lee Solomon resigned from his role with Major League Baseball.