David Forst

For the British broadcaster, see David Frost.

David Lee Forst (born May 18, 1976) is an American baseball executive with the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball. He is the general manager of the Athletics.

David Forst
Oakland Athletics
General manager
Born: May 18, 1976
Teams
Oakland Athletics (2000–present)

Early and personal life

Forst was born in Santa Monica, California, and raised in Encino, California.^[1][2] He attended Brentwood School in Brentwood, Los Angeles.^[3] Forst's wife is Rebe Glass, a lawyer with the San Francisco law firm Cooley Godward Kronish.^[4] Glass and Forst met at Harvard, where Glass was captain of the soccer team and a member of the 1997 All-Ivy Team, Second Team.^[4][5] They have a son (Judah) and a daughter (Sasha), and live in Berkeley, California, as well as a niece (Serena), and a nephew (Ryan) who live near them in Burlingame. ^[6]

College

Forst attended Harvard University, where he played college baseball for the Harvard Crimson. Forst was the Crimson's starting shortstop and team captain, and in his senior year he batted .406/.437/.624, while setting a school record with 67 hits.^[7][8][4] He was named an All-America third-team shortstop.^[9] He graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in sociology from Harvard in 1998.^[10][11]

Playing career

Forst attended spring training with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB) in 1999.^[12] He played for the Springfield Capitals of the independent Frontier League in 1998 (batting .280/.350/.320; playing primarily third base) and 1999 (batting .294/.362/.376; playing primarily shortstop).^[13][2]

Front office career

In 2000, Forst sent his résumé to MLB teams and was hired by the Oakland Athletics as a scout.^[12][14] He became the Athletics' assistant general manager in 2004, succeeding Paul DePodesta.^[10] He turned down opportunities to interview for the general manager position with the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres.^[11][15] After the 2015 season, the Athletics announced that, with Billy Beane being promoted to executive vice president of baseball operations, Forst would be promoted to general manager.^[16]

References

1. "Q&A with David Forst". Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
2. David Forst Independent Leagues Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com
3. "It's Academic for Forst Until June Graduation". latimes. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
4. Ascent of A's latest whiz began at lowest level - SFGate
5. Rebe Glass
6. Executive Bio | Oakland Athletics
7. Sam Mamudi. "Harvard teammates rising as MLB executives". MarketWatch. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
8. David Forst Baseball Statistics [1998-1999]
9. "MLB Update: Harvard Baseball in the Front Office - Harvard". Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
10. "A's name David Forst assistant General Manager - Oakland Athletics". Oakland Athletics. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
11. Los Angeles Times (August 21, 2014). "There's a lot of brains behind the scenes of the Oakland Athletics". latimes.com. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
12. Lewis, Michael (2003). Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-393-05765-2.
13. Ben McGrath (September 26, 2011). "Nerdball". The New Yorker. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
14. "Forst Settles in as Assistant GM for A's". thecrimson.com. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
15. "Forst won't be an option in Seattle". Oakland Athletics: The Drumbeat. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
16. "A's announce front office promotions for Beane, Forst". CSN Bay Area. Archived from the original on October 7, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2015.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference (Minors)