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Although Peter Ueberroth was born in Evanston, IL, he was raised in Northern California. As a student at Fremont Union High School, Ueberroth lettered in football, baseball and swimming.
He then attended San Jose State University on an athletic scholarship and lettered in water polo. He competed in the 1956 United States Olympic water polo trials but did not make the team. Ueberroth graduated in 1959 with a degree in business.
Ueberroth then launched a career in the travel industry, and at the age of 22, became a vice president and shareholder in Trans International Airlines. Ueberroth worked at Trans International until 1963 when he founded his own travel company which would become First Travel Corporation. When he sold the company in 1980, First Travel Corp. was the second largest travel business in North America.
Shortly there-after, Ueberroth became the organizer of the 1984 Summer OlympicsThe Games of the XXIII Olympiad were held in 1984 in Los Angeles, United States. Los Angeles was the only city to bid to host the 1984 Summer Olympics. Games of the XXIII Olympiad Nations participating140 Athletes participating6,797 (5,230 men, 1,567 wome held in Los Angeles, CaliforniaThis article is about the city in California. For other uses of 'Los Angeles' see Los Angeles (disambiguation The City of Los Angeles widely known by its abbreviation L. is a large coastal metropolis in Southern California in the western United States. for five years. He was a prominent figure in the games and was named Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1984. Under Ueberroth's leadership and management, the first privately financed Olympic Games resulted in a surplus of nearly $250 million, which was used to support youth and sports activities throughout the United States.
Ueberroth was elected to suceed Bowie KuhnBowie Kent Kuhn (born October 28, 1926 in Takoma Park, Maryland) was commissioner of Major League Baseball from February 4, 1969 to September 30, 1984. He served as legal counsel for Major League Baseball owners prior to his election as commissioner. on March 3March 3 is the 62nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (63rd in leap years). There are 303 days remaining. Events 1400-1899 1431 Eugenius IV becomes Pope. 1791 The United States Mint is created by the United States Congress. 1820 The United States, 1984See also 1983 in sports, other events of 1984, 1985 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'. Auto Racing Stock car racing: NASCAR Championship Terry Labonte Cale Yarborough won the Daytona 500 Richard Petty won the 200th (and final) race of his career and officially took office in October of that year. As a condition of his hiring, Ueberroth increased the commissioner’s fining ability from $5000 to $250,000. His salary was raised to a reported $450,000, nearly twice what Kuhn was paid.
Ueberroth's commissionership began in crisis, with the Major League Umpires Union threatening to strike the post-season. The Ueberroth managed to arbitrate the disagreement and had the umpires back to work before the League Championship SeriesThe League Championship Series is the official name for a round of playoffs in Major League Baseball. It matches up the winners of the Division Series, and its winners advance to the World Series. The League Championship Series was promulgated in 1969, wh were over. The next summer, Ueberroth worked behind the scenes to limit a players' strike to one day before a new labor agreement was worked out with the Players Association.
During his stint as commissioner, Ueberroth reinstated Hall of Famers Willie MaysWillie Howard Mays, Jr. born May 6, 1931) is a former star of Major League Baseball. Mays, nicknamed The Say Hey Kid played center field throughout nearly all his career and is regarded as one of the finest players ever to have played the game. The epitom & Mickey Mantle, who had been banned from working for Major League Baseball by Kuhn because of their associations with gambling casinos, facilicated collusion, negotiated a $1.2 billion television contract with CBS, and initiated the investigation against Pete Rose. Also at his urging, the Chicago Cubs chose to install lights at Wrigley Field rather than reimburse the leagues for lost night-game revenues. Ueberroth then found a new source of income in the form of persuading large corporations to pay for the privilege of having their products endorsed by Major League Baseball.
Under Ueberroth, Major League Baseball enjoyed increased attendance (record attendance four straight seasons), greater awareness of crowd control and alcohol management within ballparks, a successful and vigilant anti-drug campaign, significant industry-wide improvement in the area of fair employment, and a significantly improved financial picture for the industry. When Ueberroth took office, 21 of the 26 clubs were losing money; in Ueberroth's last full season season - 1988 - all clubs either broke even or finished in the black. In 1987, for example, baseball as an industry showed a net profit of $21.3 million, its first profitable year since 1973.
After opting not to run for a second term, Ueberroth resigned even though he wasn't scheduled to leave office for another six months. During this process, he helped promote the election of his evenutal successor, National League president A. Bartlett Giamatti.
Three years after leading office, he led the Rebuild Los Angeles project after the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Ueberroth ran for Governor of California in the 2003 California recall election as an independent, though he was a registered Republican. His campaign focused on California's economic and budget crisis, avoiding social issues. With polls indicating only single digits of support, he pulled out of the race on September 9, 2003, though his name still appeared on the ballot and received a small but significant amount of votes. He placed 6th in a field of 135 candidates.