Joe Klein

Joseph Anthony Klein III (August 22, 1942 – August 23, 2017) was an American professional baseball executive. At the time of his death, Klein was the executive director of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent circuit operating in the Northeast United States. Klein was a farm director, scouting director, and general manager in Major League Baseball from 1976 through 1995.

Minor league first baseman and manager Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. During his playing career, Klein was a minor league first baseman in the Washington Senators farm system from 1962 to 1968. A left-handed batter and thrower, he hit .278 in 1,733 at bats.

Atlantic League executive In his later life, Klein was an important figure in independent baseball. As executive director of the Atlantic League, Klein was in charge of day-to-day baseball operations for the organization. In August 2007, he returned to the public eye when he was called upon to discipline former MLB infielder José Offerman after a bat-swinging episode in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Klein was associated with the Atlantic League from its founding until his death on August 23, 2017, at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia from complications from quadruple bypass surgery, only one day after his 75th birthday.