Syd Thrift, a former general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates who spent nearly a half century in baseball, died at 77.

He underwent knee replacement surgery on Monday in Milford, Del., and died that night, said the Baltimore Orioles, one of many teams for whom he worked. An autopsy will determine the cause of death.

"He was a great baseball man -- both on and off the field -- who dedicated his life to the game," commissioner Bud Selig said. "He was a personal friend of mine and I will miss him."

Thrift became GM of the Pirates in 1985 and gave Jim Leyland his start as a major-league manager. In 1989, he went to the New York Yankees as senior vice president of baseball operations.

"Sid Thrift was passionate about the game of baseball," Pirates managing general partner Kevin McClatchy said. "He will be remembered here in Pittsburgh as someone who greatly contributed to the building of the successful Pirates teams of the early 1990s."

Thrift's long baseball career began in 1949 when he joined the Yankees' minor-league organization. Among the teams he worked for was the Kansas City Royals, where he founded their renowned baseball academy.

He worked in the Orioles' front office for eight seasons after joining the team in 1994. Five years later, he became the team's vice president of baseball operations, a job he held until 2002. After leaving the Orioles, he was a consultant with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays until his retirement in 2004.

"He was an innovator. He wasn't afraid to take a chance," said Mike Flanagan, Baltimore's VP of baseball operations. After Thrift left, Flanagan and Jim Beattie shared the vacated role.

"It took two men to replace me," Thrift joked at the time.

ROUNDUP

PETTITTE ON HOLD: Andy Pettitte will miss his scheduled start for the Houston Astros against the Cincinnati Reds tonight to be with his hospitalized father. Pettitte hasn't played since leaving in the third inning of his start Sept. 12 because of a strained flexor muscle in his left elbow. Garner said the left-hander has recovered from that injury. It was unclear exactly what was wrong with Pettitte's father, but he has been in and out of the hospital for the last week and underwent tests yesterday.

A ROYAL RECALL: Zack Greinke, once considered a top Kansas City prospect, was recalled by the Royals from Double-A Wichita yesterday and will be used as a reliever. Greinke was 8-11 with a 3.77 E.R.A. in 2004, then went 5-17 with a 5.80 E.R.A. last season.

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