{{Short description|American baseball executive}} {{for|the American Paralympic archer|Kevin Mather (archer)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2014}}
'''Kevin Mather''' is an American former [[professional baseball]] executive and accountant. He is a minority owner of the [[Seattle Mariners]] and served as its president from 2014 until 2021.
==Early life and career== Mather grew up in [[Madison, Wisconsin]]. He graduated from the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]] in 1984, earning a [[Bachelor of Arts]] in accounting and risk/insurance. He worked as a [[Certified Public Accountant]] at a firm for five years, before joining the [[Front office (finance)|front office]] of the [[Minnesota Twins]], starting as their director of finance in 1989, and receiving a promotion to vice president in 1992.<ref name=mlb.com/><ref name="ub">{{cite web |date=March 30, 2012 |title=$n$ Mariners CFO visits Walla Walla |url=https://www.union-bulletin.com/n-mariners-cfo-visits-walla-walla/article_4f9d963a-b546-5da7-a39c-e32b6ba45748.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140123153931/http://union-bulletin.com/news/2012/mar/30/n-mariners-cfo-visits-walla-walla/ |archive-date=January 23, 2014 |access-date=2025-01-15 |work=Walla Walla Union-Bulletin}}</ref>
==Seattle Mariners== Mather joined the [[Seattle Mariners]] organization in 1996, serving as executive vice president of finance and administration.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 1, 1996 |title=Transactions |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/01/sports/transactions-625442.html |url-access=registration |access-date=June 25, 2023 |work=The New York Times |page=B-6}}</ref> He was in charge of overseeing the building of [[Safeco Field]].<ref name=ub/> In January 2014, he was selected to succeed [[Chuck Armstrong]] as team president.<ref name="mlb.com">{{cite press release |title=Kevin Mather named Mariners President & COO; Bob Aylward named Chairman of NW Sports Net LLC (the regional sports network ROOT Sports NW) |date=January 24, 2014 |publisher=Seattle Mariners |url=http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140124&content_id=67078108&vkey=pr_sea&c_id=sea |via=[[MLB.com]] |access-date=January 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140212194557/http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140124&content_id=67078108&vkey=pr_sea&c_id=sea |archive-date=2014-02-12}}</ref>
In July 2018, a ''Seattle Times'' article reported that Mather contributed to creating a hostile workplace environment for women. Mather had been the subject of two workplace complaints from female employees in 2009 and 2010.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Baker |first1=Geoff |last2=Baker |first2=Mike |date=July 25, 2018 |title=Mariners execs faced workplace complaints; three women received settlements |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/mariners-executives-kept-jobs-after-3-women-left-with-workplace-complaint-settlements/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220630004110/https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/mariners-executives-kept-jobs-after-3-women-left-with-workplace-complaint-settlements/ |archive-date=2022-06-30 |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=Seattle Times}}</ref> In both instances, the employees were compensated an undisclosed sum. The two women eventually left the organization; Mather was retained and promoted.
Mather spoke at a [[Bellevue, Washington|Bellevue]] Breakfast [[Rotary International|Rotary Club]] event in February 2021 in which he confessed to [[service time manipulation|manipulating the service time]] of Mariners [[Prospect (sports)|prospects]] such as [[Jarred Kelenic]] during the [[2020 Major League Baseball season|2020 season]]. He made comments about the poor English-language skills of some of the team's foreign players, specifically complaining about needing to hire interpreters for players, such as Japanese [[pitcher]] [[Hisashi Iwakuma]] and remarking on the poor English of [[Julio Rodríguez]], a [[Dominican Republic|Dominican]] prospect. Mather also commented on the team's profits during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. The video was released publicly on February 21,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bronsdon |first=Grant |date=2021-02-21 |title=Full Transcript of Mariners President Kevin Mather's Remarks to Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club |url=https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2021/2/21/22294212/mariners-president-kevin-mather-full-transcript-bellevue-breakfast-rotary-club |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=Lookout Landing |language=en}}</ref> and the remarks were criticized, after which Mather apologized. The [[MLBPA]] called Mather's comments "offensive"<ref name="cbssports-2021-02">{{cite news |last1=Axisa |first1=Mike |last2=Anderson |first2=R. J. |title=Mariners president Kevin Mather admits team manipulates service time and criticizes player's English in video |url=https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/mariners-president-kevin-mather-admits-team-manipulates-service-time-and-criticizes-players-english-in-video/ |access-date=May 11, 2022 |work=CBS Sports |date=February 22, 2021 |language=en}}</ref> and Mather resigned as president of the Mariners the next day.<ref>{{cite tweet |number=1363956802988089348 |user=Mariners |title=Statement from Mariners chairman & managing partner John Stanton. Kevin Mather resigns position as President & CEO, effective immediately...Kevin Mather has resigned his position effective immediately...I will serve as acting president and CEO until a successor can be chosen. |author=Seattle Mariners |author-link=Seattle Mariners |date=February 22, 2021 |access-date=2025-01-15}}</ref> His successor as team president was Catie Griggs.
==Personal life== Mather and his wife, Shannon, live in [[Issaquah, Washington]]. They have three sons: John, David, and Steven.<ref name=mlb.com/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Seattle Mariners Presidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mather, Kevin}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Madison, Wisconsin]] [[Category:People from Issaquah, Washington]] [[Category:Wisconsin School of Business alumni]] [[Category:Minnesota Twins executives]] [[Category:Seattle Mariners executives]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]