The Portland Sea Dogs have announce the death of the team’s founding president and general manager.

The team said Tuesday that Charlie Eshbach has died at the age of 70 following a lengthy illness.

He was the team’s first employee. Sea Dogs founder Dan Burke hired Eshbach to lead the franchise and bring professional baseball back to Portland for the first time since 1949.

A press release from the team called him the “primary visionary of the sea dogs brand.”

“Charlie Eshbach was the heart and the brains behind the Portland Sea Dogs, advising our father Dan Burke as he worked to bring the team to Portland,” Bill Burke and Sally McNamara said in the release. “His wise counsel and good humor will be dearly missed by all who counted on him for advice and support. We are deeply saddened by his passing and our hearts go out to Ann-Marie and his entire family.”

He served as president and GM through the 2010 season. He remained the team’s president through the end of the 2018 season and then stepped down from the leadership role to become a senior advisor for the team.