Dallas Green (baseball)

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Dallas Green (baseball) bigraphy, stories - American baseball player, manager, executive

Dallas Green (baseball) : biography

August 4, 1934 –

George Dallas Green (born August 4, 1934) is a former pitcher, manager, and executive in Major League Baseball. After playing for the Philadelphia Phillies and two other teams, he went on to manage the Phillies, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets, and managed the Phillies when they won their first World Series title in franchise history in 1980. Green had a losing record both as a pitcher and as a manager. Nonetheless, in 1983, he was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame. He achieved notoriety for his blunt manner.

Early life

Green was born in Newport, Delaware. A 1952 graduate of Conrad High School his nickname was Spider. After attending the University of Delaware, he was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent by scout Jocko Collins.

Manner

Dallas Green is probably best known for his difficult interpersonal manner. As he himself has proudly said: "I’m a screamer, a yeller and a cusser. I never hold back."http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/G/Green_Dallas.stm He achieved notoriety for his profanity-laced tirades.

An example of the way that Dallas Green had of speaking to the press about ballplayers was his comment about Scott Rolen in 2001: "Scotty’s satisfied with being a so-so player. I think he can be greater, but his personality won’t let him." Rolen has since been elected to the All Star team 6 times, although his career has been riddled with injury since that comment.

Front office

After his playing days ended, Green joined the Phillies front office. In , he was appointed manager of the Phillies, replacing Danny Ozark. His difficult manner led to clashes with many of the teams’s star players, such as slugger Greg Luzinski (who likened him to the Gestapo) and shortstop Larry Bowa and catcher Bob Boone, both Gold Glove winners. He even came to blows with relief pitcher Ron Reed. Still, in 1980 the team won the World Series.

After the Tribune Company bought the Chicago Cubs from the Wrigley family in , the company hired Green away from the Phillies after the 1981 season as executive vice president and general manager. His presence was quickly felt in the organization, as his slogan "Building a New Tradition" was a jab at the Cubs’ history of losing. He hired a number of coaches and scouts away from the Phillies, such as Lee Elia (Green’s first manager and college roommate at Delaware), John Vukovich (who remained on the Cubs’ staff throughout Green’s tenure), and Gordon Goldsberry (the team’s director of player development). Green also made some trades with the Phillies, acquiring players such as Keith Moreland, Dan Larson, and Dickie Noles. His best trade came during that first offseason when Green sent Iván DeJesús to the Phillies for shortstop Larry Bowa and a minor league infielder named Ryne Sandberg. It proved to be one of the most one-sided trades in baseball history. Bowa was the Cubs starting shortstop for three seasons, and Sandberg blossomed into a star, being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.

Green continued to build the Cubs between the 1982 and 1987 seasons. After acquiring left fielder Gary Matthews and center fielder Bob Dernier from Philadelphia before the 1984 season, Green’s Cubs became serious contenders for the first time in more than a decade. During the 1984 season, Green made a few more moves, most notably acquiring right-handed pitcher Dennis Eckersley from the Boston Red Sox for popular first baseman Bill Buckner in late May, and sending Cubs’ prospects Mel Hall and Joe Carter to the Cleveland Indians for relief pitcher George Frazier, backup catcher Ron Hassey and right-handed pitcher Rick Sutcliffe in mid-June. Sutcliffe went 16-1 with the Cubs that season to lead the Cubs to the National League East title—their first postseason appearance of any kind since the 1945 World Series. Because Green neglected to renew waivers on Hall and Carter, the status of the trade was in doubt for a while, and the two did not play for a week. Green’s first-year manager Jim Frey (who managed the Kansas City Royals against Green in 1980) won NL Manager of the Year, Sutcliffe won the NL Cy Young Award, and Sandberg won the NL Most Valuable Player Award. Green captured Executive of the Year honors. The Cubs’ strong season was enough for Green to win a power struggle within the Cubs front office; he was promoted to team president, replacing Jim Finks, who resigned to take a job with the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League.