thedrifter
08-24-05, 05:23 AM
Padres' Alderson comfortable in many caps
By Greg Boeck, USA TODAY
By Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY
SAN DIEGO — During his three-year hitch in the military in the early 1970s, Sandy Alderson was literally a poster boy for the Marine Corps. "The Marines are looking for a few good men," read the recruiting tool for the Vietnam War.
Sandy Alderson says all the positives of the San Diego Padres' franchise helped lure him back into the club level. "It was really a no-brainer," he said.
Some 30 years later, Alderson could qualify as the poster executive for Major League Baseball. "Sandy has the best résumé in the game," San Diego Padres owner John Moores says.
Undergraduate degree: Dartmouth. Military degree: Marine Corps company commander, Vietnam. Law degree: Harvard.
That's why Moores lured Alderson out of the commissioner's office in April with an offer to return to his baseball roots — the club level — as chief executive officer and minority owner.
At Alderson's introduction, Moores raised the bar for a man who left his mark with the Oakland A's (four division titles, three American League pennants, one World Series championship) during a 17-year run that redefined the résumé of general managing.
Alderson also made a name for himself with Major League Baseball during a seven-year stint in which he played a key role in the reorganization and internationalization of the sport and developed a reputation as a tough guy who ruffled some with his straightforward, politically incorrect posture.
"My expectations of Sandy are modest," Moores said in welcoming Alderson aboard. "I want him to turn this into the best baseball franchise in America."
Challenge accepted — and modestly achieved in Alderson's four-month tenure: The Padres are leading the National League West, although flirting with .500.
"He wants to have the best franchise in baseball and so do I," says Alderson.
"Why shouldn't that be the goal?"
Alderson, 57, has spent a lifetime embracing challenges — all the way to Vietnam.
That's where he developed his leadership skills that translated quickly into baseball success.
"Whatever style I have is innate to the time I had in the Marine Corps," he says. "One of the things I like about being with a team is the interaction with other employees. There's a whole range of people and experiences and socio-economic backgrounds.
"That's what I learned in the Marine Corps. People come from a lot of different places and it's important to respect that and take advantage of what each individual has to offer."
Alderson, the son of an Air Force pilot who served in World War II, the Korean War and two tours of duty in Vietnam, joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps upon enrolling at Dartmouth in 1965. After his sophomore year, he chose the Marines instead of the Navy.
"I wanted to be on the ground slogging it out," he says.
He served eight months in Vietnam (September 1970 to May 1971), finishing up his tour as a company commander. He says his company saw little action, but it had casualties — mostly from booby traps.
He looks back at the unpopular war with mixed feelings.
"Just because you have all the resources doesn't mean you're ultimately going to be successful. Just as in different walks of life, you can make up for a lot with hard work, determination and commitment. And that was something that probably as a country we didn't have during the war, perhaps justifiably."
However, he still treasures his Marine Corps experience. It's who he is.
"I enjoyed being in the Marines, the physical aspect, the mental challenges, the interaction with people who had a common goal in a sense of responsibility to one another," he says.
That's the framework of what drives him three decades later as a baseball executive. He's still physically and mentally fit — a jogger who devours crossword puzzles — with a singular focus.
"I don't want to disappoint people," he says. "People are relying on me. Maybe that goes back to the Marine Corps experience and family. It's not the money. You want to win, but it has to do with a sense of responsibility."
From GI to J.D.
Alderson says he considered a career in the Marines, but another challenge presented itself when he was accepted into Harvard Law School in 1973. "I figured it's the best, why not give it a shot?"
He received his law degree in 1976 and went to work as a business lawyer in San Francisco with Roy Eisenhart, also a Dartmouth graduate and former Marine officer.
In 1980, Eisenhart and his brother-in-law, Walter Haas, bought the Athletics from Charlie Finley. Alderson provided the legal work to close the sale and followed up with several salary arbitrations for the club.
In 1981, Eisenhart, the team president, persuaded Alderson to join the team full time as its general counsel.
The Alderson file
Born: Nov. 22, 1947, in Seattle.
His family: Wife, Linda; married daughter Cate Edell, 26, works in New York at the Guggenheim Museum; son Bryn, 24, scouting coordinator for the A's.
His background: "I've been associated with some great institutions, Harvard, Major League Baseball, but nothing compares to the Marine Corps. The guy I succeeded as platoon commander will be the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," Gen. Peter Pace.
His mission: "We need to first of all build a top-notch player development system (in San Diego). It's a mid-market city. With a great player development system, we can be a contender on a consistent basis."
His philosophy: During a round of golf at San Diego's Del Mar Country Club, his twosome was invited by course workers to help themselves to hundreds of high-end balls they were fishing out of an overgrown patch of rough. Alderson didn't hesitate, grabbing about a dozen balls that cost close to $40 a dozen in the pro shop. He might have more revenue at his disposal with the mid-market Padres than he did with the A's, but don't look for him to throw big money at free agents.
His direction: "He walks in (to San Diego) and things are already in motion," says St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who managed for Alderson in Oakland. "He's very intelligent, very honest, very tough-minded. I'm very confident he'll be a huge plus for that organization."
His biggest influences: Mother, Gwenny, who died in 1997 -"She had tremendous drive;" Father, John, 82, who lives in St. Petersburg, Fla., where he plays softball in a 50-and-over league; Roy Eisenhart "because he gave me the opportunity at the law firm and A's."
His lifestyle: In New York, he lived in a townhouse in Manhattan just blocks from MLB offices. He didn't own a car. In San Diego, he purchased a 7,000 square-foot home on the fourth fairway at Del Mar Country Club. He shoots in the 90s but doesn't play often
On his awareness of possible of steroid use during his watch in Oakland, which featured Bash Brothers Mark McGwire and Jose Canesco?: "The short answer is no. Except there was an occasion or two in late '88 or '89 in Boston where you stop and ask yourself if something was going on. In the overall scheme of things, there was so little we knew in those days of that culture. We were all a little naïve and unsuspecting. What's been revealed has caused me to think back to those days in a somewhat less positive way than I did before."
By Greg Boeck, Scott Boeck
He wasn't a baseball neophyte. Alderson played second base at Dartmouth his first two years.
"I wasn't very good," he says. "The best thing I did was quit because it gave me a chance to try other things."
Like running the A's. When Billy Martin was fired in 1982, Alderson took over his duties as general manager with the leanest of baseball résumés. He was 35.
"He didn't have the baseball background of most GMs," says Wally Haas Jr., the son of the owner and a vice president for the club at the time. "He got on the ground floor, kicked the dirt and relied on others around him who had more baseball knowledge."
At the time, he was an outsider in a sport ruled by insiders set in old school ways.
continued....
By Greg Boeck, USA TODAY
By Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY
SAN DIEGO — During his three-year hitch in the military in the early 1970s, Sandy Alderson was literally a poster boy for the Marine Corps. "The Marines are looking for a few good men," read the recruiting tool for the Vietnam War.
Sandy Alderson says all the positives of the San Diego Padres' franchise helped lure him back into the club level. "It was really a no-brainer," he said.
Some 30 years later, Alderson could qualify as the poster executive for Major League Baseball. "Sandy has the best résumé in the game," San Diego Padres owner John Moores says.
Undergraduate degree: Dartmouth. Military degree: Marine Corps company commander, Vietnam. Law degree: Harvard.
That's why Moores lured Alderson out of the commissioner's office in April with an offer to return to his baseball roots — the club level — as chief executive officer and minority owner.
At Alderson's introduction, Moores raised the bar for a man who left his mark with the Oakland A's (four division titles, three American League pennants, one World Series championship) during a 17-year run that redefined the résumé of general managing.
Alderson also made a name for himself with Major League Baseball during a seven-year stint in which he played a key role in the reorganization and internationalization of the sport and developed a reputation as a tough guy who ruffled some with his straightforward, politically incorrect posture.
"My expectations of Sandy are modest," Moores said in welcoming Alderson aboard. "I want him to turn this into the best baseball franchise in America."
Challenge accepted — and modestly achieved in Alderson's four-month tenure: The Padres are leading the National League West, although flirting with .500.
"He wants to have the best franchise in baseball and so do I," says Alderson.
"Why shouldn't that be the goal?"
Alderson, 57, has spent a lifetime embracing challenges — all the way to Vietnam.
That's where he developed his leadership skills that translated quickly into baseball success.
"Whatever style I have is innate to the time I had in the Marine Corps," he says. "One of the things I like about being with a team is the interaction with other employees. There's a whole range of people and experiences and socio-economic backgrounds.
"That's what I learned in the Marine Corps. People come from a lot of different places and it's important to respect that and take advantage of what each individual has to offer."
Alderson, the son of an Air Force pilot who served in World War II, the Korean War and two tours of duty in Vietnam, joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps upon enrolling at Dartmouth in 1965. After his sophomore year, he chose the Marines instead of the Navy.
"I wanted to be on the ground slogging it out," he says.
He served eight months in Vietnam (September 1970 to May 1971), finishing up his tour as a company commander. He says his company saw little action, but it had casualties — mostly from booby traps.
He looks back at the unpopular war with mixed feelings.
"Just because you have all the resources doesn't mean you're ultimately going to be successful. Just as in different walks of life, you can make up for a lot with hard work, determination and commitment. And that was something that probably as a country we didn't have during the war, perhaps justifiably."
However, he still treasures his Marine Corps experience. It's who he is.
"I enjoyed being in the Marines, the physical aspect, the mental challenges, the interaction with people who had a common goal in a sense of responsibility to one another," he says.
That's the framework of what drives him three decades later as a baseball executive. He's still physically and mentally fit — a jogger who devours crossword puzzles — with a singular focus.
"I don't want to disappoint people," he says. "People are relying on me. Maybe that goes back to the Marine Corps experience and family. It's not the money. You want to win, but it has to do with a sense of responsibility."
From GI to J.D.
Alderson says he considered a career in the Marines, but another challenge presented itself when he was accepted into Harvard Law School in 1973. "I figured it's the best, why not give it a shot?"
He received his law degree in 1976 and went to work as a business lawyer in San Francisco with Roy Eisenhart, also a Dartmouth graduate and former Marine officer.
In 1980, Eisenhart and his brother-in-law, Walter Haas, bought the Athletics from Charlie Finley. Alderson provided the legal work to close the sale and followed up with several salary arbitrations for the club.
In 1981, Eisenhart, the team president, persuaded Alderson to join the team full time as its general counsel.
The Alderson file
Born: Nov. 22, 1947, in Seattle.
His family: Wife, Linda; married daughter Cate Edell, 26, works in New York at the Guggenheim Museum; son Bryn, 24, scouting coordinator for the A's.
His background: "I've been associated with some great institutions, Harvard, Major League Baseball, but nothing compares to the Marine Corps. The guy I succeeded as platoon commander will be the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," Gen. Peter Pace.
His mission: "We need to first of all build a top-notch player development system (in San Diego). It's a mid-market city. With a great player development system, we can be a contender on a consistent basis."
His philosophy: During a round of golf at San Diego's Del Mar Country Club, his twosome was invited by course workers to help themselves to hundreds of high-end balls they were fishing out of an overgrown patch of rough. Alderson didn't hesitate, grabbing about a dozen balls that cost close to $40 a dozen in the pro shop. He might have more revenue at his disposal with the mid-market Padres than he did with the A's, but don't look for him to throw big money at free agents.
His direction: "He walks in (to San Diego) and things are already in motion," says St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who managed for Alderson in Oakland. "He's very intelligent, very honest, very tough-minded. I'm very confident he'll be a huge plus for that organization."
His biggest influences: Mother, Gwenny, who died in 1997 -"She had tremendous drive;" Father, John, 82, who lives in St. Petersburg, Fla., where he plays softball in a 50-and-over league; Roy Eisenhart "because he gave me the opportunity at the law firm and A's."
His lifestyle: In New York, he lived in a townhouse in Manhattan just blocks from MLB offices. He didn't own a car. In San Diego, he purchased a 7,000 square-foot home on the fourth fairway at Del Mar Country Club. He shoots in the 90s but doesn't play often
On his awareness of possible of steroid use during his watch in Oakland, which featured Bash Brothers Mark McGwire and Jose Canesco?: "The short answer is no. Except there was an occasion or two in late '88 or '89 in Boston where you stop and ask yourself if something was going on. In the overall scheme of things, there was so little we knew in those days of that culture. We were all a little naïve and unsuspecting. What's been revealed has caused me to think back to those days in a somewhat less positive way than I did before."
By Greg Boeck, Scott Boeck
He wasn't a baseball neophyte. Alderson played second base at Dartmouth his first two years.
"I wasn't very good," he says. "The best thing I did was quit because it gave me a chance to try other things."
Like running the A's. When Billy Martin was fired in 1982, Alderson took over his duties as general manager with the leanest of baseball résumés. He was 35.
"He didn't have the baseball background of most GMs," says Wally Haas Jr., the son of the owner and a vice president for the club at the time. "He got on the ground floor, kicked the dirt and relied on others around him who had more baseball knowledge."
At the time, he was an outsider in a sport ruled by insiders set in old school ways.
continued....