If headline writers and baseball writers had a vote, Kim Ng would be the Seattle Mariners’ general manager. Unusual though it may be, Ng’s name is a lot easier to spell and fit into a headline than Jack Zduriencik. But Zduriencik got the job so let’s get started: Write Zduriencik 100 times on the blackboard. Each time you get it wrong, do another 100.
For the 57-year-old Zduriencik, the job is long overdue. He has been a scouting and talent whiz and has deserved a chance to be a general manager. His name, which is pronounced “Zur-EN-sik” should not have been an obstacle.
Nor should Ng’s gender be an obstacle for her. Her name is pronounced “Ang.”
Major League Baseball has never had a woman as a general manager. Ng, who is a vice president and assistant general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is the only female executive in baseball operations.
It would be a bold step for a team to name a woman its general manager, maybe too bold for any team to do it. But a black man may be elected president of the United States Tuesday so Ng may attain her goal of becoming a general manager.
“I’m a novelty; there’s no doubt about that,” the 40-year-old Ng said. “But once you get the opportunity to speak to people and let them know what you’re about, that’s all we need – an opportunity to talk.
Under Commissioner Bud Selig’s guidelines, when a club seeks a general manager or a manager, it has to at least interview members of minorities. In this instance, Ng’s name on the list of candidates enabled the Mariners to meet the requirement. But she did not think she was a token minority.
“I think they were somewhat intrigued since I got to the second round,” Ng said. “The most important thing is being able to get in front of the group and talk about your ideas and your vision, your plans and your approach. By getting that opportunity it allowed me to present myself and get to the second round.”
Ng said that “I felt I had done well” in the first round and “I thought I did as well” in the second round. “Jerry DiPoto of the Diamondbacks and Tony LaCava of the Blue Jays also had two interviews.
Obviously, many general managers fail and are fired, as the Mariners fired Bill Bavasi. Some, like Bavasi, who previously had been the Angels’ general manager, are fired and hired elsewhere, though baseball’s recycling practice isn’t as rampant as it once was. Given the number of assistant general managers, far more men have been unable to take the next step than women.
Despite his quarter of a century in professional baseball, Zduriencik had been considered for a general manager’s job only once before.
“I was interviewed in Pittsburgh last year,” Zduriencik said. That makes him 1 for 2. Ng is 0 for 2, having interviewed unsuccessfully for the Dodgers’ job three years ago. Ng remained upbeat about her prospects despite her second unsuccessful attempt.
“It’s not discouraging at all,” she said. “It’s encouraging. It’s heartening. It reaffirmed my belief that when given the opportunity, if you present a good plan and a vision people will listen. I think that’s what I got from the deal. It was great for me. It was a tremendous experience.”
When and why did Ng decide she wanted to be a general manager? It’s not the sort of job young girls grow up aspiring to.
“I don’t think it’s definable,” she said. “I don’t think there was any one big thing that hit me. It comes over time. You’re an assistant general manager; you see the expectations of a general manager. At some point it’s something you want to go after.”
Ng, who was born in Ridgewood, N.J., has worked in the majors the past 18 years, beginning with the White Sox in 1991 and including four years with the Yankees. Zduriencik, a western Pennsylvanian, began his baseball career in 1983 with the Mets. He said he didn’t spend much time the past 25 years dwelling on a desire to be a general manager.
“I’ve thought about it as something I wanted to do,” he said.” but honestly this is my personality. Maybe it’s a result of my upbringing. I worked in the steel mills as a kid, so do your job, keep your mouth shut and maybe someday somebody will recognize you. I’ve always enjoyed the jobs I’ve had. I wasn’t always looking for the next job. I didn’t feel I could push myself out there.”
The Seattle job doesn’t come easily for Zduriencik. The Mariners were supposed to be good this year; some people picked them to win the American League West title. In addition they had one of the top 10 payrolls in the majors. But they finished last with the second worst record in the majors.
“I’m in the process of trying to gather as much information as I can,” Zduriencik said. “There’s work to be done here.”
Zduriencik’s best work has come in his draft selections for the Brewers. They included Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun. “We were lucky,” he said. “We had some high picks. We took some risks. When we took Prince Fielder, there were questions. There were questions about Ryan Braun, too.”
No one, however, questions those picks now, and that’s how Zduriencik hopes to operate in Seattle. “You start with putting the right people on your staff,” he said. “Then phase one is getting the right players, and phase two is getting them through the system. The whole thing is getting everyone on the same page. If you have that, you’re okay.”
Oldest Gets Younger
One day after Jack Zduriencik was named the Seattle general manager, Pat Gillick retired as the Philadelphia general manager, turning over to the Mariners’ rookie the status as the major leagues’ oldest general manager. Gillick is 71.
Zduriencik is 57 and will turn 58 in January. He is the oldest general manager by 39 days, having been born Jan. 11, 1951. Walt Jocketty of Cincinnati was born Feb. 19 that year.
For a while, teams seemed to be seeking young general managers, but the rush to youth has slowed. Still, 10 general managers are 41 or younger.
Gillick said he had no problems with youthful general managers.
“I think it’s good for the industry,” he said. “The owners own the clubs. They can do what they want. It’s their business and their asset. I like to see young guys come in. If they have a feel and a passion for the game, they should be part of it. Better to see young guys come in than keep recycling all of us.”
Gillick was 39 when he became the Toronto general manager, 58 when he was named Baltimore’s general manager, 62 when he took the same position with Seattle and 68 when he embarked on what he says is his last tour of duty as a general manager, this one culminating in the Phillies’ World Series championship.
Junior Becomes Senior Player
Once upon a time Ken Griffey Jr. was destined to become the No.1 home run hitter of all time and, who knew, maybe the greatest player of all time. He hit with power, he hit for average and he was a terrific center fielder. Heading into the 2001 season Griffey was 56 home runs behind Bonds, 438 to 494, and he was five years younger than Bonds.
Beginning late in the 2000 season, though, Griffey sustained a series of disabling injuries that severely reduced his playing time and undermined his offensive, as well as defensive, efforts. Bonds, who was offended whenever anyone suggested that Griffey was better, took command of what Bonds made a personal competition for public judgment.
As impossible as it seems to me, Griffey, whom I remember as the kid who ran around the Yankees’ clubhouse when his father played for the Yankees, will turn 39 years old later this month. He is not the same player he was when he was younger and not battered by injuries.
He has completed his nine-year, $116.5 million contract that he signed with the Reds when they acquired him from the Mariners in February 2000, and the White Sox, who traded for Griffey July 31, declined to exercise the $16.5 million option in his contract. Instead they will pay him $4 million as a buyout.
Griffey’s agent, Brian Goldberg, said Friday that Griffey will file for free agency early this week. It will be Griffey’s first time as a free agent. At his age and with his 2008 statistics (.249, 18 home runs, 71 runs batted in), this is not the best of times for Griffey to be a free agent.
But, Goldberg said, “He’s upbeat. He definitely wants to continue playing. Last year was a little strange. Not to make excuses but he played with a bum knee. It was repaired with arthroscopic surgery about two weeks ago when the White Sox were eliminated.”
Griffey, Goldberg said, had a partially torn meniscus and cartilage in his left knee. “That’s his back leg when he hits. He couldn’t use his lower body the way he wanted to. But he’s pumped up about continuing playing. The doctor gave him a good outlook.”
The agent said Griffey enjoyed his few months with the White Sox, and they will discuss the possibility of a new contract. “They made it clear they wanted to continue to talk,” Goldberg said. “Junior had a great time there and he’s amenable to seeing what their plans are.”
Beyond that possibility, the agent said, he would seek the right match, putting Griffey with a team where he would have a chance to play a reasonable number of games and to return to the post-season.
Griffey finished his 20th major league season fifth on the career home run list with 611, behind Bonds, Henry Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays. This next thought violates the doctrine of the fallacy of the predestined home runs, but had Griffey remained completely healthy every one of the past eight seasons, he would most likely have passed Mays and possibly Ruth, too.
“I’m proud of him that he has never complained about what if,” Goldberg said. “He isn’t bitter. I have to give him credit for not looking back and being upset about those things.
He’s looking forward to being healthy and contributing.”
Open Mouth, Deposit Check
As long as Hank Steinbrenner tries hard to emulate his father’s verbal bombast, he shouldn’t mind emulating George Steinbrenner’s penchant for drawing fines from the commissioner’s office.
The younger Steinbrenner hasn’t said or done anything so outrageous that he has incurred the commissioner’s fining wrath, but he might be getting closer. The other day he came close to tampering in a remark he made to the Associated Press about CC Sabathia.
“Every team in baseball wants Sabathia,” he said. “That’s the bottom line. It’s not a real secret.”
But no other executive of a club was talking about it publicly. Sabathia had yet to file for free agency and therefore remained property of the Milwaukee Brewers, who were trying to sign him before he became a free agent.
Commissioners have fined clubs for tampering, and Steinbrenner has given Bud Selig reason to think about it.