Ever wonder how Dave Dombrowski was perceived before he ran the Marlins and long before he ran the Tigers? Keep on reading to see how he and the rest of the American League Central General Managers were described when they were hired as GMs for the first time (and click here to read about some top AL East execs):
Chris Antonetti
“Back when he was an unpaid Montreal Expos intern, pocketing 25 cents per ice cream cone sold at Florida State League games, Chris Antonetti understood the value of seeing a plan to its fruition. At least, you'd have to assume he did.
"Because how else would you explain someone who had recently completed the University of Massachusetts sports management graduate program hawking Drumsticks in the 100-degree heat for a little cash on the side?” – Anthony Castrovince, MLB.com, April 13th, 2010
Dayton Moore
“Now 39, well-dressed, with a graying brush cut, Moore is serious about building a team in the manner of his mentor with the Braves, John Schuerholz, who ideally had three or four homegrown players competing each season for major league roster spots. Moore wants to develop the type of prospects who, if necessary, can be dealt for established major leaguers, as the Braves did last year.” – Richard Sandomir, The New York Times, June 25th, 2006
Bill Smith
“Bill Smith didn't play the game and learn to scout it like [former Twins GM] Terry Ryan. His beginning as a baseball executive began in a non-traditional way. When Smith was finishing at Hamilton College in upstate New York, the winter meetings were being held nearby in Toronto. Professors were skeptical about him skipping his last classes, but he wanted a job in the sport … The son of a Coast Guard officer, a native of New Hampshire, and a French major at Hamilton, Smith fit that bill with a background he called a 'little bit off the wall.'" – Dave Campbell, The Associated Press, September 14th, 2007
Kenny Williams
"Don't expect the 36-year-old Williams – formerly the White Sox' minor-league director – to go into the [approaching team] meetings with a wheel-and-deal mentality … 'I really needed to get a handle on things at the organizational meetings because I've been so absorbed with the minor-league system,' Williams said.” – Scot Gregor, The Chicago Daily Herald, November 2nd, 2000
Dave Dombrowski
“In Montreal, the new boss is the same age or younger than five of his Expo players, and folks are more than a trifle puzzled. David Mark Dombrowski is 31.
"Cherub-faced, he looks younger. Buck Rodgers, the Expos' manager, was in Double A ball before his new boss was born. More than a few of Dombrowski's fellow general managers in the major leagues could pass for his grandfather. Beaver Cleaver, for crying out loud, is older than Dombrowski.
"So, folks wonder, who is this young whippersnapper and how is it that he can become the general manager of a major-league baseball club before his 32nd birthday? Well, it helped Dombrowski that he has an aggressive-but-amicable personality, good baseball acumen and a slick ability to pass himself off as someone who has spent 31 years in administration rather than 31 years on earth. It helped that he was the recipient of a break several years ago from the late Bill Veeck.
"And it helped that he was in the right place at the right time, a much-needed antithesis to the drab, ineffective Bill Stoneman, whom he replaced last week as the Expos' man in charge of player-related matters.” – Marty York, The Globe & Mail, July 16, 1988
Kenny Williams has a rep of trading alot of prospects for veterans…
I wonder if DD had fanboys like AA or Hoyer do when he first started.
Dombrowski is entering his tenth season with the Tigers. He’s had the highest payroll in the division, has one playoff appearance as a wild card, and no division titles. This year’s model had a $ 122 million payroll and finished at .500. He has not signed a single position player as a free agent to a multi year contract in five years. What’s Stoneman doing these days?