T1B

Phillies introduce Pat Gillick as new GM

Inquirer staff report


Today the Phillies confirmed that veteran baseball executive Pat Gillick, the architect of three different franchises that advanced to post-season play, is the new Vice President and General Manager.

Phillies President David Montgomery announced today that Gillick, 68, signed a three-year contract to become the eighth Phillies general manager. Financial terms were undisclosed. He replaces Ed Wade.

"Our goal in this search was to find the right person and I'm pleased to announce that Pat Gillick is our new general manager," Montgomery said in a prepared statement. "His record of success is outstanding and I believe that Pat is the right person to lead our baseball operations. I'm very excited that he has decided to join us and I look forward to working with him."

"I'm very honored to be a part of the Phillies, an outstanding franchise," Gillick said in the statement. "We need to get over the hump and I look forward to that exciting challenge. I still have the passion and the competitive edge for the game and I think this is a very good situation."

Gillick had an impressive interview with Phillies president David Montgomery on Friday in Philadelphia and emerged as the front-runner over former Houston Astros general manager Gerry Hunsicker and other candidates - if he wasn't the front-runner from the start, Inquirer reporters Todd Zolecki and Jim Salisbury reported last night. Montgomery also interviewed Phillies assistant general managers Ruben Amaro Jr. and Mike Arbuckle and Cleveland Indians assistant general manager Chris Antonetti.

When Gillick was the GM in Toronto, the Blue Jays captured five American League East titles (1985, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993) and won back-to-back World Series in 1992-93. On Nov. 27, 1995, Gillick was named GM in Baltimore, according to the Phillies.

The Orioles advanced to the ALCS in 1996 and 1997. On Oct. 25, 1999, Gillick was named executive vice president and general manager of the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners reached the ALCS in both 2000 and 2001, tying a Major League record with 116 wins in the latter season.

For the past two years, he served as Special Consultant to the Executive Vice President/General Manager in Seattle.

Over the course of 24 years as a GM, Gillick's teams compiled a 2,010-1,773 record (.531). He was 1,352-1,297 in Toronto; 265-221 in Baltimore and 393-255 in Seattle.

Gillick started his professional career as a minor league pitcher in the Orioles' system in 1958. After five seasons as a minor leaguer and topping out at AAA ball, he began a front office career with the Houston Astros in 1963 as the Assistant Farm Director. He worked his way up to Regional Scouting Director and Director of Scouting with Houston before leaving to join the New York Yankees in 1974 as Coordinator of Player Development and Scouting.

Gillick was hired by the Blue Jays on Aug. 16, 1976, as the Vice President of Player Personnel, just prior to their inaugural season. He was responsible for all baseball-related activities including scouting, the farm system and the major league team. He was named vice president of baseball operations for the Blue Jays on Nov. 24, 1977, and executive vice president-baseball on Sept. 24, 1984.

A native of Chico, Ca., Gillick graduated from the University of Southern California in 1958 at the age of 20 with a business degree. At USC, he was a member of the 1958 College World Series championship team.

Gillick will head the Phillies delegation at the annual General Managers' meetings in Palm Springs next week. He will be joined by assistant GMs Ruben Amaro, Jr., and Mike Arbuckle and Gordon Lakey, director of major league scouting. Amaro and Arbuckle had been acting GMs.

Headhunter wrote:Hunsicker... it's Gerry Hunsicker. And if he goes to the Red Sox with a big payroll, watch out YankeeFan.

Headhunter wrote:Hunsicker... it's Gerry Hunsicker. And if he goes to the Red Sox with a big payroll, watch out YankeeFan.

Bizzarofelice wrote:What'll ya take for Abreau?

PrimeX wrote:Can we have Jimmy Rollins and that darkie first baseman?

We have a pitcher with a face growth thing you an have.

Snooze Baton wrote:

Headhunter wrote:Hunsicker... it's Gerry Hunsicker. And if he goes to the Red Sox with a big payroll, watch out YankeeFan.

Not being mentioned as a possible candidate by The Globe or Herald.

Nov. 1, 2005, 10:28PM

ON BASEBALL
Hunsicker must prove that he's trustworthy
By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

During the World Series, quite a few highly respected national baseball writers wondered why former Astros general manager Gerry Hunsicker wasn't getting enough credit for building the National League champions.

They wrote about how Hunsicker signed Andy Pettitte, lured Roger Clemens out of retirement and convinced Brad Lidge to throw a slider. All were wrong.

I'm not saying Hunsicker lied to some of my good friends. But as one Astros official put it recently, somebody misled through omission of the facts.

When it was time to close the deal on Pettitte, Hunsicker already had been taken off the assignment by owner Drayton McLane. McLane was the one who drove to the offices of Houston agents Randy and Alan Hendricks and put the final touches on the deal because, well, Hunsicker already had gone as far as the Hendrickses would let him.

The best thing Hunsicker did in the Clemens negotiations was keep his mouth shut, get out of McLane's way and hope the Hendricks brothers still weren't too mad at him for ripping them half a decade earlier when McLane and the Hendrickses were trying to get Clemens to Houston.

Clemens signed with the Astros because of McLane's lobbying. You and any other fan had more to do in convincing the greatest pitcher of our era to sign with the Astros than Hunsicker did.

For the record, the Hendrickses still don't care too much for Hunsicker.

Astros pitching coordinator Dewey Robinson taught Lidge the slider in just a few minutes, and the decision on Lidge's future was made in a group with at least six player development folks.

Questionable tactics
Don't get me wrong. Hunsicker was a tremendous general manager. If I owned a team, I'd definitely consider him for the GM job. But I'd have to ask some serious questions in regard to all the rumors about him circling around these days.

Some baseball officials have asked why Hunsicker has been bad-mouthed as a self-promoter with a tendency to throw his team owner under the bus. He always found ways to take credit when credit belonged elsewhere.

Personally, I like Hunsicker. I think he's funny and smart and a solid baseball man.

But if given the choice right now, I'd hire Tim Purpura in a hurry. Purpura is a hard worker, and he's loyal, too.

If something goes wrong, he takes the blame.

The first time I knew Hunsicker's days were numbered with the Astros was when he flirted with the New York Mets for their vacant general manager's job after the 2003 season. A report in the Newark Star-Ledger stated that Hunsicker wanted out of Houston because he had been overruled when he wanted to hire Tony Peña instead of Jimy Williams as manager after the 2001 season.

The morning that report ran, I was awoken by Astros brass furious because they believed Hunsicker was trying to take credit for discovering Peña.

For the record, Purpura, not Hunsicker, was the one pushing for Peña.

Trust was gone
Asked about the report, Hunsicker declined to comment. I told him I was running something about it with or without his comments because folks in his front office were offended by the inference. Whether it was true or not, Astros officials distrusted Hunsicker and believed he was the biggest leak in the franchise.

Moreover, it was obvious McLane had decided to replace Hunsicker with Purpura. I wrote as much that October.

Hunsicker made tremendous strides for the Astros, acquiring Willy Taveras and Luke Scott for Jeriome Robertson while picking up helpful players such as Jose Vizcaino and Orlando Palmeiro.

In the end, however, McLane simply did not trust him, because the belief was that Hunsicker was peppering the local scene with inaccurate portrayals of his boss.

Now as Hunsicker tries to land another job, he must wonder what kind of recommendation he's getting from his former employer. How would you like to be the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, wondering if the GM you hire will turn on you and rip you behind your back?

That's the rumor going on in baseball circles these days. How else can you explain such a successful GM lasting this long without another job when quite a few already have been up for grabs this offseason?

Bizzarofelice wrote:What'll ya take for Abreau?