Dallas Green

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For the Canadian musician, see Dallas Green (musician).

Dallas Green (1960s)

George Dallas Green (born August 4, 1934) is a former pitcher, manager, and executive in Major League Baseball. After playing for the Phillies and 3 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. While Green had a losing record both as a pitcher and as a manager, Green achieved notoriety for his difficult manner and is also known for having been manager of the Phillies when they won their first World Series. Currently, he is a Senior Advisor to the General Manager for the Phillies.

Green was born in Newport, Delaware. After attending the University of Delaware, he was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent.

1 Manner
2 Playing career
3 Front Office
4 Managerial career
5 External links

[edit] Manner

Dallas Green is probably best know for his difficult interpersonal manner. As he himself has proudly said: "I'm a screamer, a yeller and a cusser. I never hold back." [1] He achieved notoriety for his profanity-laced tirades. [2]

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.” [3] Rolen has since been elected to the All Star team 4 times.

[edit] Playing career

Green's pitching record (from 1960-67) was 20–22, with all his decisions coming with the Phillies. The Senators and Mets both purchased Green from the Phillies, only to return him a few weeks later to the Phillies. He had a 4.26 ERA, with 268 strikeouts in 561 1/3 innings pitched. Green also had 4 career saves. Batters hit .320 against him in tie games, and righties hit .303 against him in his career.

In June 1963, Green gave up Jimmy Piersall's 100th home run of his career. Piersall celebrated the milestone by running around the bases while facing backwards; Green was not amused. Green also gave up the only grand slam of Pete Rose's career, in July 1964.

[edit] Front Office

After his playing days ended, Green joined the Phillies front office. In 1979, he was appointed manager of the Phillies, replacing Danny Ozark. His difficult manner led to clashes with many of the teams's star players. Still, in 1980 the team won the World Series.

After the Tribune Company bought the Chicago Cubs from the Wrigley family in 1981, the company hired Green away from the Phillies after the 1981 season to be the team's 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 Ivan DeJesus to the Phillies for shortstop Larry Bowa and a minor league infielder named Ryne Sandberg. 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 during the 1982 and 1983 seasons. After acquiring left fielder Gary Matthews and center fielder Bob Dernier from Philadelphia before the 1984 season, Green's Cubs were contenders. 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. 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 struggled in 1985 and 1986. It finished last in 1987. In 1987, Green fired manager Gene Michael over Labor Day weekend, blasted his team for quitting in an interview with the Chicago Tribune, and then resigned as general manager and president of the Cubs organization in October 1987 citing "philosophical differences" with Tribune Company executives.

Green was the first Cubs executive to clash with the City of Chicago over lights in Wrigley Field. Green was a strong proponent of lights from the start of his tenure, but a city ordinance prohibited the Cubs from installing lights in the residential Lakeview neighborhood, where Wrigley Field was located. As president of the Cubs organization (the Tribune Co. made him president in 1984 after Jim Finks resigned to take a job with the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League), Green threatened to move the Cubs to a domed stadium in northwest suburban Schaumburg. The city did not react to Green's threats. After Green's departure, the Chicago City Council and Mayor Harold Washington (who died a week later) approved a change to the ordinance, allowing the Cubs to install lights in 1988.

Green also rebuilt the Cubs' farm system with Goldsberry, developing stars like Shawon Dunston, Greg Maddux, Rafael Palmeiro, Jamie Moyer, and Mark Grace. The Cubs won a division title in 1989.

[edit] Managerial career

His managerial record is 454–478, a .487 WP.

With the Phillies (1979–81), he was over .500 with a record of 169–130. He inherited a team that had come in first in the division for 3 of the prior 4 years under Danny Ozark. They continued their winning ways under Green at first, winning the World Series in 1980. But some felt that it was his players' shared hatred toward Green, who criticized them in the press, that propelled the Phillies to their World Series title. [4] By 1981 the team fell to the 3rd best record in the division. Pat Corrales took over the next year, steering the team to a 2nd place finish, and then reasserting the team as division leader the next year.

With the Mets (1993–96), he was under .500 at 229–283 (.447). While the Mets had been 18 games under .500 prior to Green taking the helm, in 1993 they fell to 32 games under under Green -- in the portion of the season (124 games) that he managed them. They remained under .500 until Bobby Valentine took over the team in 1997.

With the Yankees (1989), he was also under .500 at 56–65 (.463). The team had finished 9 games over .500 the prior year, but fell to 9 games under .500 during Green's tenure. Green had also insulted George Steinbrenner by referring to him as "Manager George." [ http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/G/Green_Dallas.stm]

[edit] External links

BaseballReference.com - playing statistics and managing record
Career Bio at BaseballLibrary.com

Preceded by Danny Ozark	Philadelphia Phillies Manager 1979–1981	Succeeded by Pat Corrales
Preceded by Herman Franks	Chicago Cubs General Manager 1981–1987	Succeeded by Jim Frey
Preceded by Billy Martin	New York Yankees Manager 1989	Succeeded by Bucky Dent
Preceded by Jeff Torborg	New York Mets Manager 1993–1996	Succeeded by Bobby Valentine