Greatest 21 Days Baseball Profiles

The Oakland Athletics made personnel moves at AAA Tacoma for 1985 that Tacoma General Manager Stan Naccarato didn't like and Naccarato let the Athletics know it, The Tacoma News Tribune wrote . The disagreement even led to an argument between Naccarato and Athletics then-new VP of baseball operations Sandy Alderson, though they eventually patched things over, The News Tribune wrote . "Stan is highly motivated and emotionally involved with his team and city," Alderson told The News Tribune that December. "Occasionally, things are said, and, on reflection, regretted." By that point, Naccarato had been involved with Tacoma baseball for more than a decade. In fact, he's even credited as saving it. He also went on to earn the title of Tacoma's Mr. Baseball. Naccarato's career in baseball actually began in the minors himself. He's credited as playing three seasons in the Reds system, at Class C Ogden in 1947 and 1948 and then at single-A Charleston ...

As general manager of the independent Salinas Spurs, John Jonas already had his work cut out for him . He needed to assemble a workable team , get fans in the stands, court advertisers and do it all in the competitive California League in his first job as a minor league general manager. "This is a city with great potential," Jonas told The Salinas Californian late that March has he tried to do all those things. "Most of it is unharnessed. The question is, how do you reach that potential?" Jonas, however, never really could succeed in any of those, all leading to his tenure as Salinas GM proving brief. He was out by the end of June. Jonas arrived in Salinas from his native Connecticut. He'd served the previous year as business manager for the Joe Buzas-owned New Britain Red Sox. Buzas also owned the Salinas Spurs. Jonas' 1989 campaign with New Britain also marked his first with that club. The Hartford Courant noted Jonas came from a hockey background, playi...

The short-season Watertown Indians more than tripled the attendance in 1989 from the previous year, to 64,000, The Oswego Palladium-Times wrote . The surge earned the team's president Michael W. Schell league Executive of the Year honors. But Schell looked to his general manager Tom Van Schaack for his work, along with others, The Palladium-Times wrote . "This award is a tribute to the business people who supported baseball as investors and sponsors. It's also a tribute to Tom Van Schaack and his staff, to the fans and the city officials, who helped bring baseball back to Watertown." Van Schaack earned those accolades early in his career. And his career went on beyond Watertown, to serve in front offices elsewhere, including AAA Syracuse and AA Huntsville. Van Schaack continued with Watertown for 1990, and got his own card. By 1993, Van Schaack had moved on to Minnesota and independent ball as general manager for Duluth-Superior . In 1999, Van Schaack was an assistant...

Tracy Richardson grew up in Watertown, graduating from Watertown High School. So, when it came time for Watertown's minor league team to pick an intern for 1989, Richardson became a natural fit, The Ogdensburg Journal wrote . "We think Tracy will be a tremendous asset to our organization," Watertown Indians GM Tom Van Schaak told The Journal . "Being from the area is a big plus. He knows a lot of people and a lot of people know Tracy." Richardson did well enough that year as intern to make it to assistant GM for 1990. Richardson started work with Watertown after playing baseball himself at Watertown High and then Jefferson Community College and Brockport State, where he worked to complete a degree in physical education and sports management, The Journal wrote . By that October, Richardson had been named the Indians' assistant general manager. He even got to go to the American League Championship series  in Toronto with GM Van Schaak. That November, Richardso...

Tampa Yankees general manager Sammy Arena knew he had his work cut out for him in 1998, as a crowded sports market got even more crowded with the major league Tampa Bay Devil Rays setting up shop right in the Tampa market, according to The Stuart News . "There are a few so you have to be better in order to stay ahead," Arena told The News of the competition. "It helps in that we're in the biggest market in the league. But I'm not sure what affect the Devil Rays have had on us. Our two biggest nights of the season so far have been nights when we have gone head-to-head with the Devil Rays." By that point, Arena had been working to make his Yankees teams better for eight seasons, first as a clubhouse manager and then as a minor league general manager.  Arena's career in minor league baseball began with the Yankees in 1990, as clubhouse manager with high-A Prince William. His work got him on to the team photo card, front row left. He joined the Yankees aft...

Kevin Towers may have been young - just 34 - but Padres president Larry Lucchino knew Towers was the right choice in November 1995 to be the team's next general manager, according to The Escondido Times-Advocate . "From our point of view, the essential skill (for a GM) is the ability to evaluate talent - at the amateur level, at the minor-league level and at the major-league level," Lucchino said then, according to The Times-Advocate . "Kevin Towers has a talent for talent." By that point, Towers had played and coached in the minors, scouted and directed scouts. He went on to serve as general manager with the Padres for more than a decade, then with the Diamondbacks, before passing in 2018 at the age of 56 . Towers' career in baseball began in 1982, taken by the Padres in the first round of the June secondary draft out of Brigham Young University. Towers started with the Padres at short-season Walla Walla . He went 1-4 in six starts, with a 4.74 ERA. He t...

Diamondbacks General Manager Kevin Towers recounted Jerry Dipoto 's resume to The Arizona Republic in September 2011. Dipoto had been a major league player, a closer, a scout, worked in development and, the previous year, Dipoto had served as interim Diamondbacks general manager, Towers noted to The Republic . "He has tremendous recall. He knows players. He's very organized, thorough, people skills, work ethic. Really no negatives," Towers told The Republic of Dipoto, then the organization's senior VP for scouting and player development. "Do I think he'll be a good GM? I think he'll be outstanding. I think he's already been outstanding." Dipoto soon took that resume directly there, to the general manager's office, hired by the Angels for 2012. He stayed there four seasons, before moving to the Mariners, a job he continues to hold in 2022. Before that, though, he was a player. He saw time in eight major league seasons . He also worked hi...

As any minor leaguer does, Larry Schmittou had his sights set high in 1990 - the big leagues. Only Schmittou had them set there as an owner, not as a player. The president and GM of the AAA Nashville Sounds hoped to bring the bigs to Music City, The Nashville Tennessean wrote . "We owned a minor league baseball team in Greensboro, N.C., for nine years, and I'll tell you right now, Nashville doesn't have to take a back seat to Charlotte or anybody else," Schmittou told The Tennessean . "Nashville can do anything if Nashville wants to bad enough." While Schmittou never succeeded in bring the majors to Nashville, he did succeed in many other areas, from minor league baseball ownership, to college coaching at Vanderbilt and even through a chain of bowling centers. Schmittou grew up in the Nashville area. He started as a teacher and coach in Nashville schools from 1961 to 1968, according to his Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame bio . (He was inducted in 2006) He arri...

The Kingsport Mets front office needed someone to step up for 1986, after the team's president got sick and club secretary Dottie Elsea proved that person, The Kingsport Times-News wrote . She quickly stepped in - even ordering new bases, which she'd never thought about. Along the way, she took the club to team-record attendance. For her efforts, she won league Executive of the Year honors, The Times-News wrote . "I'm absolutely elated," Elsea told The Times-News of the honor. "It's more than I could ever have imagined. It makes all the sweat and tears worthwhile - and that's about what it was, sweat and tears." Elsea's connection to local Kinsport baseball going back to the 1970s , when the Braves were in town , largely as a volunteer. She got to see players come and go. In 1981, one of those players was Kevin Mitchell . In June 1989, as Mitchell lit up the National League with the Giants, Elsea recalled the "bubbly kid" who once ...

Dan Lunetta knew his way around baseball offices by 2016. He'd been a minor league general manager, a major league traveling secretary and director of minor league administration. For the previous 12 seasons, he'd worked with the Tigers director of minor league operations, enough to win him a 2016 honor for distinguished service in player development, MiLB.com wrote . "Dan Lunetta is one of the most well-rounded and experienced executives in baseball today," Minor League Baseball President & CEO Pat O'Conner told MiLB.com then. "Dan's dedication to player development and his contributions to the game at the Major League level and the Minor League level throughout his career have been extraordinary, and it is my pleasure to present him with the Sheldon 'Chief' Bender Award." Lunetta's long career in baseball began more than three decades earlier, in his hometown of Jamestown, NY. Lunetta, a graduate Jamestown High School and SUNY Bro...

The independent Miami Miracle tried to make a splash in 1990. They signed former major leaguer Jackie Gutierrez, selected players in the draft and even tried to sign Hall of Famer Jim Rice, The Tampa Tribune wrote . General manager Bruce Bielenberg explained the moves to The Tribune that June. "We're always full of surprises," Bielenberg told The Tribune . "But the bottom line is, we're trying to put together a quality baseball product here." Bielenberg had experience with successful minor league franchises before, specifically as public relations director with the AAA Iowa Cubs. Then, from Miami, he went on to work in Minnesota, with the NBA's Timberwolves. Bielenberg started his career out of Drake University in Iowa in 1984. He then joined the Iowa Cubs and became the club's public relations director. In 1986, the club won top minor league team .  "One thing that has helped us is the location of the stadium," Bielenberg explained to U...

Longtime major leaguer Bobby Murcer attempted a comeback at the age of 39 in April 1985 and the place he tried his comeback turned out to be Fort Lauderdale, with the single-A Yankees, according to The Miami Herald . Fort Lauderdale General Manager Mark Zettelmeyer looked forward to the veteran joining the club, The Herald wrote . "Bobby asked the front office for the chance to try to make a comeback and they gave him permission," Zettelmeyer told The Herald . "It's going to be an exciting weekend for everyone, especially the fans." Murcer's return proved brief, four games. But Zettelmeyer's  exciting time with the Yankees organization would continue for another decade or more, as Fort Lauderdale's general manager and in other jobs. Zettelmeyer started with the Yankees through family, specifically his first cousin, George Steinbrenner. After owning an auto dealership in Florida, Steinbrenner offered him a job, Zettelmeyer's wife told The Tampa B...

New Reno Silver Sox general manager Jack Patton knew he and his manager had a daunting task for 1989: As an independent in the single-A California League, they needed to build a competitive team from scratch. Late that May, as his team went through a rough patch, Patton spoke to The Reno Gazette-Journal about the process. "You need guys who aren't going to be satisfied to be here all season," Patton told The Gazette-Journal . Patton's efforts that season, his first as a general manager, ultimately won him league executive of the year . Patton's path in the minors arrived at Reno from Bakersfield, then went on through Riverside, Ca., and then to Bakersfield again. Patton started at Brigham Young University, where he graduated in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in communications. He arrived at single-A Bakersfield in 1985 and, in his fourth season there in 1988, had become the club's assistant general manager . He joined his father Lowell Patton there. His f...

Bob Burgess didn't have to look far for his first job out of college, his first baseball job , at least. Burgess went to Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY, and graduated from there with a degree in business management . But, for his first baseball job, he just had to go down the road about 70 miles to the closest minor league team to the college town, Watertown. In 1988, Burgess signed on with the short-season Watertown Pirates as assistant general manager. Burgess' career in minor league baseball, however, appeared short-lived. It lasted as few as three seasons. Burgess' arrival in Watertown, however, coincided with the final season of the Pirates' stay there. The Pirates had called Watertown home since 1983. But, after 1988, Burgess' first year as team assistant GM, the Pirates moved their short-season club to Welland, Ont., - and Burgess followed. Burgess again served as the club's assistant general manager for 1989. He also got to return to...

Winston-Salem Spirit assistant general manager Matt Newsom tried to explain some of the economics of minor league baseball to The Washington Post in July 1989. Basically, teams need to continually work to get more people out to games, he told The Post . "The frustrating thing about the finances here is that it costs us the same to turn on the lights and open the park whether one person comes or a thousand people come," Newsom told The Post then. "If we're not selling out every game, there's always room for improvement." Newsom spoke to The Post as he worked for the Carolina League mainstay his first full year out of college. Newsom went on to work for teams elsewhere, specifically hockey teams. He also later worked in racing . With Winston-Salem, one of his roles included being the Holly Farms Chicken, at least for one day. Newsom recently found this project and reached out. When the topic of Lickety Split's inclusion in the Winston-Salem ...

Asked in 2019 about his rise in the sports industry, Tom Glick couldn't pinpoint one thing propelled him to where he'd gotten, according to an interview with an industry group. But he did point to his early work in minor league baseball, early work that included a year with the short-season Jamestown Expos . "What I found out very early, during my job in the minor leagues right out of school, was that I was curious and passionate about the business of sport and how an organization runs," Glick told the group Association of Luxury Suite Directors . "Later on, I learned what made a high-performing organization." Glick went on from Jamestown to serve in top positions of several other minor league teams. He then changed sports and got even higher in the business. He's since worked in the NBA for both the league and the New Jersey Nets, in MLS for New York City FC, then in the English Premier League for Manchester City. In 2018, Glick returned sta...