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A blue-chip executive: Ned Colletti perseveres on his way to dream job as Dodgers' general manager(Sacramento Bee, The (CA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Aug. 20--SAN FRANCISCO -- Ned Colletti is living a dream, and it has nothing to do with the fact the rookie general manager's Los Angeles Dodgers are the hottest team in baseball as they engage the Giants in a weekend series. Colletti, 52, is giddy because he totally appreciates his good fortune in overcoming humble beginnings to ascend to the peak of his profession in a sport he entered by necessity, not by design. "It would be difficult to imagine a better situation," Colletti said last weekend at Dodger Stadium. "My patience was rewarded because the right job came along." And it came at the Giants' expense. He was GM Brian Sabean's trusted assistant for nine years, a jack-of-all-trades front-office whiz. The Dodgers snagged him with a four-year contract. "There's faith in my life, and I believe things happen for a reason," Colletti said. "To come from where I came from and to be here -- only in America and only for the grace of God. It's just amazing." And Colletti wasn't talking about the Dodgers' good fortune -- they recently won 17 times in 18 games -- but about his Chicago roots and the sense of responsibility that brought him to baseball. Colletti was reared in a modest home in Franklin Park, a poor Chicago suburb next to railroad freight yards and within earshot of noisy jets at O'Hare. The family included brother Doug, now a veteran announcer for the Chicago Bears. Although young Ned was a Cubs fan, there wasn't much spare change to afford attending games, and he leaned more toward hockey. After graduating from Northern Illinois with a journalism degree, he became a sportswriter. "I had a passion for both sports, (and) it was a lot easier skating on those frozen rivers in Chicago than fishing in them," said Colletti, who took a job with the Philadelphia Journal and covered the Flyers' run to the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals. The rug was pulled from his newsman aspirations when the Journal folded in 1981, leaving Colletti out of work with a 6-week-old son and a sizable mortgage. If that wasn't enough, his father was dying of lung cancer and Doug was off to college. As the eldest son of an old-school, Italian-American family, Colletti was obligated to return home. Fortunately, a public relations job opened with the Cubs. "I had to go home," he said. "My first son was born, I had an 18 1/2 percent mortgage in Philly. I needed a job, and it had to be in Chicago. "And then the Cubs called." Colletti's administrative skills soon became evident. He was a valued numbers cruncher for GM Dallas Green, displaying a penchant for arbitration cases. But he found it troubling to promote players in his PR role and tear them down at contract time. In fact, his reputation was enhanced by his negotiating skills -- he lost one arbitration case with the Cubs (Shawon Dunston) and one with the Giants (A.J. Pierzynski) -- but he envisioned himself as a double-agent. He appealed to GM Jim Frey and was promoted to assistant GM of the Cubs. But he left his mark in PR, becoming, at 34, the youngest to win the Robert O. Fishel Award for public relations excellence. Colletti helped Andre Dawson become the first MVP from a last-place team in 1987, promoted the first night game at Wrigley Field and authored four books. But he apparently went too far campaigning to keep free agent Greg Maddux. In 1992, he signed second baseman Ryne Sandberg to a four-year, $28.4 million deal, making him the game's highest-paid player. Management didn't feel there was enough money left for Maddux, who walked after a 20-11 season. That created a rift with GM Larry Himes, who fired Colletti around Christmas in 1994 during baseball's most recent strike. Thirteen years and 232 victories later, Maddux recently was reunited with Colletti. "Ned is very good at what he does," Maddux said. "I didn't realize it until I went somewhere else. He was supportive of me when I came up in Chicago and was a factor in my coming to the Dodgers." When he left the Cubs, Colletti opened a PR firm in Chicago, but baseball administration was in his blood. When Tony Siegle left the Giants in 1994, he recommended Colletti, who joined GM Bob Quinn and assistant Sabean. After three consecutive losing seasons, Sabean was promoted to the top job Sept. 30, 1996, and Colletti became his assistant, forging a relationship that served the Giants well in eight consecutive winning seasons. The friends bounced ideas off each other, often discussing baseball matters deep into the night. Sabean pulled the trigger on moves, but Colletti's input was invaluable, as was his acumen during negotiations. "Ned's biggest asset is his people skills," Sabean said. "He was a confidant, someone to lean on and to exchange ideas with. I was confident he'd make a good GM, so I'm definitely not surprised by what he's doing in L.A. ... "I was a little surprised it took so long for him to get a GM job, but he was patient and the right one came along." A workaholic, Colletti is married (Gayle) and has two children (Lou and Jenna) who understand his dedication. He credits the flexibility and freedom he enjoyed under Sabean with preparing him for the Dodgers' job. "I probably teed up a lot of things and brought them to the table for Brian, and I give him a lot of credit because he never failed to give me an opportunity to do things," said Colletti, who performed a lot of GM duties with the Giants. "Without that experience, I never would have been able to come in here and do things. If you don't have a manager and you've never gone through that process, and if you've never made a trade before, it would be more difficult. "But thanks to Brian, I had done all that stuff in San Francisco." One of Colletti's first moves with the Giants was a three-year, $30.7 million deal for Barry Bonds, making him the highest-paid major leaguer. He also recalls being instrumental in acquiring Brian Johnson in 1997 and Randy Winn last year. And it's apparent he didn't burn any bridges with players during his San Francisco tenure. The Dodgers' roster is dotted with ex-Giants, including Jeff Kent, who wasn't re-signed despite six consecutive 100-RBI seasons, a void that remains unfilled. Kent endorsed Colletti when asked by owner Frank McCourt about the GM vacancy last year. The Dodgers' second baseman obviously didn't hold Colletti responsible for his somewhat acrimonious departure after the 2002 World Series. "I liked his character," Kent said of Colletti. "I liked the fact that Brian and Ned were in your face -- tell it like it is, and if you don't like it, tough." Perhaps it's the exhilaration of a last-to-first winning streak, but Colletti seems more at ease with the Dodgers. He appears to be more media-friendly, able to use his PR skills to advantage instead of behind the scenes. "With the Giants, it was more of a good-cop, bad-cop thing with Brian and Ned," Kent said. "In S.F., Brian was the pusher, the caller of shots in the shadows, the decision-maker. Ned was the calming effect. He evaluated things and then gave answers. "I felt bad that Ned had to operate with his hands tied, with a fly on the wall. It's not how you win championships." Colletti, perhaps diplomatically, insists he doesn't have more autonomy with the Dodgers, but it's apparent he works for less-hands-on ownership and has a more lucrative farm system and a budget not weighted down by one player. Things have turned out well for Colletti and the Dodgers, but he has been in baseball too long not to know how quickly things can change, especially in the erratic National League West. "I've been through the downside too many times," he said while the Dodgers were sweeping the Giants last weekend. "I just went through the downside (1-13), and I honestly feel it's pitch-to-pitch, that the whole season can change on one pitch. "The team has responded well. You hope what you do will pull them through. I handle the ups and downs because nothing lasts forever." If anything, the 1-13 dive after the All-Star break might have been a blessing in disguise. With Nomar Garciaparra and Kent injured, the slump prodded Colletti to get help. Wilson Betemit, Julio Lugo and Maddux were added, and the team took off. Concluded Kent, touting Colletti for Executive of the Year: "I think there was a boost of mental confidence with the recent moves. And having quality kids in the farm system is a huge advantage to a GM. "The Giants have been tied to Barry. They need to win now, and therefore they sucked their system dry. Ned has done a great job evaluating talent. Name another GM who has brought in a new manager, a new coaching staff, all hand-picked. "There's nobody else that's done what he needed to do as well as Ned." Copyright (c) 2006, The Sacramento Bee, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |