Colletti brings vast experience to LA
11/16/2005LOS ANGELES -- Ned L. Colletti Jr. is the second former sportswriter to become Dodgers general manager (Fred Claire the other), but he doesn't brag about it.
"That was in another life," he said Wednesday, after being named the 10th GM in Dodgers history and the seventh in the last eight years.
Although it dropped off his media guide bio in 1999, Colletti spent six years on newspapers in Philadelphia and around Chicago before joining the Cubs in 1982 as assistant to public relations director Bob Ibach. At Wrigley Field, he also worked under general manager Dallas Green, with manager Jim Frey and a staff of coaches that included Don Zimmer, Billy Connor, John Vukovich, Jose Martinez and the late Johnny Oates.
In October 1985, he was promoted to director of media relations and added the title of publications director three years later. But in December 1990, he moved on to his second career in the game as the Cubs' director of baseball administration, adding the title of vice president 13 months later.
In 1995, Colletti left to join general manager Bob Quinn and assistant general manager Brian Sabean with the San Francisco Giants, first as special consultant to baseball operations. He took on full-time responsibilities in 1996 as director of Major League administration, assisting in contract negotiation and player procurement.
When Sabean replaced Quinn as general manager at the end of the 1996 season, Colletti followed Sabean as assistant general manager, the role he held until Wednesday.
Colletti, 50, mentioned every one of those names, along with Giants executives Peter Magowan and Larry Baer, during his press conference after apologizing if it sounded like an Academy Award acceptance speech.
He also mentioned managers he's dealt with -- from Dusty Baker and Felipe Alou in recent Giants days to Frey and Zimmer -- as major influences in his 25-year career.
"This is one of the proudest days of my life, if not the proudest," Colletti said. "From humble beginnings ... I find myself in one of the greatest places, Dodger Stadium, with one of the greatest franchises of all-time."
He thanked Sabean for granting him broad autonomy so he could learn his craft and for a relationship "as close as two can be without being brothers."
He wears the National League championship ring the Giants received for their 2002 season, which ended with a World Series loss to the Angels.
"It shows you've been around something special," he explained.
Colletti, seeming at ease in front of the bright lights and cameras, gave a quick recap of his life. His family of four lived in a remodeled garage in a Chicago suburb, then moved to a four-room house ("not four bedrooms, just four rooms") wedged between an airport and railroad tracks. His father died of lung cancer at 51; his brother is a radio broadcaster for the Bears.
"We had no money, but a lot of love," he said. "I take nothing for granted. I was street smart since I was a little kid. I know who's right and wrong, who I can trust and who I can't. I can separate the good from bad, the winners from losers."
Obviously, he made an impression on chairman Frank McCourt.
"He has character, integrity, honesty, loyalty. ... He's trustworthy and accountable," McCourt said. "He respects the game. His values jumped off the page to me."
Source: http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/
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