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Originally Published: November 23, 2002

'Communication' the biggest key for any manager

So, what goes on during the interview process for a new manager? Rob spoke with three GMs to get their take.

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By Rob Neyer
ESPN.com
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Every October, the mysterious process begins. Managers are fired, and then managers are hired.

Come to think of it, the firing part isn't much of a mystery. Nor is the hiring part. Mostly, what's a mystery is what happens in between the firing and the hiring. We do know there's an interview process, and these days most teams interview a number of candidates. When Mariners general manager Pat Gillick was looking to hire a new manager this month, he interviewed something like a dozen candidates before settling on Bob Melvin. When Angels GM Bill Stoneman was looking to hire a new manager three years ago, he interviewed eight men for the job before settling on Mike Scioscia (which seems to have worked out fairly well).

The trading deadline came and went without Mariners GM Pat Gillick making a significant deal.

But what happens in those interviews? To find out, I spoke with Stoneman, Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd, and Indians general manager Mark Shapiro. And it was somewhat amazing just how similar were their responses. For example, all three of them began the interview process with a concrete set of attributes they hoped to see in their next manager.

"You develop a list of questions that you hope will lead to an understanding of the guy's character," O'Dowd says. "Whatever qualities you've defined beforehand -- loyalty, communication, self-confidence, honesty -- you handle the interview in a way that touches on every one of those qualities."

O'Dowd has hired two managers -- first Buddy Bell, and recently Clint Hurdle -- and he's still learning. And if he ever has to hire another one, he says, "I'll be a lot more conscious of how crucial the job is, and how difficult the job is. It's a very difficult process to start from scratch, but with more experience, it's easier to prioritize the characteristics you're looking for in a new manager."

And what, according to O'Dowd, are the most important characteristics?

"Communication, ability to deal with confrontation, leadership, energy level, security in who you are, and what you're all about," says O'Dowd. "Because with the media today, it's very tough to remember who you are, what got you there, when things go wrong."

Talking to these general managers, there's one word that kept coming up, again and again ... communication. Just as O'Dowd prioritized the attributes he hoped to find in his manager, Shapiro had a list of qualities in mind when he sat down with managerial candidates, and guess what headed the list ...

"I had them down on paper," Shapiro says, "I think they were: communication, development, positivity, attention to detail, organization and preparation."

Again, "communication" first. And Stoneman completes the troika. "Stuff like bunting, and the hit-and-run, and pinch-hitting ... all that takes second seat to the communication stuff," Stoneman says. "The manager's job is to get the most out of his players.

"I'll bet you that with most retired players," he continues, "if you ask them what they would do differently, they'll say they would focus more on the mental side of the game. That's where most of them would make changes. I think they'd talk about the mental side rather than the physical side. And that's where the manager, largely through communicating with his players, can have a real impact.

"In the interview -- and initially, I interviewed eight candidates for about two hours apiece -- you're trying to get a feel for a lot of things. You want to figure out the guy's personality a little bit. You want to get a handle on the guy's communication skills. As much as an ability to talk, it's an ability to listen. It's a desire to have a communication flow. Because the manager has to communicate with a lot of people: broadcasters, print media, the general manager, the owners, as well as his own coaching staff and of course his players."

Still, no matter how well somebody might communicate, he might not necessarily be the right man for the job. Ideally, a prospective manager is particularly suited for the club.

"The needs for that managerial position are different with each club," Shapiro says. "There are clubs that are looking for credibility more than anything else. But it's also situational. Some teams have 20 veterans and five young guys, and some teams are like ours, with five veterans and 20 young guys. So it depends on what skills set you're looking for."

In the end, though, a two-hour interview can tell you only so much. As O'Dowd says, "Having hired two managers, I've learned that you need to be open-minded. And I've also learned that you can interview until Kingdom come, but until you get into the heat of the battle, you don't know how the dynamics are going to work out."

And Stoneman admits, "You can't live with a guy for a week. But it's the same thing with scouting a player. He's been good in college, or high school, or in the Dominican Republic, or even in the minors. But that doesn't mean he's going to be a good major leaguer. You just don't know for sure until you try it."

Senior writer Rob Neyer, whose Big Book of Baseball Lineups will be published next spring by Fireside, will be appearing here regularly and irregularly during the offseason. His e-mail address is rob.neyer@dig.com.