Home DePo: A non-interview with Paul DePodesta
January 8, 2016LeBron James says playing in front of Leah Still boosted his performance against Washington
January 8, 2016Paul DePodesta coming back to Cleveland, albeit to the Browns rather than the Indians, inspired a look back at an Indians 1998 front office that might be paralleled by only the 1994 Cleveland Browns coaching staff in terms of lasting league legacy.
Sports On Earth’s Anthony Castrovince took a look back at the members and influence of that All-Star 1989 front office.
At one time or another during and immediately following that ’98 season — a year in which the Indians won their fourth of five consecutive division titles but fell flat in their bid to avenge the nightmarish ninth-inning sequence of events that cost them a World Series title the previous October — the following men were under the Indians’ employ:
• John Hart, general manager
• Dan O’Dowd, assistant GM
• Mark Shapiro, player development director
• Josh Byrnes, scouting director
• Paul DePodesta, advance scout
• Ben Cherington, advance scout
• Neal Huntington, assistant director of Minor League operations
• Chris Antonetti, baseball operations assistantIf you’re scoring at home, that’s eight current or former general managers, including three eventual club presidents and one future “chief strategic officer” for the Cleveland Browns.
Paul DePodesta’s influence across the sporting landscape has been covered in depth this entire week.
Interestingly, Shapiro was the player development director in 1998 before moving up to the general manager position and eventually president of baseball operations. Shapiro left the Indians after the 2015 season to take the same role with the Toronto Blue Jays, and he brought with him Ross Atkins. Atkins role with the Indians? He was the player development director from 2007 until he was promoted to vice president of player personnel in 2014. Where was Atkins in 1998? Well, he was with the Indians pitching in Double-A Akron. He wouldn’t join the Indians front office until the end of the 1999 season, so he just missed being on the above list.
John Hart continues to influence MLB teams. He helped build the Texas Rangers from 2002 through 2013. First, he was the general manager and later as the senior advisor to Jon Daniels. The Rangers made the playoffs three straight years from 2010 through 2012 and made the World Series in 2010 and 2011. Hart now is senior advisor for baseball operations with the Atlanta Braves who have began to undergo their own massive rebuilding process.
Of the other 1998 front office members, Neal Huntington has had the most success as he has helped shape the entire organization of the Pittsburgh Pirates into a consistent contender since he was named the general manager in 2007.
In all, the Indians had great success on the field throughout the 1990s and at least part of that success was undoubtedly due to the innovative thinkers they had in that front office.
9 Comments
John Hart was clearly the key and I believe he’ll prove it in Atlanta when all is said and done. But this is a sad look back for me for as great as that time was when all is said and done they never won a championship. This doesn’t mean I wouldn’t trade anything now for then I just wanted to point out the mission was a failure.
I still haven’t learned why Shapiro sold DePodesta to Beane or did I miss it somewhere?
Nevermind…https://waitingfornextyear.com/2016/01/home-depo-a-non-interview-with-paul-depodesta/
awesomely done a great coup talking to the man, the myth, the legend Paul DePodesta.
Ah I see it wasn’t an interview but from a writing by DePodesta. Still informational.
You had me at, “Castrovince”
Definitely, always a must-read.
Thank you, very kind.
No doubt, they didn’t win a WS. Still though, that group changed the entire game of baseball, which is incredible. Won a ton of pennants (and still winning elsewhere).
And, their push of heavy usage of analytics also bled over into the NBA and now NFL. Really incredible group who should be recognized in the history of the game.
Those were magical times I mean they even had me listening to radio broadcasts at some points.
The Indians from the 90s, Buckeyes from the past four years and Cavs of 2015 are my favorite teams ever.