Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Gordo was just too gosh-darned Canadian

I've been thinking a lot about Gord Ash's tenure with the Blue Jays. (It must be the indigestion. Note to self: don't eat the chili for lunch any more.)

As a GM, El Gordo had the following strengths:

- He worked hard.
- He was a really nice guy.
- He was extremely honest.

And he had the following weaknesses:

- He tended to be a bit too credulous. ("Of course there's nothing wrong with Mike Sirotka's arm - Ken Williams told me so.")
- He was obsessed with "cost certainty".
- He was too loyal.

When you think about it, aren't these exactly the strengths and weaknesses of Canadians in general? As a group, we're hard-working, pleasant, a bit gullible, and obsessed with security (at least, when compared to Americans). Perhaps we here in Canada just aren't cut out to be general managers in today's baseball environment. What do you think?

Posted by Dave Till on Monday, March 24 2003 @ 11:08 AM EST.

Gordo was just too gosh-darned Canadian | 6 comments | Create New Account

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Coach - Tuesday, March 25 2003 @ 08:24 AM EST (#92374) #

If The Peter Principle was an annual like BP, Ash would be the cover boy. Well suited to be an assistant GM, he had no baseball background, coming up through the ticket office, not the sandlots. Picking Pat Gillick's brain for years is a good way to learn some tricks, but it doesn't make you a judge of talent.

Doug Melvin and Dr. Evil, working together in an environment conducive only to embarrassing losses, will make the Canadian GM almost extinct. The only hope for the species is a Batter's Box reader with stathead tendencies, half my age or less, who decides to work for salted peanuts in the CBL, intern in a lacrosse or soccer league office, then toil somewhere like Pulaski for a couple of years. After a decade or so in big-league front offices, starting as errand boy, with enough tenacity and ability, he might eventually become an assistant, then take over the Jays in 2017 when GM Keith Law becomes the youngest Commissioner ever.

Even then, our young friend will (like Ash) not have spent enough time in dugouts to do the job without trusted and (unlike Dave Stewart) capable advisors. Hint: I expect to be available in the Bobby Mattick role.

Craig B - Tuesday, March 25 2003 @ 09:04 AM EST (#92375) #

Coach, you can't fill a Bobby Mattick role, you don't chew.

_Spicol - Tuesday, March 25 2003 @ 09:48 AM EST (#92376) #

The only hope for the species is a Batter's Box reader with stathead tendencies, half my age or less, who decides to work for salted peanuts in the CBL, intern in a lacrosse or soccer league office, then toil somewhere like Pulaski for a couple of years.

I was getting excited since it seemed like you were describing me, up until the Pulaski part. The thought of living with hill people frightens me and I think I'll choose to remain an armchair GM.

_Cristian - Tuesday, March 25 2003 @ 03:02 PM EST (#92377) #

I think those characteristics are less stereotypically Canadian and more stereotypical of a Belgian brewery conglomerate with no interest in baseball.

_Mike H. - Tuesday, March 25 2003 @ 07:10 PM EST (#92378) #

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/mjhansen/baseball.htm
The thought of living with hill people frightens me

I hope you're not talking about my neck of the woods. Which is what I was afraid of when the thread was started, so I'll stop before I start making "soviet canuckistan" references. Oops, too late.

_Jabonoso - Tuesday, March 25 2003 @ 08:17 PM EST (#92379) #

I really cannot think of the J.Hamilton signing as honest. But his real problem was a lack of understanding of the game ( and those who play it )

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