Hawthorn: Pat Gillick, baseball’s great architect
From SABR member Tom Hawthorn at TheTyee.ca on July 27, 2013, on fellow SABR member Pat Gillick:
This is Pat Gillick when Pat Gillick is not doing what Pat Gillick does best, which is building championship baseball teams. He was the architect of the Toronto Blue Jays powerhouse that won five division championships in nine seasons, a time in which he gained the nickname Stand Pat for his reluctance to make too many trades. After back-to-back World Series wins in 1992 and 1993, Gillick left for the West Coast, where he belied his nickname by trading the greatest player in Seattle Mariners history, Ken Griffey, Jr. The Mariners went on to win a record-tying 116 games in 2001.
If he earned his bachelor’s degree with the Jays and his master’s with the Mariners, Gillick completed his baseball doctorate with the Philadelphia Phillies. They won the World Series in 2008, the club’s second championship in 125 years.
Such astute judgment in putting together teams has earned Gillick induction in the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y.
Read the full article here: http://thetyee.ca/Life/2013/07/27/Pat-Gillick-Baseball/
Originally published: July 29, 2013. Last Updated: July 29, 2013.