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Schuerholz Should Make Plans For Hall of Fame

by Josh Cagliani
10/16/2007

After 17 years with the Atlanta Braves, John Schuerholz announced at a press conference Thursday he would be stepping down as general manager and accepting a position as the team’s new president.

The requirements of the new job haven’t been made clear, except that he will be the “right hand” to Frank McGuirk, Braves Chairman and CEO. Schuerholz will fill this position for at least the next four years.

“To be given the opportunity to serve as the president of this grand organization is beyond my dreams,” Schuerholz said during a press conference Thursday.

Schuerholz has long been regarded as baseball’s best GM and possibly the best in all of sports. He is the only GM in baseball history to have won a World Series in both the American and National Leagues.

When thinking about baseball general managers, only a few actually stand out. Most people recognize the names Schuerholz, Billy Beane and Theo Epstein. The spotlight is often on players and coaches, but Schuerholz has managed to rise above that.

If I was another GM, Schuerholz would be my idol. He is the mark of consistency and professionalism. Even through diminished payroll, he has been able to win with the help of a deep farm system and reliable people in the organization.

He is what I like to call a straight shooter. He tells his players and fans exactly what it is that has to be done to be successful. He sets a goal and he tells everyone in the franchise what it is and how they can accomplish it. That is why he has been successful as the GM of the Braves.

Until the promotion on Thursday, Schuerholz had been the longest tenured GM in baseball, a title he now turns over to Kevin Towers of the San Diego Padres.

I've lived in the metro Atlanta area all my life and I can’t remember a time when Schuerholz wasn’t making deadline deals, blockbuster trades and huge free agent signings. The good news for Braves fans is he will be handing over the reigns to long time assistant GM Frank Wren, who has been in that position since 2000.

There is nobody that has worked closer with Schuerholz since Wren’s arrival and he knows exactly how Schuerholz would conduct business.

“We are amazingly alike in a lot of ways," Wren said at the press conference. "Our styles are going to be different, but our philosophies are very similar. They always have been.”

The good thing for Wren is Schuerholz will only be a couple of doors down the hall if he needs any help.

“One of the things that is very comforting for me is down the hall I'm going to have a Hall of Fame general manager that I can go bounce things off," Wren said while speaking at the press conference. "In the clubhouse, I'm going to have a Hall of Fame manager who runs this game as well as anyone. It's a pretty good position to be in."

I hate to see Schuerholz go, but Wren is a very capable replacement. He is young and may even provide a boost to a team that has not reached the playoffs in the last two years.

While GM of the Kansas City Royals, Schuerholz won the 1985 World Series, before moving to Atlanta before the 1991 season.

It’s not a coincidence that when Schuerholz arrived, the Braves started winning. The 1991 worst-to-first season marked the first of 14 straight division titles for the Braves that ended in 2006. That stretch also included a World Series title in 1995.

He turned the Braves from a perennial loser to arguably the most respected sports franchise. Under his watch, Atlanta fans expected the Braves to be in the playoffs and anything less than that was unacceptable.

The most memorable moment during his tenure may have saved the Braves streak. During the 1993 season, he traded for Fred McGriff. The Braves caught fire after that, literally. The night of the trade, the press box in Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium caught fire and from there the Braves went on to win the division.

Schuerholz has made other big time moves during his time in Atlanta. Before the 1993 season, he was able to sign Greg Maddux. That move brought together the “Big Three,” which consisted of Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.

As teammates they were able to win the Cy Young award six times, compile 453 wins and 65 saves and had a winning percentage of 67 percent.

The early part of the Braves run was marked by Schuerholz and his ability to develop future All-Stars such as Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Javy Lopez and Glavine. Now that Schuerholz is relinquishing his role as GM to assistant GM Frank Wren, he will be leaving the team in much the same way he started it, with plenty of up-and-coming All-Stars.

“I am 67 years old and I have been in this game for 42 years,” Schuerholz said at the press conference. “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be, but I know for these next four I’m going to be energized and engaged in trying to make this organization better than it already is.”

Thank you, Mr. Schuerholz.

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