Mar. 16 -- Day 32: GABBING WITH GILLICK

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Since he became the Phillies' general manager in November 2005, Pat Gillick has made some good moves (trading for Aaron Rowand and Jamie Moyer, claiming Greg Dobbs off waivers) and some questionable ones (signing Adam Eaton and Wes Helms).

But there's little doubt about his Hall of Fame resume.

Gillick has been a GM for 27 years with Toronto, Baltimore, Seattle and the Phillies, and he has built playoff teams with all four franchises. He was the architect who turned the Blue Jays from an expansion team in 1978 into back-to-back World Series champs in 1992 and '93. In 19 of his last 21 seasons, his teams have had winning records.

So, with Gillick planning to retire after the season, I wanted to examine why he's been so successful. Over the past few weeks, I've spoken with some of his oldest friends, including Astros president Tal Smith and former Blue Jays president Paul Beeston. I also talked to his Phillies deputies (Ruben Amaro Jr. and Mike Arbuckle) and several former and current players. And, before a spring-training game a few weeks ago, I sat down for a long interview with Gillick.

What I learned, and tried to convey in my story in your $1.50-edition today, is that Gillick seemingly has a photographic memory. Earl Weaver once nicknamed him "Wolley Segap" (Yellow Pages, backward) because he'd read the phone book and memorize numbers. There also is no distance he won't travel to unearth new talent. As a young scout in the late '60s and early '70s, he often traveled to Latin America. As GM of the Mariners, he brought Ichiro Suzuki and closer Kaz Sasaki over from Japan. And Beeston told me a great story about traveling with Gillick on a 24-hour odyssey in 1992 to lure Joe Carter and Paul Molitor to Toronto.

But there was a lot that I wasn't able to squeeze into my story. Luckily, we have The Blog. Here, then, are some excerpts from my interview with Gillick that didn't make the paper.

Q: How has the job of a GM changed since you got started?
A: When I started out, [judging players] was more about physical ability. That's what counted. Now, physical ability is probably 70 percent and the mental aspect is 30 percent. You do a lot of research, talk to managers they've played for, talk to other scouts about them. Once in a while, you make a bad decision on a guy's makeup. Makeup has, the last 15 years, played a pretty big part in it. Then, there's free agency. Certainly that changed a lot of things. Guaranteed contracts are another thing. I don't think there's nearly as much patience as there was before. Used to be that ownership was patient. But when you're paying $300 million or $400 million for a franchise, they're not patient. The press isn't patient. Consequently, it takes a while to change things around. It takes a while to develop players.I think the [GM] jobs of the higher-revenue clubs -- the Mets and the Yankees and Boston, we're in the upper-third there -- are harder. With the lower-revenue clubs, there's only a certain segment of the player pool that they look at because from a revenue-standpoint, they just can't afford the others. The higher-revenue clubs have to look at the entire pool of players available, and the chances of making a mistake is probably greater because there's a greater pool of players. The lower-revenue clubs, they don't look at $10 million players. That doesn't fit into their program.They're looking at guys who are maximum $4-5 million. So, the higher-revenue clubs' GM jobs are more difficult than the lower-revenue clubs.

Q: Friends have described you as "eccentric." Your daughter once lovingly called you "quite weird." How would you describe yourself?
A: Unpredictable, I think. Or unconventional. I think I'm reasonably easy to get along with. I think my wife sometimes thinks I have some weird notions or some weird ideas.

Q: Your Mariners team won 116 games in 2001 but didn't win the World Series.
A: Winning 116 games, that was pretty special. We had a hell of a year. We just had a sitation where we ended up down to Cleveland, and we ended up coming back and beating Charlie [Manuel] to get into the [ALCS]. But we had to use [Jamie] Moyer in the fifth game against Cleveland to get in, and that kind of upset our situation. We would've liked to pitch Moyer in the first game against the Yankees. It kind of upset our rotation.But that's baseball. That's really what's kind of wonderful about it. Just like last year, the Mets, what happened to them, who would've thought that would've happened. Then, you get to the end of the season, Colorado wins 22-some games, and San Diego is actually in the play-in game, up a couple runs going into the inning and ends up losing that game. It's a very unpredictable game. Look at '93. We were playing in Philly [in Game 4 of the World Series], down 14-9 and scored a bunch of runs in the eighth inning and ended up winning that game, 15-14. That's what's so unpredictable about baseball, and that's what's so intriguing about it.

Q: Isn't that a helpless feeling, though? You spend all this time building a team, but ultimately, the outcome is out of your hands.
A: There's so many variables that go into it. That's what makes it great. With the Orioles, we were playing the Yankees in '96 [in the ALCS]. I'm sitting at third base, and I could see in right field, the kid [Jeffrey Maier] reached over the fence. Who knows how that game would've gone?

Q: Any regrets from 26 years as a GM?
A: You always look back in hindsight. There's always a trade or two you thought you should've made and you didn't make it. Maybe a draft or two, when you look back. Overall, it's been a good run. I've had a lot of wonderful people to work with. I've always enjoyed going to work. I really don't think it's work.

Q: I guess another World Series title would be the perfect ending.
A: It would be terrific. It would be good for Philly, good for the fans. I think the fans are frustrated. I think they're good fans, but it's good to win a championship in some sport. Hopefully it's baseball. It gives everybody a chance to boast and feel good about the city.

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More on Adam Eaton's three scoreless innings yesterday.

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Has Aaron Rowand's free-agent departure left a leadership void in the Phillies' clubhouse? Also within our Sunday MLB notes, Chris Coste weighs in on the controversial collision at home plate last week between the Yankees and Rays.

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Overcast and drizzling here at The Ed, but the weather is expected to clear. Today's lineup against Reds RHP Edinson Volquez: SS Jimmy Rollins (.171), CF Shane Victorino (.222), 2B Chase Utley (.212), 1B Ryan Howard (.378), LF Jayson Werth (.154), RF Geoff Jenkins (.146), 3B Greg Dobbs (.281), C Jason Jaramillo (.071), RHP Brett Myers.

Enjoy your Sunday.