Dec. 5 -- ALL THE GM'S MEN

BY SCOTT LAUBER

So, in two days, executives from every team, most player agents and other baseball dignitaries will fly to Las Vegas and converge on the Bellagio for the annual winter meetings, a four-day confab during which countless rumors will fly and a few deals may be struck.

I suppose, given the location, we could call the Phils' contingent "Amaro's Eleven."

Ruben Amaro Jr., the Phillies' new general manager, spent most of last month building his crew. He hired Benny Looper, formerly of the Mariners, to replace assistant GM Mike Arbuckle, who resigned after the World Series. He promoted Chuck LaMar, the pro scouting guru who helped write reports on the Rays before the World Series, to an assistant GM position. And he hired Scott Proefrock away from the Orioles to become an assistant GM in charge of such unenviable -- but utterly essential -- tasks as major-league contract negotiations. For a few hours yesterday, Amaro's new team met with reporters during a luncheon at the Mission Grill in Center City, and you'll be able to read more about their plan for the winter meetings over the next few days in the pages of The News Journal and here at delawareonline.com. For now, though, I wanted to pass along an amusing anecdote from the luncheon.

Retired former GM Pat Gillick is known for his incredibly sharp memory. He's practially a human rolodex, rarely forgetting phone numbers, names, dates, etc. Looper worked with Gillick in Seattle, but his first encounter with him came in 1966. Looper was a high-school baseball player and a 27th-round draft pick of the Houston Colt .45s, and Gillick, then a Houston scout, tried to sign him for $2,000. Looper turned down the offer, went to college and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1968 for $5,000. About 20 years later, Looper ran into Gillick during spring training and introduced himself.

"Pat Gillick, my name is Benny Looper," he said.

"Yeah, from Granite, Oklahoma, right?" Gillick replied.

Uncanny.

Amaro, by the way, admitted that he has spoken to Gillick, now a paid advisor to the Phillies, "probably 15 or 20 times" since talking over as GM. Asked if Gillick charges by the phone call, Amaro laughed. "I hope he doesn't because [team president] David [Montgomery] would be very poor right now."

Anyway, keep it here for more throughout the weekend and live updates from Vegas once the winter meetings start Monday morning.

Photo: Associated Press