| Frank Verdi once lost a triple A managerial job because he was too anxious to win. By the same token, he's the 1974 manager of the Denver Bears because winning is so important to him.
"People come to see winners," says Verdi, "and I try to give 'em what they want. If I didn't feel that way, I wouldn't be managing." | | In the nine subsequent years, mostly in the New York Yankees organization, his teams won two pennants, three playoffs, two halves of split seasons and one Junior World Series. These feats earned him recognition as one of the most solid managers outside the big leagues. His most successful year was 1970 when his Syracuse team won the |
Verdi's philosophy is exactly what Bears' general manager Jim Burris was looking for when went hunting for a manager last winter. And Denver was just the kind of an opportunity Verdi was looking for. So getting together was easy.
"I'm a hungry manager and I like the challenge facing me in Denver," said the fiery Italian-American skipper, who says managing a triple A Club is "the toughest job in baseball."
This is so, says Verdi, because of the conflict of interest between the major league parent club, the triple A club, and the fans. The fans and the triple A club are concerned only with victory for their club. The major league parent wants its affiliate to win, too, but at the same time wants strong emphasis on development of players. It was because Verdi went so strong on victory emphasis that [he] lost a |
|  | | International League pennant, the playoffs, and went on to beat Jack McKeon's Omaha club four games to one in the Junior World Series.
Verdi, 5-10¾, 190 pounds, is a colorful aggressive pilot of the Frank Lucchesi mold but says,"I haven't climbed any light poles."
He showed great promise as a player in the Yankees' organization but had only a cup of coffee in the majors, not even getting a swing in his only plate appearance with the Yankees.
American League president Lee MacPhail, who was farm director and general manager for the Yankees during Verdi's days in the organization, says of Verdi, "During my time in baseball I would rank him high among the outstanding managers and men that I have seen in triple A baseball, both inside and |
| managerial job where he produced a champion.
Verdi's managerial career started at the triple A level in 1960 [1961 -- ed] and for two years he tried to fit together a conglomerate at Syracuse supplied by a pair of expansion clubs [Minnesota, Syracuse's parent in 1961, was not an expansion team, but Washington and New York split a co-op at Syracuse for 1962 -- ed] No one could have won with what he had. | |
outside the Yankee organization.
I think you will be highly pleased with him in Denver because, in addition to his intelligence and fine qualities as a human being, he has a fiery personality, and is totally dedicated to winning."
Verdi, 47, Brooklyn-born and a resident of New York City, is married (wife's name Pauline) and has four sons--Mike, Frank, Paul and Chris. |
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