The Best Team Money Can Buy: The Los Angeles Dodgers' Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse by Molly Knight Page A
Authors: Molly Knight
Ads: Link
with a chip on his shoulder the size of Illinois, and refused to suffer coddled ballplayers. If players viewed him as a bully, which many did, Colletti was more likely to chalk it up to their lack of mental toughness than reflect on the wisdom ofletting young guys know they were fucking nobodies who could be cut at any time. While organizations like the Cardinals routinely inserted rookies into the middle of pennant races, Colletti was loath to throw kids into big spots, often to the chagrin of his coaching staff. Regardless of the energy youngsters provided to an older lineup,Colletti worried that rookies didn’t possess the guts required to succeed in October.
Colletti’s emotions often got the better of him. He was so upset when right fielderJ. D. Drew surprised him by opting out of his contract that he told reporters he would not rule out filing a tampering grievance against the Red Sox (where Drew went). He also hinted at his displeasure with ever doing business with Drew’s agent, Scott Boras, again. Since Boras represented many of the game’s best players, this fatwa, if adhered to, would put the Dodgers at a serious disadvantage. But in the moment Colletti didn’t care. Or, maybe the problem was that he cared too much. One of his favorite sayings, to the amusement of his players and staff, was“I care so much that I don’t give a fuck.”
That passion extended to storytelling, too. On the first day of spring training before the 2011 season, when the Dodgers were neck-deep in McCourt muck, Colletti addressed the team with a barn-burning speech he hoped would inspire them into battle. In the early 1500s, famed explorer Hernán Cortés set out from Cuba to conquer Mexico for the Spanish crown. Colletti said that, according to legend, when Cortés arrived on the shores of Veracruz, he ordered his frightened men to burn their ships as a means of giving them confidence and scaring the Aztecs, the message being that Cortés believed his men would so thoroughly dominate that when the job was complete they would leave on their enemies’ ships. Colletti told this story to the Dodgerplayers who sat before him, and beseeched them to learn from Cortés and go out and burn the figurative ships. The men shot each other confused glances and shrugged. Three years later, Colletti sat the Dodgers down on the first day of spring training again for his annual pep talk. He told the same story. Only this time he got mixed up and replaced Cortés with Alexander the Great. Players looked at each other in disbelief. When Colletti left, the room erupted in laughter. Within weeks, the guys had T-shirts made that said BURN THE SHIPS on the front, with ATG for Alexander the Great scrawled on the back. During the 2014 season it was not uncommon to hear players yell, “Burn the ships!” before taking the field. It had become an unlikely rallying cry, but not in the way Colletti intended. What Colletti didn’t know was that Cortés didn’t burn his ships as a motivational tool; he did it so his terrified men couldn’t retreat.
In spite of the Dodgers’ financial limitations during the McCourt era, or perhaps because of them, Colletti did find his strengths. He had shown a knack for identifying cheap, effective relief pitchers and cobbling together a dominant pitching staff during the Dodgers’ playoff runs at the end of the previous decade. In 2008 and 2009 the Dodgers led the National League in earned run average, thanks to the performances of afterthoughts and castoffs resurrected by his staff. Guys like Hong-Chih Kuo, Ramón Troncoso, and Ronald Belisario dazzled in their unsexy roles of holding a lead, and they did it while earning salaries that hovered near the major-league minimum.
Colletti had also shown respectable restraint when it came to trading top prospects. When he took over as GM, the Dodgers farm system was bursting with talent, highlighted by the gifted but raw young outfielder Matt Kemp. In 2006, when Kemp was
Colletti’s emotions often got the better of him. He was so upset when right fielderJ. D. Drew surprised him by opting out of his contract that he told reporters he would not rule out filing a tampering grievance against the Red Sox (where Drew went). He also hinted at his displeasure with ever doing business with Drew’s agent, Scott Boras, again. Since Boras represented many of the game’s best players, this fatwa, if adhered to, would put the Dodgers at a serious disadvantage. But in the moment Colletti didn’t care. Or, maybe the problem was that he cared too much. One of his favorite sayings, to the amusement of his players and staff, was“I care so much that I don’t give a fuck.”
That passion extended to storytelling, too. On the first day of spring training before the 2011 season, when the Dodgers were neck-deep in McCourt muck, Colletti addressed the team with a barn-burning speech he hoped would inspire them into battle. In the early 1500s, famed explorer Hernán Cortés set out from Cuba to conquer Mexico for the Spanish crown. Colletti said that, according to legend, when Cortés arrived on the shores of Veracruz, he ordered his frightened men to burn their ships as a means of giving them confidence and scaring the Aztecs, the message being that Cortés believed his men would so thoroughly dominate that when the job was complete they would leave on their enemies’ ships. Colletti told this story to the Dodgerplayers who sat before him, and beseeched them to learn from Cortés and go out and burn the figurative ships. The men shot each other confused glances and shrugged. Three years later, Colletti sat the Dodgers down on the first day of spring training again for his annual pep talk. He told the same story. Only this time he got mixed up and replaced Cortés with Alexander the Great. Players looked at each other in disbelief. When Colletti left, the room erupted in laughter. Within weeks, the guys had T-shirts made that said BURN THE SHIPS on the front, with ATG for Alexander the Great scrawled on the back. During the 2014 season it was not uncommon to hear players yell, “Burn the ships!” before taking the field. It had become an unlikely rallying cry, but not in the way Colletti intended. What Colletti didn’t know was that Cortés didn’t burn his ships as a motivational tool; he did it so his terrified men couldn’t retreat.
In spite of the Dodgers’ financial limitations during the McCourt era, or perhaps because of them, Colletti did find his strengths. He had shown a knack for identifying cheap, effective relief pitchers and cobbling together a dominant pitching staff during the Dodgers’ playoff runs at the end of the previous decade. In 2008 and 2009 the Dodgers led the National League in earned run average, thanks to the performances of afterthoughts and castoffs resurrected by his staff. Guys like Hong-Chih Kuo, Ramón Troncoso, and Ronald Belisario dazzled in their unsexy roles of holding a lead, and they did it while earning salaries that hovered near the major-league minimum.
Colletti had also shown respectable restraint when it came to trading top prospects. When he took over as GM, the Dodgers farm system was bursting with talent, highlighted by the gifted but raw young outfielder Matt Kemp. In 2006, when Kemp was
Similar Books
