Dallas Green (baseball)

Early life and playing career

Green was born in Newport, Delaware. He was the middle of three children. Green graduated from Conrad High School, and attended the University of Delaware. He played as a pitcher and right fielder for the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens baseball team. After Green pitched to a 6–0 win-loss record and an 0.88 earned run average (ERA) in 1955, his junior year, Jocko Collins, a scout for the Philadelphia Phillies, signed Green as an amateur free agent.

Green made his major league debut with the Phillies in 1960. Pitching for the Phillies, Washington Senators, and New York Mets, Green had a career 20–22 record and 4.26 ERA in 185 total games, with 46 games started.

Managing and front office career

After his playing career ended, Green managed at the Huron Phillies of the Class A-Short Season Northern League in 1968 and the Pulaski Phillies of the Rookie-level Appalachian League in 1969. Pulaski won the Appalachian League championship. In 1970, he joined the Phillies' front office as the assistant to Paul Owens, the director of the Phillies' farm system. He became the director of the team's minor leagues operations in 1972.

In 1979, the Phillies appointed Green as their manager, replacing Danny Ozark. When he was hired as the Phillies' manager, he said: "I express my thoughts. I'm a screamer, a yeller, and a cusser. I never hold back." He was notorious for his use of profanity. His difficult manner led to clashes with many of the team's star players, such as slugger Greg Luzinski, shortstop Larry Bowa and catcher Bob Boone. He came to blows with relief pitcher Ron Reed. Green led the Phillies to victory in the 1980 World Series. Through 1981, he managed the Phillies to a 169–130 record. In 1981, the Phillies again made the postseason by winning the East division in the first half of the strike-split season. They lost to the Montreal Expos in the National League Division Series, 3 games to 2.

Following the Tribune Company's purchase of the Chicago Cubs from the Wrigley family in 1981, the company hired Green away from the Phillies after the 1981 season as executive vice president and general manager. His presence was quickly felt in the organization, as his slogan "Building a New Tradition" was a jab at the Cubs' history of losing. He hired a number of coaches and scouts away from the Phillies, such as Lee Elia, John Vukovich, and Gordon Goldsberry. Green also made some trades with the Phillies, acquiring players such as Bowa, Keith Moreland, Dickie Noles, and Ryne Sandberg.

Green continued to build the Cubs between the 1982 and 1987 seasons. After acquiring left fielder Gary Matthews and center fielder Bob Dernier from Philadelphia before the 1984 season, Green's Cubs became serious contenders for the first time in more than a decade. During the 1984 season, Green made a few more moves, most notably acquiring right-handed pitcher Dennis Eckersley from the Boston Red Sox for popular first baseman Bill Buckner in late May, and sending Cubs' prospects Mel Hall and Joe Carter to the Cleveland Indians for relief pitcher George Frazier, backup catcher Ron Hassey and right-handed pitcher Rick Sutcliffe in mid-June. Sutcliffe went 16–1 with the Cubs that season to lead the Cubs to the National League East title—their first postseason appearance of any kind since the 1945 World Series. Because Green neglected to renew waivers on Hall and Carter, the status of the trade was in doubt for a while, and the two did not play for a week. Green's first-year manager Jim Frey won NL Manager of the Year, Sutcliffe won the NL Cy Young Award, and Sandberg won the NL Most Valuable Player Award. Green was named The Sporting News Executive of the Year. Green then won a power struggle within the Cubs front office; he was promoted to team president, replacing Jim Finks, who resigned to take a job with the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League.

The Cubs struggled in 1985 and 1986, and they finished last in 1987. In 1987, manager Gene Michael resigned over Labor Day weekend, after Green blasted his team for quitting. Green resigned as general manager and president of the Cubs in October 1987 citing "philosophical differences" with Tribune Company executives.

Green was the first Cubs executive to clash with the city of Chicago over the installation of lights in Wrigley Field. Green was a strong proponent of lights from the start of his tenure, but a city ordinance prohibited the Cubs from installing lights in the residential Lakeview neighborhood, where Wrigley Field was located. As Green saw it, the issue was not lights or no lights, but stay at Wrigley Field or move to the suburbs. Bluntly stating that "if there are no lights in Wrigley Field, there will be no Wrigley Field," he threatened to move the Cubs to a new stadium in northwest suburban Schaumburg or Arlington Heights. He also considered shutting down Wrigley Field for a year and playing at Comiskey Park as tenants of the Chicago White Sox, in hopes that the loss of revenue would temper or eliminate neighborhood opposition. Green's stance changed the context of the debate, as even the staunchest opponents of installing lights did not want to be held responsible for the Cubs leaving town. Shortly before Green's departure, the Chicago City Council and Mayor Harold Washington approved a change to the ordinance, allowing the Cubs to install lights in 1988. Green also rebuilt the Cubs' farm system with Goldsberry, developing stars like Shawon Dunston, Greg Maddux, Rafael Palmeiro, Jamie Moyer, and Mark Grace. The Cubs won a division title in 1989.

After the 1988 season, the Yankees fired Lou Piniella as their manager and hired Green. With the Yankees (1989), he was also under .500 at 56–65 (.463). The team had finished nine games over .500 the prior year, but fell to nine games under .500 during Green's tenure. Green insulted team owner George Steinbrenner by referring to him as "Manager George" for his meddling with the team. Steinbrenner fired Green in August 1989.

The Mets hired Green as a scout. During the 1993 season, the Mets fired manager Jeff Torborg, and hired Green for the position. During his tenure with the Mets, he was under .500 at 229–283 (.447). The Mets fired Green in 1996, replacing him with Bobby Valentine. In 1998, Green returned to the Phillies as a senior advisor to the General Manager.

Green's overall managerial record was 454–478, a .487 winning percentage.

Personal life

On January 31, 1958, Green married Sylvia Lowe Taylor at Calvary United Presbyterian Church in Hayden Park, Delaware. The couple had four children, and remained married until his death.

Green's nine-year-old granddaughter, Christina Taylor-Green, was killed in the 2011 Tucson shooting that critically wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Her interest in government prompted a neighbor to take her to the event with the congresswoman. Green, after receiving the news of his granddaughter's death, said that this was the worst thing that has ever happened to his family.

His son, John Green, Christina's father, is a supervisor of amateur scouts (east coast) and is currently working for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Death

On March 22, 2017, Green died at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia. He had spent the previous month at the hospital on dialysis due to kidney failure. He died of kidney failure and pneumonia. The Phillies will wear a patch on their uniforms, featuring a capital D with the team's logo during his tenure with the team in the middle colored in the team's colors, red and white, in a black circle, for the 2017 season in his memory.