DOMBROWSKIS Dave

LongtimeMLBexec and current Red S ox GM Dave Dom brow ski deals with someQ&Awith Post columnist Steve Serby. Q: How nerve-wracking was that 2009 play-in game loss against the Twins while you were with the Tigers? A: That’s really my exposure to the wild-card game. And it’s completely nerve-wracking from the first pitch. You were on the edge of your seat from the very first pitch. It’s an indicator to me why (chuckle) you want to try to avoid the wild-card game. Q: Describe the pressure or responsibility of being the boss of the Boston Red Sox. A: First of all, I enjoy it a great deal. I’m very fortunate to work in a profession that I enjoy. I’m fortunate to work in a city that has the Red Sox organization. I have great owners, they give you what you need to win. People are surprised when I answer this: I never feel, per se, pressure attached to my job because I feel like I’m prepared. We have good organization, you work hard, you do the best job you possibly can, and hopefully it works out rather than it doesn’t. And if it doesn’t, then you have to bear the consequences that come attached to it. It’s part of the responsibilities, and it’s part of the enjoyment. It’s like when your stomach is twisted in the middle of a game. ... Let’s say it’s nervous energy ... well, you like that feeling, it’s a good feeling, and it’s the same way with being in the job here. Q: What do you like best about your team? A: I think we have a wellbalanced club. We’re strong in various areas — we’ve got a good, solid offensive club, we’ve got some speed with it, we’ve got some power. We’re in a position where we’re solid defensively. Our starting pitching is good, our bullpen is solid. So right now it’s a good, well-rounded club. We’ll see where it takes us. We’ll see if we can make it better. We’ve got some guys coming back from injury. We still think [Dustin] Pedroia will be back this year. [Tyler] Thornberg we just activated, we got [Drew] Pomeranz in right coming back. Q: What concerns you about the Yankees? A: They’re just a good club all the way around. They score runs, they knock the ball out of the ball park ball park. They don’t have a weakness. Their bullpen is outstanding, their starting staff has been good. They’re just a good all-around ballclub, and I think they’re gonna be good for years, so you better be on your toes if you’re gonna compete with them for years to come. Q: Do you find yourself scoreboard-watching even now? A: Yeah, I do. I’ve always watched the scoreboard. I watch it the first game of the season. Every morning I read the boxscores, I read what’s taking place. I think that’s my job and responsibility. Q: Do you expect this race to go down to the wire? A: I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. But anything can happen. The one thing I find that can affect situations more so than anything, and it’s something that’s beyond anybody’s control, is injuries. I would anticipate if the clubs stay healthy as they are, the answer to that would be yes. Q: What do you think of Yankees GM Brian Cashman being in your division? A: Brian’s an outstanding general manager. He’s been there for a long time, he knows how to win, builds good organization. He’s a tough opponent. Being in New York’s a tough place to be at times, with all the pressure and attention and focus. He’s handled it well. Q: There’s a fearlessness to you, isn’t there? A: I just think that you do what you think is right at that particular time. I was lucky that I grew up with a mentor like Roland Hemond, because he involved me with everything at a young age. One of the things he told me is that if you’re gonna be a successful general manager, you better have thick skin, because you’re gonna get criticized often. Q: You don’t listen to talk radio, but there was criticism when the Yankees traded for Giancarlo Stanton. A: It didn’t faze me, that part of it. We were kind of focused in another direction. That’s part of the job, that’s part of the responsibility. They got a good player, somebody that they wanted. Maybe there were some things that just didn’t fit with us as much as some other things, which we ended up pursuing with J.D. Martinez. Q: What do you like about your manager, Alex Cora? A: He’s smart, he’s a good baseball man, he’s a good communicator, connects well, he’s contemporary. He’s got an old baseball heart. The respect of the players. He’s got a good personality in the sense that he’s on top of things, that he doesn’t get riled about things. He’s a sponge, he wants to learn, he has a lot of questions, he puts good people around him. There’s a lot of things to like about him. Q: Describe the traits of a perfect Dave Dombrowski baseball player, specific positions aside. A: Talented. Loves the game. Passionate. Fearless. Hard-working. A leader. Championship-caliber person. Q: Where were you when Bucky Dent hit the homer over the Green Monster in 1978? A: That was my first year with the White Sox. For some reason I was listening to the game on the radio at that time. Q: Where were you when Aaron Boone hit his Game 7 walkoff home run in the 2003 ALCS against the Red Sox? A: I was with the Tigers organization at that point. I believe I was in Lakeland [Fla.]. Q: Did you watch it on TV? A: I was watching the game, yeah. Q: Anything you remember about your emotions when he hit it? A: Just the utter shock of it taking place. Sometimes you just say you can’t believe what you’ve seen. I’m old enough to remember Carlton Fisk’s home run off the foul pole. I was in college at that time at Western Michigan. Q: Where were you when the Red Sox broke The Curse? A: I wasn’t at the game, so I can’t tell you specifically where I was at that time. Q: How shocked were you that they came back from an 0-3 deficit in the 2004 ALCS to beat the Yankees? A: It’s happened in other sports, too, and whenever it happens you’re really surprised. Q: What is your most exhilarating baseball moment? A: That’s easy: 1997 when we [Marlins] won the World Series, when Edgar Renteria got that base hit up the middle to win. That’s what you want to have e happen in your life. Q: What is your most agoniznizing baseball moment? A: I really go to 2013 when we [Tigers] lost [the ALCS] to the Red Sox. That one moment that at I see time and time and time again ain now that I’m here, probably David avid Ortiz’s home run going over Torri orri Hunter’s glove in the eighth inning ning there [Game 2], that [game-tying] ng] grand slam home run. That’s probrobably as agonizing a moment as I’ve ever had. If we won that game, I think we gotta heck of a chancee to win that series. Usually when we’vewe’ve gotten beat in the playoffs, it hasn’t asn’t been in Game 5 or Game 7. Unfortunately both times in the World Series [Tiger in 2006 in five games versus the Cardinals, 201212 in four games to the Giants, they’ve ve been relatively quick series. Q: Describe your leadership ip style. A: You try to be knowledgeable le of everything that’s taking place. ce. It’s important to delegate and let people have their own responsibilsibility. Assume the criticism that may come to you. But I think it’sit’s important to lead by example, too. Q: What is your organizational onal team-building philosophy? A: I think you hire quality indidividuals and give responsibilityty to do their job day in and day out.ut. If you’re going to be successful,, you have to have successful people le around you in every area. Q: What is the best trade you’ve made? A: I would say that the [Decemmber 2007] acquisition when wewe [Tigers] got Miguel Cabrera worked out for us great. I don’t like to answer it often because sometimes it looks like ike somebody’s being criticized or somebody made a bad move but that was more circumstancess of where they [Marlins] were ass an organization and where we were. Q: What is the one trade you ou regret? A: They’re out there, but the reason I don’t like to say that is sometimes the players when en they hear that that are involved, ed, sometimes they take it personnally. Q: Describe the December r 2014 Yoenis Cespedes trade with the Red Sox for Rick Porcello. A: When we [Tigers] acquired him [Cespedes], we e were very happy to get him at the timetime. We had some starting pitching depth, so we made the move. We needed a middle-ofthe-lineup type of bat. He was a really good player. He fit in well with the club. Q: Trading Cespedes, who was a free agent at the end of the season, to the Mets. A: We also knew we were in a spot where, because we had some long-term contracts already signed, that we weren’t going to sign him long-term. There was a lot of interest in him. The Mets stepped up. We really liked the two pitchers that we got [Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa]. Q: Describe the Dodgersto-Marlins-to-Mets Mike Piazza trade when Marlins ownership ordered a fire sale after winning that 1997 World Series. A: That was really kind of a crazy one. ... I remember when I met Mike at that time, I was very straightforward. I said, “Our goal

is gonna be to turn your contract around, so I would not think of this as a long-time thing, and I’d rent.” The Mets had some good young talent that we liked at that time [Preston Wilson, and pitching prospects Ed Yarnall and Geoff Goetz], so they made the most sense for us. Q: How did you feel about your Dealin’ Dave nickname? A: It’s fine. It’s just a nickname. (Laugh) If that’s the worst I get called, I’ll be in good shape. Q: Who are general managers in other sports you admire? A: Jim Finks was the general manager of the Bears when they built their club at that time [1970s-early ’80s], and I had met him a couple of times as a youngster, and I had a great deal of respect. He was a true professional. Then he actually ended up with the Cubs as their club president. Now, Ken Holland, general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, has become a good friend; Steve Yzerman with the Tampa Bay Lightning. I’ve gotten to know Bill Belichick a little bit through Tony La Russa. A guy like Gregg Popovich. A guy like Pat Riley. But they don’t carry the titles of general manager. Q: Who are coaches in other sports you admire? A: Don Shula, who I met when I was in Miami. He was a great coach and great individual. Q: What is it about Belichick and Popovich that you admire? A: First of all, they win. Secondly, the longevity that they’ve had. The respect of their peers and their players. And they’ve kept many of their old-school methods but they’ve also adjusted to the contemporary ways in today’s game. One other coach I should mention is Brad Stevens. He’s intelligent. He knows the game inside and out, and has a way of communication. ... A lot of those same things that would make him successful in baseball have gotten to be the type of things that make you successful in any sport as a head coach. And Steve Kerr. Q: Who are athletesathlete in other sports you admireadmire? A: Tom Brady ... StephStep Curry. Q: Sandy AldersonAlderson. A: Great deal of resprespect for Sandy. Very smart. MMy thoughts and prayers are with him, as everybody in the gamgame is with him, too. Q: What was it like being general manager oof the Expos at age 31? A: I really didn’t thinthink much of being in that positioposition at the time ... the age aspect of iit ... because first of all AndyAndy MacMacPhail was already a general managerma at that point and was a very good friend of mine, just a little bbit older. But I had been in the gamgame for about 10 years at that timetime, and because [White Sox GM] RoRoland Hemond was mymy mentor,mentor, I acactually felt very comfortable. BBecause the general managers knknew me because Roland expexposed me to them in those meetimeetings, all of them treated me veryver kindly Q: Who was your bboyhood idol? A: My favorite playerplaye as a youngsterster was MickeyMickey MaMantle — it’s hard to admit that wwhen you’re with the Red SoSox. I was a big fan of Dick Butkus in Chicago. I was a big Bears fan, too. Q: Four dinndinner guests? A: GeorgeGeorge WaWashington, Jackie RobinsoRobinson, Abraham Lincoln andand MMartin Luther King Jr. Q: FavoriteFavorite mmovie? A: “Gladiator.” Q: Favorite actor?ac A: Tom HanksHanks. Q: Favorite acactress? A: Meryl StreepStreep. Q: Favorite singer/sinentertainer? A: “By the Way” [featuring daughter DarbiDarbi DDombrowski]. Q: FavoriteFavorite mmeal? A: A tie: peppepepperoni and sausagesage pizza from Palermo’s Pizza in ChicagChicago and a ribeye steak. Q: What is yyour messagesage toto RedRed Sox fans? A: Just thank you for their support. We have a good club, and llet’s hope that the rest oof the season turnsturns ouout well. Q: WhaWhat is your message to Yankees fans? A: Well ... bbetter luck next yeyear!