Kendrick, D-Backs show leadership coping with chaos
Like all passionate baseball fans, Ken Kendrick can “wax nostalgic” about what the opening day of the season means to him.
And like any passionate baseball fan, he does not hesitate to do so.
“It was an exciting time. A new baseball season is here. Spring is here. You lived where I did, back in the cold east (West Virginia), it was ‘the winter is over, spring has come and baseball is being played.’”
Not this year, of course, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Diamondbacks were scheduled to open their season Thursday night at home against the Atlanta Braves.
And like every other Diamondbacks fan, Kendrick, the team’s managing general partner, was forced to spend the evening at home, instead of at the ballpark.
For baseball fans and everyone else, this spring has been as challenging as hitting a late-breaking slider.
There are no analytics to help show us the way, no clear formula to reply upon in fighting a virus that many of us hadn’t heard of before spring training started in mid-February.
Like all of us, major-league teams have had to deal the virus on the fly.
And while no one can confidently say they have handled the fear and chaos perfectly, or will in coming months, the Diamondbacks have been ahead of many other franchises in taking care of their employees and giving back to the community.
❚ They established a fund of at least $1 million to pay game-day staff impacted by the postponement of the season. That was a few days before MLB announced a similar commitment from other teams.
❚ Through their foundation, they donated $550,000 to Arizona-based nonprofit organizations to assist in helping those most vulnerable.
❚ They cut checks of $1,000 and $1,500 to each of their minor leaguers. That is in addition to whatever assistance Major League Baseball decides to give the players.
All of the above does not make Kendrick or anyone else from the Diamondbacks early contenders for man of the year. And they aren’t alone in giving back to the community. The Cardinals, for instance, committed $1 million to Arizona’s coronavirus relief fund.
But the Diamondbacks have been proactive in a time where many large entities have preferred to look at a windsock before deciding on an approach.
And it’s not as if Kendrick is trumpeting his organization’s generosity. I called him, not the other way around.
“The way I think of what we do is that our organization is part of a very large family,” Kendrick said. “When crisis comes to a family, what do you do? You look to the well-being of all the family members and try to figure out a way to support each and everyone to the degree that is possible.
“I think we’ve been able, to this point, to continue to do that. We have folks that are 12-month-a-year employees. We have people who are contractors. We have people who are part-time who work in the ballpark to supplement their incomes. All of them depend on that income to be able to keep their lives going. You have a responsibility to make sure, within all reason, play the part of the head of the family, if you will.”
You don’t have to be cynical to your core to roll your eyes at those last two paragraphs. Kendrick knows that.
“I understand it sounds a little preachy,” Kendrick said.
Or to smirk a bit when Kendrick relays a favorite cliché about how the Diamondbacks' goal is to bring joy to the community.
Kendrick also knows how that sounds because he followed up by acknowledging “we’ve brought some sorrow, too.”
And Kendrick isn't taking credit for every Diamondbacks' act of benevolence.
It’s easy to be generous with other people’s money, and that’s how Kendrick views the $550,000 donation from Diamondbacks charities. That money is raised through various means, including the 50-50 drawings on game days.
“We have the ability, through the nature of what we do, to raise a lot of money from our fans for our foundation,” he said. “We need to take that seriously. 50-50 raffles, that money is not my money. That’s the fans’ money that they have invested, knowing that half the money was going to charitable use. And we aren’t unique in that regard.”
Continuing to pay employees is not something the Diamondbacks can do forever, either, Kendrick said.
“Our economics are built around the revenue streams that are derived from playing baseball games,” he said. “And guess what? The last I looked we weren’t doing that. To be honest about, if this were indefinite and a season were to be lost, it would be really difficult for us to continue (as currently operating).”
The Diamondbacks are putting a plan in place in case that happens, Kendrick said, but he’s hopeful it won’t be needed, that there will be an Opening Day in 2020.
Kendrick’s family teases him for the amount of clichés he uses. That hasn’t stopped him from using them. One of his favorites is that leaders usually know the right thing to do. The real test is doing it when required.
This spring, the Diamondbacks have met that standard.