MacPhail game for the job

The Baltimore Orioles haven't done many things right over the past several years, but their string of misfortune took a turn for the better last week when owner Peter Angelos hired Andy MacPhail to be CEO and president.

MacPhail, who won two championships as the general manager in Minnesota and had mixed results with the Cubs, can bring organization to a franchise that with the right tweaking could become prominent again.

Angelos's move speaks to a problem around baseball, and that is the business of having baseball people at the head of the organization. Whether MacPhail's hiring starts a trend of having experienced baseball people running teams remains to be seen. But in an industry where franchises are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, having a CEO who knows baseball seems not only fundamental but imperative.

MacPhail joins a select group of CEOs and presidents who combine both business and baseball acumen. There's Dave Dombrowski, the only CEO/president/general manager in the game; Sandy Alderson, the former A's general manager now CEO in San Diego; Jeff Moorad, the former agent who is a general partner in Arizona; Houston's Tal Smith, a longtime negotiator; Stan Kasten, the man who built the Braves and is now trying to build the Nationals; and Larry Lucchino, who combines baseball and business about as well as anyone in his leadership of the Red Sox.

Many of the remaining CEOs are business executives who happen to run a baseball team. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's making more and more sense for owners to have someone who can make sound baseball decisions.

For too long Angelos was the meddling owner with his hand in the cookie jar. The signing of MacPhail indicates that he's willing to have the organization run by a baseball/business leader.

"When I was the GM of the Oakland A's, I thought since I was a lawyer, there'd be more lawyers becoming GMs, but that didn't really materialize," said Alderson. "I think having a baseball background brings the advantage of credibility on the baseball operations side.

"But there are advantages that other CEOs with different backgrounds also bring."

Asked how he views his role, Dombrowski said, "Providing leadership to all parts of the organization. However, you need to make sure that your organization has player talent or your leadership, no matter how good, will not be good enough."

"It's more complex now than it was 25 years ago," Alderson said. "There's more money involved. The business side has exploded. Player relations are different. It's a more developed industry."

You bet. TV and radio deals, stadium deals, sponsorship, marketing, fan base, and, oh yeah, baseball, all fall under the umbrella of the CEO, whose job it is to maximize profits for his owner.

"It's an evolving job," said Lucchino. "The job of president and CEO is larger and more demanding by several factors -- five or 10 more factors."

Kasten, who also ran the NBA's Atlanta Hawks for Ted Turner, said, "I see three areas where the CEO and president has to be prominent: 1) to organize and connect, put together the right structure; 2) putting the right people in the right boxes; 3) making sure they have the resources, whether it's money or direct support.

"But I spend time in all phases of the organization depending on the day and the hour. A baseball team is a corporation like any other corporation, and the role of the CEO in baseball is the same as the role in business."

We're all familiar in Boston with the struggle between Lucchino and GM Theo Epstein, who left the team and didn't return until he had control of baseball operations. But Lucchino's job is to oversee the entire organization, and baseball operations is part of it.

MacPhail, Alderson, and Lucchino (who, by the way, once worked under Angelos) have all been rumored at one time or another to be possible successors to Bud Selig as commissioner of baseball. Dombrowski is younger but certainly on his way to being included at some point.

Owners like Angelos are beginning to realize that their top guy has to understand baseball. We'll see over the winter whether a trend develops. The Yankees, for instance, have lawyers in their CEO and president positions. This is a team to keep an eye on, because George Steinbrenner needs a person in charge who can bridge the business and baseball sides.

"I'm very happy for Andy," Alderson said. "Peter Angelos can be difficult but as I've gotten to know him, I think it's a great opportunity for Andy."

Managers' decisions

If you were a fly on the wall, you would want to pay close attention to two giants in the managing business: Joe Torre and Tony La Russa.

It could be that both men walk away from baseball after this season. Torre could be asked to leave if the Yankees don't make the playoffs. A source in La Russa's camp told me that he might pull a Jim Leyland and get away for a year or two just to regroup.

La Russa, whose Cardinals won the championship last season, has been through a lot this season, starting with the embarrassing episode in spring training, when he fell asleep at the wheel while stopped at a light and was charged with driving under the influence. His team got off to a poor start and then came the tragic loss of Josh Hancock, who died in a car crash after he, too, had been drinking.

La Russa would have no shortage of opportunities if he elected to manage again next season, but he might want to spend a year just living a normal life and exhaling. He's seen Leyland do it, as well as one of his other buddies, Bill Parcells.

Much of his decision, I'm told, will depend on what happens from here on out. La Russa at some point will get Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder back from injuries, and the Cardinals just obtained another starting pitcher, Mike Maroth, from Detroit.

As for Torre, he would likely come back if asked, but he won't be if the Yankees don't land a playoff spot. While George Steinbrenner has said that general manager Brian Cashman is "on the hook," Torre will go if Cashman goes.

There are indications that Torre would be content to call it a career if that happens, but he might not want to leave the game as a loser. A return to St. Louis, if La Russa leaves, would be a possibility.

There also could be managerial changes in Chicago, where Ozzie Guillen can't seem to turn the White Sox around, as well as Cincinnati, Baltimore, Houston, Philadelphia, Toronto, Cleveland, and Seattle.

Vincent injects his opinion into the steroid issue

A few questions for former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent:

With Bud Selig's term likely ending in the next year to a year and a half, who would you recommend as the next commissioner of baseball?

FV: "I have a strong idea on this one. Steve Greenberg. He would have to be a serious possibility. He's been involved in the last five or six of the biggest deals in baseball, including the selling of the Braves, the Reds, Milwaukee, the Mets' TV deal, and the Nationals, among those I can think of off the top of my head. He's well-liked by Bud and Jerry Reinsdorf. He has a good relationship with the union, being a former agent. Very bright. Yale-educated. His dad was Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg, so he knows and respects the game. The two things working against him is that he is enormously successful at Allen and Co., an investment firm, and would he give up what he's doing, and secondly, he was my deputy commissioner, and I recommend him."

Will anything come of Jason Giambi cooperating with George Mitchell's steroids investigation?

FV: "One thing I believe is baseball shouldn't be trying to punish these guys. They should be trying to get them to tell the truth about steroids. It's far more imperative that the game of baseball clean itself up. Bud Selig and George Mitchell need to explain to the public when players took steroids and to what extent, put it out there on the record and then let the public make their own determination on those who took them. Judge [Louis ] Brandeis had one of the great quotes, which applies to this case: 'Sunlight is the best disinfectant.' "

So you would not be in favor of suspensions?

FV: "I'm the guy who threw Steve Howe out of baseball for life after seven violations and then an arbitrator overturned it. In this case, the union will have a strong case. But it has to be said, and I've heard even some baseball officials say this, that steroids weren't banned from baseball until 2002. Not true. In 1991, it was federal law that made steroids illegal. But my point is, instead of doling out punishment, George Mitchell needs to compile the information -- and I think he has very good information -- and let the public know what happened in 1998 when Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire were hitting all of those home runs and what baseball knew about what was going on."

Etc.

Touching the bases
Apropos of nothing: 1. Two things I just can't envision: someone breaking Hank Aaron's RBI record of 2,297 (I'll concede that Alex Rodriguez has an outside shot) and a 300-game winner after Tom Glavine and Randy Johnson; 2. Other than John Smoltz, there's nobody I'd rather have pitching in October than Curt Schilling; 3. For everything he's put into his rehab from major shoulder surgery, Matt Clement deserves a chance to pitch a meaningful game for Boston in September; 4. What a good deal Indians general manager Mark Shapiro made in 2002 in his first major trade: Bartolo Colon to Montreal for Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, and Grady Sizemore; 5. A little culture for y'all: "The Glory Days: New York baseball from 1947-57" is on view at the Museum of the City of New York June 27-Dec. 21. At least one of the three New York teams played in 10 of the 11 World Series in that span, with nine winning titles. Seven of those Series were between two New York teams.

Wild card for St. Louis
The Rick Ankiel story continues to take a positive path. The former Cardinal, who had to give up pitching when he couldn't control the ball, is hitting .279 with 19 homers and 52 RBIs for Triple A Memphis. This is Year 3 of his conversion to the outfield, but one of the problems the Cardinals face in bringing him up is that Ankiel is out of options, and they don't want to risk losing him on waivers if they have to send him back down. Ankiel, a lefthanded hitter who originally signed a $2.5 million bonus out of Port St. Lucie (Fla.) High, pitched four seasons for St. Louis. "He can hit and hit for power, and obviously he has a good arm in the outfield," said one scout. "He's not the fastest guy, but he'll hit well at every level because he adapts and he has good instincts for the game."

The Red Sox didn't feel there was a place for Carlos Pena on their roster with Kevin Youkilis at first and David Ortiz as the DH. The only spot might have been as a lefthanded hitter off the bench, but they had Eric Hinske under contract. But it's all worked out pretty nicely for the Tampa Bay first baseman, a Haverhill native and former Northeastern star. Entering last night, Pena was hitting .302 with 17 homers and 44 RBIs, with a .398 on-base percentage and .654 slugging percentage, numbers that are competitive with Ortiz and Youkilis. "We thought in the offseason after Boston let us go that this would be the best situation for me," Pena said. "I've been able to play and get my swing back and get back into a routine."

As much as Hinske would love to be an everyday player again, he would hate to leave Boston. "I think, as baseball players, you want to play every day, but I understand the situation here in Boston," he said. "To be honest, I love it here. Things are done right. You're really appreciated. Whatever it is you do, whatever your role, it's valued." Asked if it gets a little edgy around the trading deadline, when teams look to patch holes because of injuries, he said, "Sure. It's been that way for a few years with me. I know I can play every day and be a good major league player, but I'm also really liking being on this team." Hinske has been used as a corner infielder and corner outfielder, but when asked which position he feels most comfortable at, he said, "Definitely third base. That's what I came up as and that's where I've played most of my career."

It's easy to blame managers and GMs when teams are struggling. In Chicago, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and GM Kenny Williams are master motivators, yet it's their fault that Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko have underperformed? Or that Joe Crede got hurt? Here in Boston, Theo Epstein signed Julio Lugo and J.D. Drew, and you can certainly be critical of the amount of money they received, but they are players with proven track records. It's Epstein's fault they've performed so poorly? When is it the players' fault?

With the trading deadline coming up, the Angels, Dodgers, Padres, Twins, Braves, and Cardinals are looking for middle-of-the-order hitters. With the way Colorado is playing, is Todd Helton still available? Troy Glaus might become one of the more sought-after hitters because he's a third baseman (a need of a few teams), which would create a dilemma for J.P. Ricciardi in Toronto. He could probably extract a lot for Glaus, but if he still wants to build, Glaus won't be going anywhere. The Chicago guys, Konerko and Dye, are susceptible to a deal as well. If I'm Williams, I'm trying to sign lefty Mark Buehrle long term, but if Williams chooses to deal him, he should get a hefty return as the Mets, Red Sox, Phillies, and Dodgers (among others) would view Buehrle as the biggest midseason prize.

If you've been in a major league clubhouse, you understand that postgame music can often be a point of contention among players. I've seen one player blare one type of music, and another come over and shut it off. Toledo Mud Hens reliever Jason Karuth recently sustained multiple fractures during a clubhouse brawl over music and underwent surgery. Ramon Colon allegedly punched him when they disagreed on the music choice, and Colon received a seven-game suspension. This led Tigers president Dave Dombrowski to establish a policy under which minor leaguers must now wear headsets if they want to listen to music. It won't be long before this happens in clubhouses all over the majors.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com.