Andy MacPhail — Arianne Starnes/The Examiner
Andy MacPhail was hired as the Baltimore Orioles’ president of baseball operations last June, with the mission to turn around a franchise in the midst of its 10th losing season.
He was given unparalleled autonomy to make significant roster decisions by owner Peter Angelos, MacPhail’s father, Lee, and his grandfather, Larry, who were both enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame after successful careers as baseball executives.
MacPhail, 55, resides with his wife, Lark, in North Baltimore.
What person did the most to shape your moral life?
My father, by example. Just how he treated people, and his philosophy. He didn’t do a whole lot of preaching about it. It was just how he chose to live his life.
Your father and grandfather were baseball executives. At what point do you remember saying: I want to be a baseball executive?
I don’t know if I ever really had that so much as I thought. It was something I should try, if only to satisfy myself to see if it was for me or not. Otherwise, I’d always be wondering. I got some advice from my brother [Al, a former Pirates executive] who went into the business world, and then into the baseball world. He said you have to do baseball first. It’s a tough transition from the business world to the baseball world.
What’s your coolest piece of sports memorabilia?
I generally make it a practice not to keep that stuff. You become a slave to that. Anything I have was something that was given to me, without me seeking it. I do have an autographed ball by Nolan Ryan, [from the game in May 1983] when he overcame Walter Johnson’s strikeout record.
What is your best decision?
I think I’m required to say it was the day I proposed to my wife.
What is your biggest regret?
I really don’t have to many. I’m fortunate in that regard. I really don’t have anything. I don’t expect everything to be great all the time. My expectations are, things will be a little up and down. I don’t have anything I can think of off the top of my head.
Who has inspired you the most?
Inspiring is an interesting word. People that handle themselves in a gracious and graceful manner under duress are the people I draw inspiration from.
What book or words have inspired you?
There are plenty of books and words that have inspired me. I try to read my share of history, particularly in American history. I think there’s plenty to be inspired by under that. Speeches by great figures in difficult times, like a [Winston] Churchill speech prior to American entry in World War II.
You’re job isn’t exactly nine-to-five, what’s an average day for you?
It’s not really backbreaking labor by any stretch, but it’s not unusual to spend 12, 13 hours at the ballpark over the summer when the team is home. You don’t get much time free in the summer. But, it’s not exactly backbreaking labor. If you figure you get to the ballpark late morning, about 10 or so, and you’re leaving around 11 at night, plus the commute. You just kind of get up and do it again. It can be a little time intensive, but I wouldn’t call it labor intensive.
