He was innovative, he was passionate, and if he sensed you had the slightest disrespect for the game, he could be as prickly as a cactus. Syd Thrift passed away this week, at a Delaware hospital, where he had gone for knee replacement surgery. He was 77, but in the 25 years I had known him, he never really aged a day.
Syd didn?t walk, he lumbered. Syd didn?t make small talk, he gave sermons. Syd never spoke down to anyone and would give a listen to virtually any fan off the street that had a sure-fire idea to improve the game or help his club.
I got to know Syd when he was technically out if the game, selling real estate in Northern Virginia with his wife, Dolly. We?d have lunch together every couple of weeks, where I?d ask a question and sit back and listen for an hour.
We talked about the Kansas City Royals? Baseball Academy in Florida, which he founded. He allowed me to see the classroom videotapes, including a salty lecture by Ted Williams on hitting. The Academy created 14 major leaguers, most notably Frank White, Ron Washington and U.L. Washington (no relation). The total expenditure for the few years the Academy existed was $800,000, a sum that then-K.C. GM Joe Burke felt was “excessive.” Syd?s response to that was, “How much do you think Frank White would bring on the open market?”
When Syd was hired as GM by the Pirates, I ran into him at the winter meetings in San Diego and asked him how it was going.
“These other fellows treat me like I just came from behind a plow,” he said.
I told him that his style of walking and talking ? he never lost that Virginia farm-boy accent ? probably led them to thatconclusion.
“Well, let?s see if I can make that work for me,” he said.
He did. He took over a club riddled by cocaine abuse and bad contracts, and through a series of smart trades and good drafts, had them contending within five years. Of course, he was gone by then, fired over the acquisition of outfielder Gary Redus without clearing it first through ownership.
He was GM of the Yankees for a year, back in the days before George Steinbrenner understood the importance of front office stability, and spent some time in the Cubs? executive offices before Roland Hemond hired him in 1994 to be the Orioles? director of player development. In 1999, he became the de facto GM of the club, resigning the position on Sept. 19, 2002, effective at the end of the season.
That?s right, he resigned. He showed me his copy of his letter of resignation in the press lounge that night before the Orioles played Toronto. The club never announced it, preferring, I suppose, to make it seem like he was fired. He had become a lightning rod for criticism, most of it based on rumor, myth and innuendo. Basically, he took the bullet for ownership.
Syd Thrift was a real baseball man, not like the slick-groomed, stat-spouting kids who seem to get the jobs these days. An objective study of his performance here shows far more achievement than his successors in the job, though his critics won?t bother to check.
I was always glad to see him and listen to his homilies on the game. I?ll miss him.
Phil Wood has covered baseball in the Washington/Baltimore market for more than 30 years. You can reach him at [email protected].
