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Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden, left, and President Stan Kasten worked right up until the deadline Wednesday night to sign their sixth round draft pick, Jack McGeary.
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Three things help you win championships: pitching, pitching and pitching. And we just got more of it. Here’s how:
We went to the Capital Grille at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday after our win over the Phillies to see if we could sign our sixth-round pick, Jack McGeary, who would have been a top-10 pick if he hadn’t committed to Stanford. At the restaurant, McGeary sat next to his agent, Brodie Van Wagenen.
Across the table sat scouting director Dana Brown, assistant scouting director Brian Parker and administrative assistant to the general manager Harolyn Cardozo.
It’s just 27 minutes to the midnight deadline and if we don’t sign him, we both have to wait three years before he becomes draft eligible again. There wasn’t a lot of tension, but it was nerve-wracking.
As I look across the table, I noticed everyone’s plate had been cleaned, hands were fidgeting, blackberries were being typed on, cell phones were reminding us how many ring tones there really were; Dana’s Monday Night Football theme song ring tone drove me crazy.
One of the selling points from the beginning was that we knew how important Stanford was to Jack. We made sure he knew we supported him going to Stanford and felt he could do both: get to the big leagues without losing any time by going to Stanford. Because of that viewpoint, we continued discussions. On Sunday we made progress and knew there was a chance.
Now it was time for one last-minute negotiation and we were now waiting for approval from team President Stan Kasten who was in Toronto with our ownership.
Patience. Sometimes it’s hard. We were all on pins and needles. Jack was handling it like a pitcher would in Game 7 of the World Series with the bases loaded, a one run lead, two outs, two balls and two strikes. He just knew he would that throw breaking ball over for strike three.
Finally, at 11:46, the call comes in with the decision to approve the signing. Looking stoic, I walked over to Jack, offered him a handshake and said, “Welcome to the Washington Nationals.” We exchanged hugs and you could feel the tingles and joy everyone was experiencing.
Parker quickly typed the agreement into his blackberry to send to the commissioner’s office.
Jack called his mom and dad. Brodie called his New York-based agency, Dana called his area scout, I called our Executive Management team including, Mike Rizzo, Bob Boone and Chuck LaMar who were out scouting.
Then comes a call to our Public Relations Director, John Dever, to approve the press release and to announce a 4 p.m. press conference on Thursday.
A thank you to Stan and ownership, a congratulations to Jack’s parents, a call to my children and the night was just beginning. There was back-slapping; hugs; champagne toasts (except for Jack, of course); thanking relatives, calling long-lost cousins.
When you draft and sign three of the top left-handed pitchers in the entire draft, it’s a rare and special accomplishment. I like Jack’s IQ, his character, his heart, his makeup, his family, his curveball, his fastball, his clean delivery, the sparkle in his eye that says, “I’m going to win Games 1, 4 and 7 of the World Series some day.”
As told to The Examiner’s John Keim.
Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden provides an exclusive column to The Examiner each week, ranging on topics from the Nats to the state of Major League Baseball.
Comments from Examiner Readers
9:52 PM MST on Wed., Jul. 11, 2007 re: "Why not bring the All-Star Game to the Nation’s Capital?"
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10:29 AM MST on Thu., May. 24, 2007
re: "Love him or hate him, Bonds is the best"
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Roger Cryan said:
JB's All-Star Ideas: a couple good, most bad 1. His boss may not appreciate losing a weekend's revenue. 2. How does GM's voting improve the All-Star game, except for GM's like JB. 3. Of course each team should have an All-Star; I enjoyed Dmitri Young's cheap hit most of all. 4. DH is a good idea. 5. Denying the pennant winning managers sucks. (Don't let the GM's vote on this, too.) 6. See #1. 7. Bigger roster, is a good idea; set some pitchers aside for extra innings. 8. HOF first pitch is a good idea. 9. Trades at midnight before the All-Star game could be embarassing for traded All-Stars, and would only attract attention to GM's (see the pattern here?) 10. I'm all for All-Star games in DC. Final count: 4 good ideas, 6 stinkers.
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Examiner Reader said:
Appreciated JBs column today on Bonds. Contained some of the more frank remarks I've seen in the media on the subject from a baseball insider. I'm not much of a Bonds fan and really dislike what steroids have done to pro sports, esp baseball. I tend to concur that a low key approach to his 756th is the way to go. But all sports greats must be ranked against their contemporaries and if you suppose most of Bonds' peers are also on steroids then he deserves some credit for being the best slugger of the fouled-up bunch.
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