Padres' new manager is feeling 'fabulous'

By: BRIAN HIRO - Staff Writer | Thursday, November 9, 2006 11:52 PM PST ∞

San Diego Padres new manager Bud Black, center, holds up his Padres' jersey with Padres general manager Kevin Towers, left, and Padres chief executive officer Sandy Alderson, right, at a news conference held at the Marriott Hotel in San Diego, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2006. The Padres hired the Angels' pitching coach to fill the job that Bruce Bochy manned from October 1994 until his departure for San Francisco last month.
Associated Press

SAN DIEGO ---- As far back as 2002, Bud Black could have been a major-league manager.

That year, Black was as hot a candidate as could be, coming off a World Series championship earned as the Angels' pitching coach. He was reportedly the top choice of the Cleveland Indians, with whom he worked in baseball operations after retiring as a pitcher.

But the time and the organization weren't right.

Two years ago, Black turned down a chance to interview for the managing job with the Boston Red Sox, one of the most prestigious franchises in the game.

He again said thanks but no thanks last offseason when the Los Angeles Dodgers came calling.

The managerial planets finally aligned for Black this year when Bruce Bochy left after 12 seasons as Padres manager to take a similar job in San Francisco. What could beat a chance to be the skipper in the same city where he once starred as a pitcher at San Diego State? What could beat an easy 23-mile commute to work from his home in Rancho Santa Fe?

"People would ask me, 'Hey, are you ready to manage?' But I never really thought San Diego would come on the radar screen," Black said Thursday night after being introduced as the Padres' 16th manager at the team's downtown awards banquet. "This is where I want to work, on the West Coast. I'm comfortable here. And how can you not like San Diego?"

Black, 49, fondly recalled his days as an undergraduate in the late 1970s, watching such Padres as Dave Winfield and Gaylord Perry at the old San Diego Stadium.

"Now, 28 years later, I'm here," he said. "It's fabulous."

Those Padres teams were managed by Roger Craig, who went on to be the manager of the Giants when Black arrived in San Francisco in 1991.

"He was very knowledgeable about the game and very knowledgeable about pitching," Craig said of Black. "A lot of guys can pitch in the majors and never learn how to pitch. Buddy knew how to pitch ---- about approach, about hitters, everything."

Black mentioned Craig as one of his managerial influences, along with former Kansas City Royals manager Dick Howser, former Giants manager Dusty Baker (one of five candidates Black beat out for the Padres' job) and current Angels manager Mike Scioscia, under whom Black apprenticed for the past seven seasons.

"Mike has so many great qualities," Black said. "He's unwavering. He's sturdy. When we had losing streaks, he was always sturdy, and you knew he would be a guy to stand up tall.

"I felt as though I was getting a great education with the Angels. It was a great foundation of learning all aspects of the game."

Hired following a meeting with Padres CEO Sandy Alderson and owner John Moores on Tuesday night, Black signed a two-year contract with a club option for a third season. Alderson said Black will make less than half as much as Bochy's $1.9 million salary for 2007, befitting his status as a first-time manager.

"No candidate is perfect," Alderson said. "But Bud has strengths to offset whatever weaknesses might exist."

Among the strengths mentioned by Padres officials Thursday were intelligence, personality, leadership and communication skills. Of course, it didn't hurt Black's cause that his expertise is pitching, which happens to be the strength of the current Padres club and the recipe for success in Petco Park.

"Obviously, you want a well-rounded team, but I think pitching and defense wins games," Black said. "If you have a solid foundation of pitching and can catch the ball, you have a very good opportunity to win the game."

Black said he has not yet decided on the composition of his coaching staff, which already includes three signed members: hitting coach Merv Rettenmund, third-base coach Glenn Hoffman and bullpen coach Darrel Akerfelds. Unsigned holdovers from the Bochy regime are pitching coach Darren Balsley, bench coach Tony Muser and first-base coach Tye Waller.

After speaking with Balsley on Wednesday, Black said he's inclined to bring him back, although negotiations on a new contract remain in Towers' hands.

"It's no secret around the game that we feel the fastball is the best pitch in baseball and you have to be able to locate it," Black said, referring to the Angels. "From talking to Darren, he believes the same thing. We had a nice conversation. I told him I'm going to empower the coaches. I don't know how it's going to play out."

Black, who tried on his No. 20 Padres jersey, also showed off his World Series ring earned as a Royals pitcher in 1985. He would love to add another one with the Padres, though he knows he has a hard act to follow.

"Boch was a very popular manager with the guys, very popular in the community," he said. "The way I'm going to handle that is to be myself. It's all about building relationships with your players."

Contact staff writer Brian Hiro at b_hiro@hotmail.com.