Buzzy Bavasi assisted Branch Rickey when the Dodgers broke the color barriers, then he presided over the Dodger success in the fifties and sixties as their GM. Read Uncle Buzzy's story in his autobiography Off the Record .

Under the tutorship of Branch Rickey, Bavasi learned to become a shrewd trader and a stingy negotiator. Bavasi admired the Mahatma and emulated his tutor. Buzzy recants numerous lessons from the master in Off the Record.

Chuck Conner, the ballplayer-turned-actor, explained that Bavasi was a quick study of Rickey's penurious qualities: "He loves players, and he loves money. He just never loved the both of them together." In a expose written in the sixties, Sports Illustrated exposed Bavasi's methods of manipulating and swindling his players during contract negotiations. Rickey's legendary wiliness had rubbed off on his prized pupil.

Bavasi was more willing to discuss the warmer aspects of his businesslike demeanor in his autobiography. Bavasi was generous to his producers, and watchful of the quirky ones. The characters do make good copy. Billy Loes never wanted to pitch too well, for example, because he didn't want management to expect too much out of him. Loes was also famous for losing a ground ball in the sun. Lou Johnson and Al Ferrera were even flakier than Loes. Bavasi was willing to protect producers like Loes, Johnson, and Ferrera while they were productive. He was unwilling, however, to negotiate contracts fairly with any of his players.

When Walter O'Malley forced Branch Rickey out of the Dodger organization, Bavasi stepped in. As fate would have it, the Dodgers would win their only world championship in Brooklyn under Bavasi's GM stewardship. A few years later, Bavasi moved with the Dodgers to LA. The Dodgers continued their tradition of winning while Bavasi handled the distractions such as the Great Holdout of 1966. While the Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax holdout was a problem, Bavasi's trump card was the reserve clause. Koufax and Drysdale never stood a chance because they had no other baseball alternatives.

Bavasi admired O'Malley as much as he idolized his mentor, Branch Rickey. However, Rickey and O'Malley became bitter enemies near the end of Rickey's tenure with the Dodgers. O'Malley forced Rickey out (though Rickey worked it out so O'Malley paid more than he was willing to buy Rickey's shares with the Dodgers). O'Malley took the whole scene so hard that Dodger employees were fined a dollar anytime O'Malley heard them utter Rickey's name.

Bavasi also worked for the Angels and the Padres after his days with the Dodgers. Bavasi was realistic about his end with the Dodgers - O'Malley's son was ready to run the club, so Buzzy knew that his time was up. He could have had some hard feelings about the way O'Malley promised him a plot of land in Brooklyn that he had already sold, but Bavasi somehow understood O'Malley offer. Operators understand fellow operators.

Bavasi devotes a few chapters to his days with the actor/crooner Gene Autry in Anaheim, and his time with the McDonald's hamburger magnate Ray Kroc - though the reader quickly learns how Bavasi pined for the "good old days" with the Dodgers. Bavasi admired a few of his modern players, such as Dave Winfield, Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew, and Brian Downing.

There's the obligatory bitterness of a baseball executive who worked before and after free agency. Nearly every executive who worked in both eras complains about the influence of player agents. Agents certainly made contract negotiations much more difficult for owners. Before agents, it was the owner who had the expertise in the ploys of contract negotiations. Afterwards, the agents became more skilled at preparing arbitration cases, and negotiating better contracts for their clients, than some of the general managers.

Off the Record gives the reader some insights from an important baseball man who was involved in many important baseball events. It's a fairly easy book to read but its not poorly written. It's a good book to check out of the library, but I wouldn't recommend it for your library unless you can get a cheap used version for a buck or so. It was worthwhile enough to check out of the local library for a few weeks.

Off the Record may be available for purchase on the net at one of these sites.

--Royal Rooter, March 1, 1999

© 1999 Rob Homa