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By BILL SAVAGE; Times Leader Sports Writer
Wednesday, November 17, 1993 Page: 1B QUICK WORDS: BARONS SUMMON `POPEYE’
MOOSIC — On those occasions when Mike Quade went out to talk to his
pitcher at Ottawa Stadium this past baseball season, he was usually greeted by
the playing of the “Popeye” theme song over the stadium’s public address
system.
On Tuesday, the 36-year-old who led the expansion Ottawa Lynx into the
International League playoffs and was named the IL’s Manager of the Year as a
result, was introduced as the man who will try to put some muscle into the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons in 1994.
“I always wanted to see the home clubhouse here,” joked Quade, who along
with Philadelphia Phillies director of player development Del Unser held a
Tuesday press conference at Lackawanna County Stadium to announce his hiring.
“I’ve been managing against the Phillies for three or four years now,” said
Quade, who has spent the past three seasons managing against Reading and the
Red Barons for Harrisburg and Ottawa, respectively.
“When Del called and after spending a little time with (Phillies general
manager) Lee Thomas, I just got the feeling this was a great situation.”
Quade replaces George Culver, whose 62-80 record in 1993 was due, in no
small part, to the job Quade did in Ottawa. After being no-hit by Tyler Green
on July 4, the Lynx went on to win eight straight against the Red Barons, as
Ottawa overcame a horrible start to go 73-69 and make the playoffs, losing to
Rochester in the first round.
The Lynx also set a new IL attendance record, breaking a long-standing
league mark by drawing more than 663,000 fans to their new stadium.
But Quade acknowledged that the Red Barons have set a five-year standard in
that area that even Ottawa will be hard pressed to match.
“We were quick to brag on how we drew in Ottawa, but I was here the Fourth
of July night last year and I couldn’t get out of here for an hour and a
half,” he said. “To me, it’s more of a small-town atmosphere here.”
If his performance with Ottawa this past season was any indication, Quade
should prove to be an entertaining manager for the 500,000 or so fans who will
watch the Red Barons play next year.
Quade was left with no hair at all after developing the affliction alopecia
areata at an early age.
Howver, he has a muscular physique that in addition to bringing about the
“Popeye” comparison, makes him a rather imposing figure in a baseball uniform.
Prior to a game against the Red Barons in Ottawa, for example, Quade
single-handedly sprinted to the outfield to break up a fight between two of
his players.
He is the first Red Barons manager to be hired from outside the Phillies’
organization. The previous three, Bill Dancy, Lee Elia and Culver, all had
jobs in the organization prior to coming to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
“This is the first time we’ve done this but this year, I felt it was best
to go outside the organization,” said Unser, who said Quade’s coaching staff
will be filled out after negotiations with potential candidates are held over
the next few weeks.
“The way we have to ramrod information down our kids’ throats these days
… we need people who get out there at 2 in the afternoon, then at 4, then
manage the game,” he added.
“It’s not easy to get people who are married to baseball and if you want a
development person, you go to A ball,” said Unser. “But at Triple-A, you have
to be able to manage the game.”
Quade, who is single, said he realized after an August conversation with
coach Mike Parrott that the Montreal Expos’ system might be looking to make
changes for 1994.
“When it became obvious Montreal was going to make changes, there were
three jobs in this league (in which he was interested) and this was one,” he
said.
The other two were with Charlotte and Norfolk. The latter job, in which
Dancy also reportedly showed an interest, will allegedly be offered to former
Texas Rangers manager Bobby Valentine today or Thursday.
“It was obvious they were going to move people at all levels and I guess
Dan feels he’s finally able to get the people he wants in there,” said Quade,
referring to the Expos and their general manager, Dan Duquette.
Jim Tracy, who managed Harrisburg to the Eastern League title last year,
will manage Ottawa next year.
“I have nothing but thanks for those people and for the people in Ottawa,
who treated me great,” he added. “I don’t really know what is going on in the
upper echelons of the Montreal Expos, but a general manager has the right to
have the people in there who he wants.”
The Phillies wanted Quade so much they quickly wrapped up the deal to bring
him to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday night and got him into town on Tuesday
from Philadelphia.
Former catcher Bob Boone had been considered the front-runner for the Red
Barons’ job, but he has been interviewed three times for the Houston Astros’
manager’s job and seems headed for the major leagues.
Culver is going back to being a pitching coach in the organization and
Dancy, who has said he would return here if offered the job, could be going to
Class AA Reading if nothing comes up in another organization at the Triple-A
level.
Quade played baseball at the University of New Orleans and spent five
seasons as a utility player in the Pittsburgh system, never hitting above .275
or advancing past the Double-A level.
He has a .497 winning percentage as a manger at Macon, Jacksonville, West
Palm Beach, Rockford, Harrisburg and, in his Triple-A debut, this past season
at Ottawa.
The Lynx, a team that relied on pitching, speed and defense for much of
their success, lost the Eastern Division title to Rochester on the final day
of the regular season, then lost to the Red Wings in five games in the
playoffs.
It was Quade’s fourth winning season in the past five years.
Only Elia, in 1992, has managed the Red Barons to a winning season.
Quade said, however, that the Red Barons gave his Ottawa team a tough time
last year.
“We had some unbelievable ballgames with that club and then we got some
help and we won a few games in a row,” he said.
In addition to knowing what Green can do, Quade knows another likely Red
Barons pitcher, Kevin Foster, whom he managed a few years ago in the Expos’
system.
And, with several prospects moving up from Harrisburg, Ottawa may not need
a few veterans who played for Quade, players such as second baseman Todd Haney
and infielder Terrel Hansen.
Quade, incidentally, will be the youngest manager in Red Barons history.
Dancy was a few months older at the start of the 1989 season than Quade will
be in April.