LaMar was the original general manager for the Tampa Bay Rays who drafted and traded for many of the team’s stars. Now he’s the head of professional scouting for the Philadelphia Phillies.
LaMar already received national attention for his unique perspective on the squads playing for the championship starting tonight.
Interviewed on TBS during the Rays-Red Sox battle for the American League title, LaMar said he had a “tremendous amount of pride” for his role in gathering some of the pieces that are now winning for the Rays - once baseball’s example of futility by having never had a winning season before this year.
LaMar told TBS that people forget that in his 10 years with the Rays they had a low payroll in the toughest division in baseball - the AL East - which has been dominated by the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.
“I probably take as much pride in the staff members - the coaches that are still here, the people in the front office and the players on that field,” LaMar said of the Rays, who was fired after 10 years when new ownership took over. “It wasn’t me, frankly. We had a great organization and they advanced those people within the organization. When you’re the general manager, you’re blessed to have that position, but there’s a tremendous amount of people in scouts and player development that go into that.
“They’re reaping the benefits.”
LaMar worked his way up to his current position, which he took last October, after resigning as baseball coach at UMHB in January 1985 to take a scouting position with the Cincinnati Reds.
At the time of LaMar leaving UMHB, then-athletic director Dr. Dan Atha said he would be missed after a year at the school. “He is an unusually good coach,” Atha said. “We were fortunate to have him.”
Atha, now retired and helping take care of grandkids in Harrodsburg, Ky., noted LaMar’s success as UMHB coach included several players who made the major leagues.
LaMar was the only baseball coach at the school who Atha went with on a recruiting trip. He said LaMar told Buddy Groom of Red Oak that if he came to UMHB he could play professional baseball - and he did.
Groom had a 14-year career in the major leagues. A left-handed reliever, he finished with a 31-32 record, 27 saves and a 4.64 earned-run average and led the AL with 76 relief appearances in 1999.
Another of LaMar’s UMHB players, Brett Gideon, pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Montreal Expos for three seasons, finishing with three major league saves, a 1-5 record and a 4.46 ERA. He was 1-for-1 batting with two RBI and was hit by a pitch.
Atha said that he expected LaMar to make the majors as well. “I was impressed by how much he knew,” Atha said, noting that LaMar knew more about baseball than Red Murff - the legendary scout who signed Nolan Ryan out of Alvin and helped start the baseball program at UMHB.
“I told (UMHB president) Dr. (Bobby) Parker when I hired him we are lucky to get him,” Atha said, noting that some didn’t like LaMar’s very aggressive personality on the diamond and the way he drove his players to improve.
In his later career, some Rays fans complained about the team’s direction under LaMar.
But in both cases he left the teams some good building blocks.
After LaMar’s resignation to join the Reds, former Belton High School coach Chuck Douglas took over UMHB and almost guided the Crusaders to their own version of the World Series. Atha recalled that the team was one out away from the nationals when a Dallas Baptist player hit a home run that cost UMHB the trip. Atha was on the phone making plans with a travel agent at the time.
As for the Rays, LaMar drafted six players on the current roster, including starting pitchers James Shields and Andy Sonnanstine, left fielder Carl Crawford and center fielder B.J. Upton. He traded for left-hander Scott Kazmir, perhaps the best-known player on the Rays before this season.
Another LaMar selection, Delmon Young, was the major part of the trade with the Minnesota Twins that brought pitcher Matt Garza - the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series - and shortstop Jason Bartlett last season.
In a Philadelphia Inquirer article, LaMar gave credit to Tampa Bay’s new regime, including Andrew Friedman, his successor at general manager. LaMar also cited manager Joe Maddon, the new ownership group, principal owner Stu Sternberg and president Matt Silverman, saying they “have done a fabulous job.
“We left the organization with one of the best groups of young players in baseball,” LaMar said, “and what they have done is take those players to the next level.”
At the time of leaving UMHB, LaMar noted that he loved to coach and getting into the scouting part of the game would be different. “This will be the first spring since I was 8 years old not to be in uniform,” he said in 1985.
This week, though, he’ll be a big part of the two teams playing the World Series.
