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Dallas Green left lasting imprint on those who worked with him

What have you done to make the Phillies better today? - Dallas Green It is a moment frozen in time, the signature photograph of the Phillies' first World Series title. Standing on the left is general manager Paul Owens in a beige suit coat and tie. To the right is manager Dallas Green, still fully dressed in his No. 46 Phillies burgundy-striped uniform. In between the two primary architects of the 1980 team is the golden trophy the Phillies had waited nearly 100 years to secure.

What have you done to make the Phillies better today?

- Dallas Green

It is a moment frozen in time, the signature photograph of the Phillies' first World Series title. Standing on the left is general manager Paul Owens in a beige suit coat and tie. To the right is manager Dallas Green, still fully dressed in his No. 46 Phillies burgundy-striped uniform. In between the two primary architects of the 1980 team is the golden trophy the Phillies had waited nearly 100 years to secure.

Soon Green would be gone, off to Chicago where he would become the first general manager to lead the Cubs to the postseason in 39 years. Shortly after that, the Phillies were a team in decay, failing to post a winning record in all but two seasons from 1984 through 2000.

By then, Green was back for his second front-office chapter with the Phillies. It could never be as glorious as his first because he was now a senior adviser to the general manager, the sort of title given to men who had prior success but were no longer considered at the forefront of organizational building. Green was 63 at the time and he already had a remarkable resumé, including managerial stops with the Yankees and Mets, a four-man club that also includes Yogi Berra, Casey Stengel, and Joe Torre.

"I have no delusions of grandeur," Green said two days before he was brought back to the organization by then general manager Ed Wade. "I've done my thing, I've had my career. I just want to help."

Wade confirmed last week that Green's exact words to him when they went to lunch to discuss his new role with the Phillies nearly two decades ago were "I just want to help."

"Obviously he did that and a lot more than that," Wade said. "I think he impacted every aspect of the organization. People just really related to him."

Evidence of that could be found on Facebook last week after news spread that Green had died at the age of 82 from kidney disease. Karen Nocella, a former Phillies employee who aided Green in his daily operations, took the time to post this: "I would have run through a wall for him and not thought twice about it. He taught me to believe in myself and go for my goals. I will forever cherish the mark he left on my life."

Wade said he received a phone call last week expressing similar sentiments from Kelly Addario DiGiacomo, the longtime executive office receptionist for the ball club.

Mike Ondo, the Phillies' director of professional scouting, was an intern with bigger aspirations when Green started his second front-office run in 1998.

"I will always hear that voice in my head," Ondo said. "Dallas would famously walk into the building and say your name followed by "What have you done to make the Phillies better today?"

That's an intimidating question for an intern.

"I'd be scrambling, thinking: What have I done?" Ondo said. "You always wanted to have an answer."

Lessons from Green did not stop as Ondo climbed the organizational ladder into his current position.

"If you showed you were willing to work and you were dedicated to the organization, he would try to help you in every way," Ondo said. "I remember one time I was on this conference call for pro scouting and one of the scouts made a comment about how he didn't think a certain player would hit enough in the big leagues.

"A couple days later, Dallas sat down next to me and told me when a scout says something about a player, make sure you ask him why. Don't just let him say he can't hit. Pry into the reasons why. What don't they like? Why did they come to that conclusion? It's not that you don't believe them, but if the general manager comes and asks about somebody he is going to want to know why."

You never read about the behind-the-scenes impact Green had during his second front-office run and that might not have been exactly what team president David Montgomery had in mind when he urged Wade to consider bringing Big D back. Green, of course, had impacts in other ways, too.

"When it was time to win, Dallas wasn't afraid to be aggressive," Ondo said. "He wasn't sitting around collecting a paycheck. He'd go to minor-league games and offer his opinions. He was involved in the draft. He was at every big-league game at home. He definitely was involved in every facet of the baseball side."

Just ask every general manager he advised for confirmation.

It was not always smooth because Green's strong opinions could alienate and anger.

"Oh, we had to talk through some things," Wade said. "I'd have to ask him to back off some things and remind him that the loudest voice in the room was not always right. But he was going to do it in his own way and that meant not always being politically correct. That was the package you were getting."

Montgomery was happy to have it.

"Dallas didn't mince words," Montgomery said. "He'd say, 'I know I've got a big mouth and it gets me in trouble, but I've got to say something when I see something.' At least for me that was helpful. When you had Dallas on your team, you had everybody on their toes a little more. Could you imagine being a scout in our organization and having to talk in front of Dallas Green and Pat Gillick? You better come with a strong opinion that you can support."

Gillick had known Green since 1968 when he replaced Wade as the GM after the 2005 season. They had become close as spring-training acquaintances when Gillick was the GM in Toronto starting in 1978. Gillick knew Green's reputation for being loud and opinionated and he couldn't wait to work with him.

"I've always thought that the best and most important thing you can do as a GM is to have good people in decision-making positions regarding ballplayers," Gillick said. "Those are the people on the field developing players and the ones giving you advice about players in the scouting department. You make the right hires and you will have good players. Guys like Vuke [John Vukovich], Larry Bowa, Lou Piniella and Dallas, even though they can be cantankerous, you want them because you know they will voice and back up their opinions."

Gillick, after being hired, was informed that Green had gone to triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre early in the 2005 season for a heart-to-heart talk with power-hitting prospect Ryan Howard. At the time, Howard wanted to be traded because Jim Thome was blocking his ascent to Philadelphia.

"Dallas stepped in and breached that gap," Gillick said. "He got Ryan's head turned around."

The rest, of course, is a nice bit of Phillies history.

When Gillick retired and Ruben Amaro replaced him as GM, it was Green offering encouragement to the man who was in uniform at the Vet as a 15-year-old bat boy the night the Phillies won their first World Series.

"I used to ask Dallas if he thought I was ready to be a GM," Amaro said. "He'd say, 'You're going to be fine. You're a baseball guy. Trust your instincts.' Dallas was not a BSer, so that was invaluable. A lot of people think he was rigid and old school, but he was really innovative. If you wanted to try something, he'd always tell you to go for it. I was so lucky to always have his knowledge in my back pocket."

He also always had Green's voice in his head. In fact, that voice remains in the heads of so many employees at One Citizens Bank Way.

"He'd walk into the room and say, What have you done to make the Phillies better today?' " Amaro said. "I'd always think about that. What are we missing? What can we do? That quote is playing in my head all the time."

That's the lasting impact Dallas Green left in his second front-office run with the Phillies, one that also included the team's second World Series title.

bbrookover@phillynews.com

@brookob