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From Toronto to Baltimore to Seattle to Philadelphia, Gillick's teams played ? and won it all three times ? in October.
One time can be the result of good fortune, but taking four franchises to 11 postseason appearances? That's anything but a coincidence ? and why Gillick is the first executive in 40 years to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
And that's why Gillick's induction should be viewed as every bit as significant as the two players he's going in with on Sunday in Cooperstown ? Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar.
Think about it. Forty years ago, there was no designated hitter, two 12-team leagues, no wild card and division-series round of playoffs, the Pittsburgh Pirates were in the World Series and there was a team in Washington, D.C., named the Senators.
That's when the Veteran's Committee last saw fit to enshrine an executive ? longtime Yankees general manager George Weiss.
And now we have Gillick, 73, a left-handed pitcher out of the University of Southern California whose arm troubles cost him a major-league shot, but who had an unparalleled touch when it came to building big-league winners.
"Not only was he a great general manager, but a great person,'' Alomar said. "Pat has been a mentor to me, and it will be an honor to go in at the same time he's going in.''
For certain, there is a fitting symmetry to Gillick and Alomar being enshrined together. The Dec. 1990 trade Gillick engineered for Alomar and Joe Carter keyed the Blue Jays' back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993, but the Gillick-Alomar relationship actually began several years earlier.
As part of building the 1977 expansion Blue Jays from scratch, Gillick delved into the then-fledgling Latin American talent market with great success (George Bell, Tony Fernandez, Alfredo Griffin, Damaso Garcia, among others).
Part of that effort was trying to sign Roberto and brother Sandy Alomar Jr. as teenage amateur players in Puerto Rico. But they were beaten to the punch by the Padres under then-scouting director Sandy Johnson.
Gillick finally got his guy at the right time ? just as Roberto was taking off on a Hall of Fame path after three big-league seasons."We were looking for a right-handed hitter, and we had (John) Olerud to play first base, so we felt we might be better getting a right-handed hitting outfielder in the lineup,'' Gillick said. "We probably would have done a one-on-one, McGriff for Carter.
"But I asked San Diego if they would talk about Alomar. And they said, 'well if you would talk about Fernandez'. So that's how that (trade) got going.''
Ironically, just a year earlier, the Padres got Carter in a deal with Cleveland that included Sandy Alomar Jr.
The Blue Jays' second division title came in 1991, and they finally broke through for an AL pennant in 1992, keyed by Alomar's ALCS Game 4-tying, ninth-inning home run off fellow future Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley. The Jays won that game in 11 innings, Alomar was the series MVP, and the Jays beat the Atlanta Braves in six games to win the 1992 World Series.
"I can sit here right now and recall that afternoon in Oakland,'' Gillick said. "It was very difficult to see at that time of day. And to be frank with you, I'm not sure how (Alomar) saw the ball from Eckersley, and hit a home run.
"But if he hadn't hit that home run, and we hadn't come out and won the game in extra innings, we wouldn't have gone on and won in 1992, and possibly not in 1993. Robbie put us in the right place, and gave us that opportunity to win. That home run was one of the biggest blows in Blue Jays history.''
And of course, Carter hit another ? in fact, one of the most memorable homers in World Series history ? to beat Mitch Williams and the Phillies to win the 1993 World Series.
The Gillick-Alomar connection continued in Baltimore ? as Gillick signed Alomar as a free agent ? and more winning where there had been none before ensued. The Orioles hadn't made a postseason appearance since 1983 before back-to-back ALCS appearances in 1996 and 1997. And they haven't had a winning season since Gillick left.
Same story in Seattle ? success soon after Gillick's arrival in 1999: A four-year run of 91 wins or more, the franchise's only back-to-back playoff seasons in 2000-01, the latter being the AL record 116-win season. And just as in Toronto and Baltimore, there has been no return trips to the playoffs since Gillick's departure.
But for all his earlier successes, Gillick points to the last world title with the 2008 Phillies as the clincher for his election by the Veterans Committee ? something only 31 other front office executives have received.
"I don't think I'd have the opportunity to be talking to you today if it hadn't been for that 2008 World Series,'' Gillick said. "That kind of validated or put a check mark on what we were trying to do.
"(I) hadn't been involved in a World Series since 1993; 15 years later to come back and win a world championship? And the ironic thing is the last time the Phillies were in the World Series, it was against (the Blue Jays). I was very very thrilled for the fans of Philadelphia. To win that World Series was just tremendous.''
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