An open letter to Ken Kendrick
micmac99
Baseball Fan
Downtown Phoenix
Ken Kendrick
Managing General Partner
Arizona Diamondbacks
9/3/2006
Mr. Kendrick:
I am glad baseball is in Arizona. Up until this weekend I was more than happy to support the Diamondbacks. At this point - despite the fact that the Diamondbacks are poised in the years to come to be one of the more sucessful and exciting teams in all of Major League Baseball to watch and to support - I am not so sure.
Many factors that have transpired this season have caused me to seriously question whether or not you should continue to remain in your position as managing general partner of this franchise.
1. Your apparent orchestration of the departure of Jerry Colangelo in 2004. Your (and the other partners) apparent disagreements with Mr. Colangelo are well noted and justified. However, the virtual firing of the founder of this franchise and someone who still garners tremendous respect as a capable and influential leader in American professional sports frankly baffles me, in the way it was handled.
2. Your accepting Jeff Moorad as the public face of the general partners, and Moorad's significantly diminished role as such, as this season has progressed. Why bring him on in the first place if you will not use him?
3. Your handling of the Jason Grimsley affair.
4. The overall team morale, which in my best observation has suffered this season, and I feel that is a major contributing factor in the less-than-stellar on the field performance of an otherwise strongly talented team. With the mix of youth and veterans - even with the pitching staff in place as of today - there is no reason why this team should be over 8 games out of first place. I am also afraid that quality players, who can help this franchise win championships, will either elect to leave or otherwise not come to the Diamondbacks in part because of the tone you have set this season.
4a. Your failure to acknowledge that certain members of the fan base are not happy with the on-the-field gameday decisions by Mr. Melvin and his staff. While I respect Mr. Melvin, there are other fans who are regular posters to this forum who do not. There are those who strongly believe that Mr. Melvin, who has been in the game of baseball the better part of 25 years and has played or coached under some of the best minds in the sport such as Roger Craig and Phil Garner, does not have total freedom to manage the team in the way he sees fit.
5. Your implicit and rather audacious slap in the face to Mr. Colangelo (and all who honor and remember his years of successful leadership of the Suns) by announcing a radical and unneccesary change to the color scheme of the ballclub, which is one of the few remaining remnants of Mr. Colangelo's impressive effort to bring Major League Baseball to Arizona, and to be creative and innovative in having such team be competitve on the field in opposition to the traditional trend of expansion franchises to take years if not decades to become competitive.
I have made countless posts on this message board defending the actions of Mr. Colangelo, and showing my understanding of why he took the financial route he did, so I will not rehash them here.
There are others on this board who have over the entire course of this season had the audacity to suggest that my views and opinions are without merit and represent the views of "whiners" and "casual fans" with their heads stuck inside certain bodily cavities. To them I say to each his own, I will not budge, just give me the pleasure of posting them as long as I am following the Terms of Service of this message board, and feel free to ignore such comments as you see fit - I certainly shall exercise similar rights.
And to you, Mr. Kendrick, I say:
1. I call for you to step down from your position as managing general partner effective the end of the 2006 postseason and sell your financial interest in the Arizona Diamondbacks to a businessman or group of such, with much stronger local and regional ties, respect, and public esteem in Phoenix, Tucson and statewide. Such men will have a greater inclination to act in the best interest of the Diamondbacks, their fans, and to the people of Arizona. I have posted a partial listing on this board earlier today of those who might be possible considerations. This should be done for the long-term greater good of the Diamondbacks franchise.
2. If you are not willing to do that, please consider hiring or promoting a team president to assume all major executive duties not under the responsibility of the General Manager or other player-related executives, with absolutely no interference of any sort from yourself or the other partners except in the most drastic of situations. Rich Dozer has proven himself to be one of the most excellent and capable executives in American professional sports and is a strong tie to the ownership tenure of Mr. Colangelo. I would suggest he be team president in more than a nominal fasion. He would also be an excellent candidate for Managing General Partner and one I would be strongly inclined to support.
I also hope that you will continue to grant Josh Byrnes complete autonomy to shape the on-the-field presence of the Diamondbacks as he sees fit, with absolutely no interference from yourself or the other general partners whatsoever, unless the performance of the team is unacceptable to the point where action must be taken.
3 If you are not willing to do 1 and 2 then I will have no choice to be a strong advocate for an outside group to form a corporation and purchase the Diamondback franchise, operate it as a public corporation on the model of the Green Bay Packers, and give control of Arizona's team back to Arizona's fans.
By these comments and others that I have made on this board, please do not infer that I hold you in less-than-high regard or respect as a person. I do not know you personally and upon meeting you personally, if I were to have the chance to do so, I might find you a pleasant individual. However, as a fan of the game of baseball and of the Diamondbacks from the inception of the franchise, I am somewhat uncomfortable with much of the direction of the team I waited over seven years to arrive in this state, with the exception of the high caliber of talent assembled in the minor league system (the responsibility in large part of Mike Rizzo, who is making a tremendous name for himself as a baseball executive).
The dismissal of Colangelo, even if there was no choice but to do so for the good of the franchise, was handled badly enough. Now you have to get rid of his colors. To this fan, that is unacceptable.
I don't expect a response from you. This is more for the perusal of the others on this board. I would suspect that you may never read this and never even be aware that some of the fans even think this way.
In any case, thank you, Mr. Kendrick, and thanks to the Diamondbacks and to Major League Baseball for giving me - and those who disagree with me - a forum to express our opinions, angry as well as joyful, about the team we love so much.
I will make a decision over the course of the offseason whether to continue as a fan of this team. And whether I choose to support this team publicly in 2007 or not, I will always support the fact that Phoenix and Arizona, the city and state that I love more than any other, dared to dream big and get Major League Baseball.
Baseball Fan
Downtown Phoenix
Ken Kendrick
Managing General Partner
Arizona Diamondbacks
9/3/2006
Mr. Kendrick:
I am glad baseball is in Arizona. Up until this weekend I was more than happy to support the Diamondbacks. At this point - despite the fact that the Diamondbacks are poised in the years to come to be one of the more sucessful and exciting teams in all of Major League Baseball to watch and to support - I am not so sure.
Many factors that have transpired this season have caused me to seriously question whether or not you should continue to remain in your position as managing general partner of this franchise.
1. Your apparent orchestration of the departure of Jerry Colangelo in 2004. Your (and the other partners) apparent disagreements with Mr. Colangelo are well noted and justified. However, the virtual firing of the founder of this franchise and someone who still garners tremendous respect as a capable and influential leader in American professional sports frankly baffles me, in the way it was handled.
2. Your accepting Jeff Moorad as the public face of the general partners, and Moorad's significantly diminished role as such, as this season has progressed. Why bring him on in the first place if you will not use him?
3. Your handling of the Jason Grimsley affair.
4. The overall team morale, which in my best observation has suffered this season, and I feel that is a major contributing factor in the less-than-stellar on the field performance of an otherwise strongly talented team. With the mix of youth and veterans - even with the pitching staff in place as of today - there is no reason why this team should be over 8 games out of first place. I am also afraid that quality players, who can help this franchise win championships, will either elect to leave or otherwise not come to the Diamondbacks in part because of the tone you have set this season.
4a. Your failure to acknowledge that certain members of the fan base are not happy with the on-the-field gameday decisions by Mr. Melvin and his staff. While I respect Mr. Melvin, there are other fans who are regular posters to this forum who do not. There are those who strongly believe that Mr. Melvin, who has been in the game of baseball the better part of 25 years and has played or coached under some of the best minds in the sport such as Roger Craig and Phil Garner, does not have total freedom to manage the team in the way he sees fit.
5. Your implicit and rather audacious slap in the face to Mr. Colangelo (and all who honor and remember his years of successful leadership of the Suns) by announcing a radical and unneccesary change to the color scheme of the ballclub, which is one of the few remaining remnants of Mr. Colangelo's impressive effort to bring Major League Baseball to Arizona, and to be creative and innovative in having such team be competitve on the field in opposition to the traditional trend of expansion franchises to take years if not decades to become competitive.
I have made countless posts on this message board defending the actions of Mr. Colangelo, and showing my understanding of why he took the financial route he did, so I will not rehash them here.
There are others on this board who have over the entire course of this season had the audacity to suggest that my views and opinions are without merit and represent the views of "whiners" and "casual fans" with their heads stuck inside certain bodily cavities. To them I say to each his own, I will not budge, just give me the pleasure of posting them as long as I am following the Terms of Service of this message board, and feel free to ignore such comments as you see fit - I certainly shall exercise similar rights.
And to you, Mr. Kendrick, I say:
1. I call for you to step down from your position as managing general partner effective the end of the 2006 postseason and sell your financial interest in the Arizona Diamondbacks to a businessman or group of such, with much stronger local and regional ties, respect, and public esteem in Phoenix, Tucson and statewide. Such men will have a greater inclination to act in the best interest of the Diamondbacks, their fans, and to the people of Arizona. I have posted a partial listing on this board earlier today of those who might be possible considerations. This should be done for the long-term greater good of the Diamondbacks franchise.
2. If you are not willing to do that, please consider hiring or promoting a team president to assume all major executive duties not under the responsibility of the General Manager or other player-related executives, with absolutely no interference of any sort from yourself or the other partners except in the most drastic of situations. Rich Dozer has proven himself to be one of the most excellent and capable executives in American professional sports and is a strong tie to the ownership tenure of Mr. Colangelo. I would suggest he be team president in more than a nominal fasion. He would also be an excellent candidate for Managing General Partner and one I would be strongly inclined to support.
I also hope that you will continue to grant Josh Byrnes complete autonomy to shape the on-the-field presence of the Diamondbacks as he sees fit, with absolutely no interference from yourself or the other general partners whatsoever, unless the performance of the team is unacceptable to the point where action must be taken.
3 If you are not willing to do 1 and 2 then I will have no choice to be a strong advocate for an outside group to form a corporation and purchase the Diamondback franchise, operate it as a public corporation on the model of the Green Bay Packers, and give control of Arizona's team back to Arizona's fans.
By these comments and others that I have made on this board, please do not infer that I hold you in less-than-high regard or respect as a person. I do not know you personally and upon meeting you personally, if I were to have the chance to do so, I might find you a pleasant individual. However, as a fan of the game of baseball and of the Diamondbacks from the inception of the franchise, I am somewhat uncomfortable with much of the direction of the team I waited over seven years to arrive in this state, with the exception of the high caliber of talent assembled in the minor league system (the responsibility in large part of Mike Rizzo, who is making a tremendous name for himself as a baseball executive).
The dismissal of Colangelo, even if there was no choice but to do so for the good of the franchise, was handled badly enough. Now you have to get rid of his colors. To this fan, that is unacceptable.
I don't expect a response from you. This is more for the perusal of the others on this board. I would suspect that you may never read this and never even be aware that some of the fans even think this way.
In any case, thank you, Mr. Kendrick, and thanks to the Diamondbacks and to Major League Baseball for giving me - and those who disagree with me - a forum to express our opinions, angry as well as joyful, about the team we love so much.
I will make a decision over the course of the offseason whether to continue as a fan of this team. And whether I choose to support this team publicly in 2007 or not, I will always support the fact that Phoenix and Arizona, the city and state that I love more than any other, dared to dream big and get Major League Baseball.
posted by Michael Sheldon Reed at 7:31 PM
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