Guerrero Defends Campanis; Critical of Madlock, Media

Pedro Guerrero, who considers himself a friend of Al Campanis, the deposed Dodger vice president, delivered an impassioned defense of Campanis Thursday and also took exception to comments by teammate Bill Madlock in the wake of the controversy over the role of blacks in baseball management.

In an impromptu and emotional interview with reporters after the Dodgers’ home opener, Guerrero said that Campanis’ apology for saying that blacks may lack the “necessities” to be managers and executives should have been accepted by “people out there and (in the clubhouse).” Guerrero also criticized the media’s handling of the situation.

“He apologized, and why can’t they accept his apology,” Guerrero said. “I’m talking especially about the people in this room (the Dodger clubhouse). I’m talking about the players, not (owner Peter) O’Malley. . . .

“Madlock says he needs more than an apology. But he doesn’t know him as well as I know (him). You know (Campanis) didn’t mean what he said. They (teammates and the public) have the right to say what they want to, but what I’m saying is, why can’t they accept (Campanis’) apology?

“I’m Dominican, but I’m also black. I forgive Al.”

Guerrero, choosing words carefully, said he is not upset at Madlock or any other Dodger player and that he and Madlock maintain a good working relationship.

“I’m not saying that I’m mad at anybody. It’s not anything between us. You have to realize that he doesn’t know Campanis like I do.”

However, Guerrero did take strong exception to Madlock’s comments of Tuesday and Wednesday. Madlock said he was “disappointed” in Campanis’ comments, but Madlock mostly criticized the general beliefs about blacks among baseball’s Establishment.

Madlock, who was unavailable for comment Thursday, said Wednesday that he was sad to hear of Campanis’ firing.

“Like I said, I didn’t like his statement about blacks, but I didn’t want his head,” Madlock said Wednesday in Houston. “It’s a sad way to go out.”

Guerrero was asked if he has expressed his feelings directly to Madlock. “I don’t really want to say anything,” Guerrero said.

Guerrero and Campanis’ relationship has extended beyond the field. Campanis has visited Guerrero in the Dominican Republic, and the two were part of the Dodger contingent that traveled to Santo Domingo recently to open the organization’s Dominican baseball academy.

“People (criticize) Campanis, but they don’t know the guy, don’t know him as a person,” Guerrero said. “I believe his mind wasn’t right at the time the guy (ABC’s Ted Koppel) asked the question. It’s happened to me, it’s happened to you. We all say things we don’t mean.

“I don’t want to go too far in what I say. But I hope I don’t have to read in the paper every day about what Al said. I hope you guys also write about the good things he did for baseball. I still think he is a great man.”

Madlock, a 13-year veteran, has spoken more about baseball’s racial issue than about Campanis’ specific comments.

Because he is black, outspoken, and someday hopes to be a baseball executive, Madlock has been besieged by the media in the wake of the Campanis incident.

In one respect, Madlock said when the club was in Houston, Campanis may have helped the advancement of blacks, simply because attention has been drawn to the problem.

“It might help blacks, something like this,” Madlock said. “In the past, some person would write an article about why there are no black managers, and then it’s forgotten for about another 10 years until somebody says something.

“Maybe this time, (the media) will keep writing and talking about it. How else will it change?”

Madlock has experienced this scenario before. He was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1982, when Howie Haak, a scout for the team, said that the Pirates had too many black players and might need to trade for a white player to help increase attendance.

The public reaction was similar to that of the Campanis incident, though Haak was not fired for his remarks. Madlock was a media favorite during that furor, too, but he said it died after a few days.

Now, Madlock said, he’s hoping it becomes a cause.

“This isn’t just baseball, it’s life we’re talking about now,” Madlock said. “Even now, there seems to be a lot of problems. Look at the racial unrest in (Forsyth County) Georgia and New York.”

Strictly in terms of baseball, Madlock indicated a belief that conditions obviously have improved for blacks since the days of Jackie Robinson, but that blacks have noticeably been excluded from the front office.

Perhaps the remark by Campanis that Madlock took exception to most was that blacks must “pay their dues in the minor leagues” before becoming managers and general managers.

Madlock says the paying-your-dues theory is nonsense.

The facts support Madlock.

Depending on one’s definition of dues paying, there aren’t many major league managers who have spent years managing in the minor leagues or scouting or working for more than a short while as a coach on the major league level.

Tom Lasorda, the Dodger manager, is one. Lasorda was a player (mostly in the minor leagues) for 11 years, a scout for four years, a minor league manager for eight years and a Dodger coach for four seasons before taking over for Walter Alston in September 1976.

Cal Ripken Sr., new manager at Baltimore, is another who spent more than 20 years as a minor league manager and major league coach before managing in the major leagues.

But it appeared that there are far more examples of managers who have paid little, if any, dues before becoming a manager.

Pete Rose didn’t even bother to retire as a player before taking over as manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Jim Fregosi became manager of the Angels in the late 1970s one day after retiring as a player. Fregosi, after later being fired by the Angels, spent time managing in the minor leagues before returning to manager the Chicago White Sox.

Larry Bowa, San Diego’s new manager, spent only one season managing the club’s Triple-A team in Las Vegas before getting the Padre job. Bobby Valentine, manager of the Texas Rangers, had a quick ascension from player to major league coach to manager.

Madlock says it is a clear double standard.

“If you’re going to say, ‘Pay your dues,’ then have both whites and blacks do it or just have neither pay any at all,” Madlock said. “can you really say that Joe Morgan or Willie Stargell or other qualified (blacks) need to pay their dues or that they aren’t intelligent enough?”