Fenway
02-07-2007, 11:50 AM
Interesting look at Scott Boras who after Bud Selig maybe the most powerful man in baseball
http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=181510
Intense and dramatic go a long way toward describing the substance and style of Boras, who grew up on a farm in central California before becoming a farmhand (second base and center field) in the minor league systems of the Cardinals and Cubs. A succession of knee injuries led to a premature exit from the game.
He studied pharmacology and got a law degree before becoming a medical malpractice litigator in Chicago. In the early 1980s he began to handle, part-time, some arbitration cases with he and his then-fiancee Jeanette poring over Baseball Encyclopedias to prepare. When a former teammate, Bill Caudill, asked for his help in negotiating a contract with the Blue Jays in 1985, Boras hammered out a five-year deal worth $7.5 million.
Boras was hooked. He began to apply his nose for detail, his adeptness at negotiating and an unflagging work ethic into building his business. The client list -- McDonald, Jim Abbott, Andy Benes, Tim Belcher, Greg Maddux -- gradually began growing. Boras, now a father of three children ages 13, 16 and 19, began formulating and refining his particular vision into a growing company that now numbers approximately 70 employees. He paid particular attention to the college draft and is widely credited with (or deridedfor) expanding the pool of signing bonus dollars teams now dole out for top draft picks.
http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=181510
Intense and dramatic go a long way toward describing the substance and style of Boras, who grew up on a farm in central California before becoming a farmhand (second base and center field) in the minor league systems of the Cardinals and Cubs. A succession of knee injuries led to a premature exit from the game.
He studied pharmacology and got a law degree before becoming a medical malpractice litigator in Chicago. In the early 1980s he began to handle, part-time, some arbitration cases with he and his then-fiancee Jeanette poring over Baseball Encyclopedias to prepare. When a former teammate, Bill Caudill, asked for his help in negotiating a contract with the Blue Jays in 1985, Boras hammered out a five-year deal worth $7.5 million.
Boras was hooked. He began to apply his nose for detail, his adeptness at negotiating and an unflagging work ethic into building his business. The client list -- McDonald, Jim Abbott, Andy Benes, Tim Belcher, Greg Maddux -- gradually began growing. Boras, now a father of three children ages 13, 16 and 19, began formulating and refining his particular vision into a growing company that now numbers approximately 70 employees. He paid particular attention to the college draft and is widely credited with (or deridedfor) expanding the pool of signing bonus dollars teams now dole out for top draft picks.