Former Cubs general manager Dallas Green dies at 82

MESA, Ariz. — A lot has been made the last few years about a culture change in the Cubs’ organization that led to last year’s historic title.

But 34 years earlier, Dallas Green looked like he was about to pull off the same sea change in the organization — Theo before Theo.

“Dallas came in and totally changed the Cubs’ culture in that first year in 1982,” said Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, who was handpicked from Green’s old organization in Philadelphia to be one of the first key young players acquired by that new regime.

“Dallas was instrumental in really my whole baseball career. That was a huge opportunity and a huge break for me. I definitely went and made the most of that opportunity.”

One of the most influential baseball executives in Cubs history, Green died Wednesday at age 82 after battling health issues in recent years.

“Very sad news,” said Sandberg, who had stayed in touch with Green and had anticipated calling again soon.

Green took the Cubs to the postseason for the first time since 1945 by assembling a star-studded team in 1984, acquiring Sandberg, Dennis Eckersley and Rick Sutcliffe. This was four years after he managed the Phillies to their first World Series title in 1980.

The Sporting News named him its executive of the year, but by 1987 Green was fired after years of feuding with executives at the Tribune Company, which owned the team.

“The guy at the Tribune was a horse’s ass,” he said of John Madigan during a conversation with the Sun-Times in 2013. “And I had no business getting fired. Those guys were a year away yet, but we knew where we were and we knew what we had done and we knew the kind of talent we had.

“But corporate people eventually learn to talk the lingo. And once they learn how to talk the lingo, they think they know baseball.”

Green won quickly at the big-league level, but it was the rebuilding of the farm system and acquisitions of young players such as Sandberg that might have had the lasting impact — with Greg Maddux, Joe Girardi, Rafael Palmeiro, Shawon Dunston and Mark Grace among his draft picks.

“We probably did it too quick,” he told the Sun-Times, referring to the sudden expectations and impatience that 1984 created.

“He had a vision, and he knew what was going to happen,” said Cubs bench coach Dave Martinez, who was drafted under Green in 1983 and was part of the young core that returned the Cubs to the playoffs in 1989. “He was trying to build an organization from within, and he really did that. In ’89 all those guys that were there were still some of his guys.”

Said Sandberg: “He should have been part of ’89, and, who knows, maybe many more [playoff] years after that.”

Five years after he was fired, Maddux was allowed to depart for free agency despite offering compromises to stay. “With Greg being [Green’s] guy, yeah, I believe that would have turned out differently,” Sandberg said.

Green’s legacy also includes vigorous efforts to get lights installed at Wrigley Field after the Cubs were denied home-field advantage in the 1984 playoffs. The lights went in the season after he was fired.

In January 2011, he was devastated by the tragic death of a 9-year-old granddaughter. Christina Green was one of six people killed in the Arizona shooting that critically injured congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

“Baseball helped me cope,” Green told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “You sink yourself into your work.”

Green also managed the Yankees and the Mets. He most recently worked as a special advisor to the Phillies.

As a player, Green was a spot starter and reliever with the Phillies, Mets and Washington Senators. A 6-5, hard-throwing right-hander, Green went 20-22 with a 4.26 ERA during a major-league career that stretched from 1960-67.

“I was a 20-game winner,” he liked to say. “It just took me five years to do it.”

Follow me on Twitter @GDubCub.

Email: gwittenmyer@suntimes.com