“No manager ever won no ballgames”

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt, Richard West
  • 60th Aerial Port Squadron superintendent
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Although less than perfect grammar, the message rings true what the late, great baseball manager George "Sparky" Anderson once said.

As he was trying to avoid reporters after a game, he exclaimed, "No manager ever won no ballgames" in his raspy, gruff tone.

He wanted the attention on the players, the ones making plays, getting hits and scoring runs on the field. Anderson won three World Series titles, two with the Cincinnati Reds in 1975 and 1976 and with the Detroit Tigers in 1984, so while he obviously knew about baseball, he also knew people.

The personnel "in the trenches" deserve the majority of the credit, while managers sometimes tend to forget what it's like out there. I have to often remind myself of this when our unit has a mishap, setback or someone has a lapse in judgment.

Have you ever had that person in your unit whom every supervisor wants in their section and every co-worker wants on their shift? Then there are others who are less than perfect or no one has taken the time with or noticed. It's the manager's responsibility to put everyone on the line-up card, hone their strengths and ensure the team succeeds.

Like Anderson, you may have to yank a pitcher out of the game because he just doesn't have his best stuff that day, but he'll be back to pitch again and hopefully have better success the next time.

When I was an Airman working in a cargo warehouse, my co-workers and I thought of ourselves as tough. Someone may make fun of you for wearing hearing protection or gloves because that was for wimps. We all challenged each other to try and lift heavy crates onto trucks and aircraft pallets instead of asking for help. There weren't the Quality Assurance or safety inspectors roaming around as we have now and warehouse tug and forklift races were a standard nightly affair. That mindset all changed with a better hands-on, eyes-on supervisor who set us straight, but he also knew he really needed us to get the cargo moved. Later, we realized we could still be a cohesive team and get the job done safely while maintaining our toughness.

We ask a lot of our Airmen every day while deployed in harm's way and trying to complete the nation's objectives or while at home station keeping aircraft in the air. In the 60th Aerial Port Squadron, most personnel are operating in a dangerous, industrial environment around the clock with one-third of the force deployed at any given time of the year.

If you're not familiar, imagine a major airline's passenger operation combined with a massive freight company. On any given day, you may see forklifts in the warehouse constantly moving in and out of 40-foot trailers, 18-wheeler trucks hauling loads in and out of the compound, "Tunner" loaders transporting freight to and from C-5 Galaxies, C-17 Globemaster IIIs, KC-10 Extenders and Boeing 747 cargo aircraft.

On the other side of the base, we're servicing aircraft latrines, positioning staircase trucks to load passengers, handling baggage and driving buses between the Passenger Terminal and Travis' vast flight line. Needing to get the job done safely and on-time requires all individuals to focus, gel with their teammates and produce results when put in the game.

I believe another take away from the Hall of Fame baseball manager's quote is that as much as management tries to plan, formulate and set things up for success, there's only so much managing that can be done and the players still have to execute.