Question and Answer with Bobby Dickerson- ANSWERS POSTED!

Enclosed is the completed question and answer with Bobby Dickerson. As many of you are aware, Coach Dickerson has been away from the Diamond Jaxx due to hurricane Katrina, where he has been with his family. Best wishes to Bobby and to all of those affected by the hurricane.

Thank you to Bobby Dickerson for taking the time to answer our questions from NSBB! In addition, thank you to all of you for making NSBB such a wonderful posting community!

Bobby Dickerson Q&A:

rawaction:

Thanks Coach Dickerson for taking time to field our questions.

I'm gonna put you on the spot right away! In your 4 years with the Jaxx, who's the most talented player you've had a chance to coach?

I would have to say Felix Pie to this point. He's a very raw player, but extremely talented in all areas of the game.

Secondly, what was it like to be a player coach in 93? How did the other players take to a peer of sorts telling them what to do?

Well it's probably the toughest job I've ever had exactly for those reasons. I wasn't really a coach, the coaches kept me on the outside and I wasn't really a player. Basically I was on an island by myself. It was definitely a great opportunity for me to cross over from player to full time Coach.

Thirdly, you have had pretty good success as a minor league manager. We all know how a minor league player gets to the majors....how does that work for a manager?

I think it's similars in ways but you have to try to put your mind where your body is in whatever job you have at that time and take care of it and hopefully it's noticed. Sometimes it's noticed by people in hiring positions and sometimes it's by peers that get opportunities to bring you aboard as one of their coaches.

Which player that you have coached in the Cubs organization do you think would make the most successful manager?

I try not to look at them in those ways. I try to look at my players as Major League players only. There are guys that obviously know the game and talk the game and live it and those are the types of guys that usually go on to be Coaches and Managers. One guy off the top of my head is Casey Kopitzke, my backup catcher. I’ve had him here a few years and he really understands the game, he talks the game, he pays attention to the details. He’s the type of guy that down the road would be a good Coach or Manager.

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chicubs – Indianapolis, IN:

1) From what you've seen, do you think Felix Pie will end up being a top of the order hitter or middle of the order?

I think he can be a versatile guy. He’s still a long way away from being the guy that he will eventually be. He’s talented, he can run, and he’s got power. So depending on what type of player his Major League club will need I believe he can set up a multitude of roles.

2) Whats your goal as a baseball manager? Where would you like to be in 10 years? I know that sounds cliche, but just curious whether you would want to coach at a higher level....I think you know what I am hinting at.

Everyone that does this ultimately wants to go to the Major Leagues and would like that opportunity to either be a Coach or Manager in the Major Leagues. It would be a dream come true, but my job right now is the AA Manager and I’m responsible for these guys that are here, trying to make sure that they are better the five months that they spend with me. I try to make sure that I don’t look too far down the road. I try to take the club I have or the job I have at the time and do the best I can with it.

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NCCubbieFan - near Raleigh, NC:

As a minor league manager do you get to decide how much playing time players get, or does the Cubs organization tell you who should be playing?

We have guys that the organization and I myself also know that are important, like Felix Pie. He’s a guy that’s going to be in the lineup whether or not he’s getting hits or not. He’s a guy that’s got to develop. He’s talented and he needs his at bats. There are some guys that I have more control over but some guys I don’t.

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UK:

As Rawaction mentioned your 1st managerial position was in '93, I would like to elaborate on that more...

The Rochester team you managed was quite talented with Damon Buford, Mark Parent, A. Rhodes, Manny Alexander and Jeffrey Hammonds, but what was it like when Fernando Valenzuela was sent to AAA?

First, I was the Player Coach on that team, I didn’t Manage the team so most of those guys were my teammates. It was really nice seeing those guys and a lot of my managing background and what I understand in the game and what it takes to be a Major Leaguer I get from playing with guys like that, with Bernie Williams, Gerald Williams, Mark Parent and guys that I’ve seen have Major League careers that I was a teammate of. I draw back from those days, especially 1993 when I really started getting my mind into coaching.

Also, how much has it helped relating to various players having been known as a utility player late in your playing career?

As a utility guy I didn’t get in the lineup a lot, so the mental side of staying ready to play is definitely more tested than when you’re in there every day. As far as that side of it I think as a Manager I do a good job of understanding what our extra guys are going through when they’re not playing. Basically I try to use when I was playing a lot as to help me manage the other guys.

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Iceblink - Austin, TX:

Coach Dickerson -

Thanks for taking questions from the board. Really appreciate your time.

I grew up in Baton Rouge and passed through Thibideaux many times - what do you remember about your Louisiana college days?

I remember back when I was recruited, Nichols State was one of the better baseball schools in Louisiana. I felt honored to be there playing baseball with some of the seniors that were there, Matt Bergeron, Mike, and those things stick out in my mind more than anything as far as a young freshman player learning. Also being a teammate and roommate with Darryl Hamilton. I pretty much hung out with him all the time and he turned out to be a 10 year Major League vet. I look back at those days as a great learning experience in being at a baseball school at that time.

Did you always think you might get into coaching once your playing days ended, or was it a decision that you came to after being in pro baseball? Being a college player, did you give any thought to coaching in college?

I took some college coaching classes so it was in my mind. The thought of doing it was there but ultimately I wanted to be a player and it didn’t come really until I talked with my Manager, Jerry Narron, about it in 1991. I mentioned it to him about what I would have to do to get a coaching job. He talked to Doug Melvin and the next thing I know I was in the Scouting School program down where the Kansas City Royals were having Spring Training. I was there learning about writing player reports. I played two years after that but that was the beginning of making me think about being a Coach after playing.

Thanks again - and best of luck the rest of the season and beyond.

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JonMDavis – Evanston, IL:

Coach-

What was it like for you personally when you told Murton and Greenberg that they were being called up?

Ultimately that’s what we do. Hopefully we can build players and get guys better to help on the parent club. That’s the bottom line as far as a Manager or a Coach. We want to make sure that we give Jim Hendry and Dusty Baker the tools they need to compete at that top level and when two of my guys were going straight from here it was like a blessing for our team and for those guys. We were on the bus when we told them and the whole bus erupted. It was a very nice situation.

Since you can only reward your players so much, was it a big moment for the rest of the team to see two well-deserving guys get the ultimate reward? Did you get a similar sense when Nomar was with the team?

Definitely, they were ecstatic. We had been talking since Spring Training, day one, that somebody on this team would be in Chicago by the end of the year. When they really see it happen and the reality sets in it was an exciting time.

Also, how much fun did you have in Detroit last month with some of the top prospects in the country and living greats of the game?

Being in AA Managing you don’t run across a whole lot of people here, you’re on the field throwing batting practice or hitting fungos. In that Detroit atmosphere a “Who’s Who” of baseball was there so it was a nice situation for myself just meeting people that I normally wouldn’t have got to meet.

Lastly, much has been made of the post-season success of players like Felix Pie. What, if any, importance does winning league championships in the minors have for top prospects?

I think ultimately the first thing is getting guys their personal development as far as how they hit a slider or throw to the right base and so forth. Secondly, and real close is playing in winning type atmospheres. If you’ve never won in your life and you go to an atmosphere of losing it’s hard to try to change that. I think player development works hand in hand with trying to keep guys in winning atmospheres and understanding the little things that have to take place to win at any level. You cannot go to those little things before you develop those players first.

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burnt out cubbie fan - Action Ridge:

Thanks for agreeing to answer the questions. I would like to ask you about the art of the ejection. You have gotten tossed from several games this year, is this normally your intent when you go on the field to argue?

There are times when you feel that your ball club may be down and out and needing a little spark and you go out there to try to give them some life or breathe some life into them. But for the most part, half the time I’m not expecting it. There have been some real quick ejections that maybe I went out to argue something not thinking that I was going to get run and I’m ejected pretty fast and that bothers you.

What sorts of thoughts go through your mind after you get ejected? Do you feel bad that you can't coach your team for the rest of the game? If there are any other fine points that you would like to add, feel free. Thanks, once again.

Again, whenever I go out to get ejected on purpose, no, no other thoughts go through my mind other than I feel that was what I needed to do at the time to try to get my team to do what I felt they needed to do. Obviously when I go out to argue a call that I thought was missed and I’m ejected pretty quickly a lot of things go through my mind. I feel that I did let my team down at that particular point and I’m not going to be there to make a decision maybe later in the game that’s going to help us win or lose it. So hopefully I can limit those times I get ejected. When you get ejected it’s a helpless feeling, you’re out of the game and you want to try to reflect on everything that happened and try to make improvements on those so they don’t happen again.

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RyCubsFan - Washington, DC:

Coach,

You have a large fanbase here!

Glendon Rusch not withstanding, the Cubs have been devoid of a good lefty starter at least the last decade. You've had three good lefty prospects at West Tennesse at various points this year: Hill, Pinto, and Marshall. See any of them sticking the Cubs rotation for a few years?

I can see all three of those guys possibly sticking. They are all different guys and they all possess a different approach to pitching. The whole key is going to be keeping those guys healthy and getting them mature, getting them to where they can control the fastballs a little better. Hill and Pinto, when they throw strikes, are very tough players, they are very tough on righties and lefties. I can see the potential of all three guys sticking. You know we have to get Marshall healthy, which is the first priority.

Do you keep in touch with players after they reach the Big Leagues? Do they ever seek you out for advice later on down the road?

There have been guys that call me on things. I tell them when they play for me I hope to not see them again. I hope to get them off and get them away from me. I consider myself right now a player development guy. That would change if I ever have an opportunity to be in the big leagues but I tell those guys to get away from me and go to the big leagues and never look back.

Finally, what's it like working with Von Joshua? Like you, he has a lot of support here for his work.

Von is a very knowledgeable hitting guy. He played in the Major Leagues a long time and has also been a hitting coach for a Major League team so there’s a lot for me to learn from Von, especially watching him deal with players and also gaining some knowledge about what actually happens in the Major Leagues, being as though I’ve never been there.

Congrats on your great year.

Ryan

I remember back when I was recruited, Nickel State was one of the better baseball schools in Louisiana. I felt honored to be there playing baseball with some of the seniors that were there, Matt Bergeron, Mike, and those things stick out in my mind more than anything as far as a young freshman player learning. Also being a teammate and roommate with Darryl Hamilton. I pretty much hung out with him all the time and he turned out to be a 10 year Major League vet. I look back at those days as a great learning experience in being at a baseball school at that time.

 

 

I believe that should be Nichols State....assuming you are referring to the university in Thibideaux.

Done! Thanks!