The One and Only Harry Dalton

All he wanted at first was a job in PR. He wound up making World Series-winning moves. I talk to the author of a new biography on the Orioles' legendary GM.

Two years ago, I was contacted by Lee Kluck, a writer from Wisconsin working on a biography of Harry Dalton, the late baseball executive who’d played a major role in the Orioles’ rise to the top of the American League in the 1960s and 1970s.

Kluck had read From 33rd Street to Camden Yards, my oral history of the Orioles, in which Dalton speaks at length with great insight on many subjects. Kluck wanted to know if I had a recording of my interview with Dalton, who was also the GM of the California Angels and Milwaukee Brewers during his long baseball career.

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to help Kluck, I couldn’t. I did still have recordings of many of my interviews for that book, including Dalton’s, but they were on outdated plastic microcassettes in a shoebox in my office closet. Kluck graciously accepted my lame explanation that I lacked the technological savvy to bring the long-ago interview back to life.

Two years later, a lot has changed.

Kluck completed his project. His biography of Dalton, titled Leave While the Party’s Good, was published two weeks again by the University of Nebraska Press. That’s the cover at the top of this page. Needless to say, the Orioles’ early years are one of the book’s primary settings. (Click on this link if you’re interested in ordering the book.)

Also, since I spoke to Kluck two years ago, I’ve found someone who can digitize sound on outdated technology (thank you, Gregg Landry and BlueRock Productions) and bring it back to life. I’m doing just that with my shoebox full of Oriole interviews on plastic microcassettes. You have access to them if you’re a paid subscriber to the Bird Tapes. (Click on this link if you'‘re interested in upgrading to a paid subscription.)

I’m going to post my interview with Dalton next week, and if I do say so, it’s a rare treasure. Dalton began working for the Orioles before they played a game in 1954 and he stayed for nearly two decades. He was the assistant farm director, the farm director, and finally, the GM. He traded for Frank Robinson and Mike Cuellar. He was a prime architect of the scouting and development pipeline that produced Brooks Robinson, Boog Powell, Jim Palmer and countless others.

He tells the story behind it all in his Bird Tapes interview.

To help you better understand my interview with Dalton, I asked Kluck to answer several questions about him. Our correspondence is below (thank you, Lee):

Lee Kluck

JE: Why’d you want to write a book about Harry?

LK: I live in Central Wisconsin, and Harry built the teams I watched growing up:  the Brewer teams directly after the World Series year of 1982. When I was looking for a project, I started to think about why they stayed competitive even as they began to have heavy financial issues. The answer I came up with was that Harry and his gang (Walter Youse, Walt Shannon, Ray Poitevint, etc.) were great at their jobs. To tell about that greatness, I need a full biography. I, along with others who have worked for Harry, believe that Harry Dalton is a Hall of Famer. This book was not meant to get him there but I would be lying if I did not say that reading it could be the first step in his evaluation for Cooperstown. I agree with Bud Selig, who told me that Harry was the best baseball mind of his generation and needs to be seen that way by others.

When he joined the Orioles in December 1953, Harry had previously served in the Air Force and worked for a newspaper. He was looking for a job in baseball public relations and wound up as the assistant director of the farm system. How did that happen and what in his background made him suitable for a job in baseball?

LK: Harry originally applied to the PR Department and was told that the opening was filled. The head of PR at the time liked Harry and told him to see Jim McLaughlin, who was looking for an assistant. As for what made Harry suitable for work in baseball?  I think the answer is threefold. First, Harry was extremely intelligent.  He was a member of MENSA, and his intelligence allowed him to adapt to any situation or environment. He could have been a high-ranking officer if he had wanted to stay in the Air Force. He would have been at a major daily if he had stayed in newspapers. He chose baseball, and it was the sport's gain. Secondly, Harry loved the game. He was not good on the field, but he loved the game and poured everything he had into putting the best foot forward for himself and his team and the game. This work ethic guaranteed that his superiors took notice.  Lastly, he was likable. He did not buy into his celebrity. He had a good sense of humor and treated all people as valuable. This made him useful in the front office.  He could relate to anyone.  

What were the most important things Harry learned in his decade with the Orioles before he became the GM in 1966?

LK: I think the first 10-plus years of Harry's career allowed him to develop a rapport with the scouts that made the Orioles so good. By the time he became GM, he trusted them, and they trusted him. Harry knew when to listen, and because of that, when he spoke, people listened. Harry also learned the importance of institutional memory. The program lauded as the "Oriole Way" in the late 1960s was born in the mid-1950s, and Harry quickly let people know that and tell them that the Oriole success was because of many more people than just him or Earl Weaver.  

Harry was the Orioles’ GM during the most successful period in the franchise’s history. What were his principles as a roster builder and what were the key moves he made?

LK: I believe that Harry had three hard and fast team-building rules. One, he wanted the best player regardless of position.  If a player had tools, Harry felt they could teach him to play anywhere. Two, Harry felt you could never have enough of something. He was always looking for another pitcher or another outfielder who could play for them. Even if he already had Cuellar, McNally, and Palmer, he got Dobson. He still wanted more.  He had Don Buford, Paul Blair, and Frank Robinson, but he still drafted or signed Don Baylor, Lee May, Merv Rettenmund, and Curt Motton.  You could never have enough players. And three, when possible, get good people who are also good players. He wanted good ambassadors for the team and the city. This philosophy led to moves, many of which I mentioned, that helped keep the Birds on top even long after he left Baltimore.

In the jacket flap to your book, it states that other teams modeled their GM role after what Harry did in Baltimore. What do you mean?

LK: I think Harry was groundbreaking and set the tone for modern GMs. He believed in developing people. He believed in collective team building. He went beyond the eye test and used the most cutting-edge analytics (splits, etc) that were available to build teams. He treated players as people. He had deep thoughts on the game as a whole. You see all these things in the best GMs of today, and it started with Harry Dalton. If he were around today, he would be Theo Epstein or Billy Beane or David Stearns. He had that kind of ability. Every team wanted to hire the next Harry Dalton because of the way he approached his job, and they still want that today. In addition, Harry was the first GM to announce that his job was team building. He let other experts handle marketing, ticket sales, and media contracts. He showed that to be successful, a modern GM needed to focus on team building.  

Love your title: "Leave While the Party’s Good.” Why in your mind is that the right title for a book about Harry?

LK: When I was looking for a title, I asked Harry's wife and daughters if he ever had a saying or a piece of advice he leaned on.  They all said, Leave While the Party's Good. This was a philosophical approach that he applied to his work and personal life. For instance, he was not going to hold onto a player who did not work just because he traded for them or he signed them to a big deal.  He was not going to stay in a job and rest on his laurels or be beholden to his past successes