Mark Shapiro '89 has seen the best and worst of the Cleveland Indians in his 14 years with the club.
But after several disappointing seasons, he is now happy to say that the team is on the upswing.
"Our expectations are to win the division," Shapiro said.
Two decades ago, when he first arrived at Princeton in 1984 as a history major and an offensive lineman on the football team, a career in baseball didn't appear on the horizon for Shapiro. But in retrospect, given the dedication and interest in sports that permeates his life, his current position doesn't come as all that large of a surprise.
Now 37 years old, Shapiro is entering his 14th season with the Cleveland Indians organization and his fourth season as the executive vice president and general manager.
"I was not one of those people blessed with a clear career path," Shapiro said. "I flirted with public service and did some off-season work with real estate development. My ultimate desire was to combine something I love with the business world."
Father's footsteps
That love manifested itself in the form of a devotion to baseball. While he was working in Southern California building homes, he flew to Arizona to meet his dad, a former general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who was at the time an agent-attorney at spring training. During his stay, Shapiro was fortunate enough to talk to some club executives.
After sending cover letters and resumes to each of the 26 existing major league baseball teams, Shapiro finally received an invitation to interview with the Cleveland Indians. He flew to Ohio to talk with John Hart, the general manager of the Indians at the time.
"I bought into his vision," Shapiro said.
The Indians clearly bought into Shapiro and his potential, hiring him in 1992 to work for baseball operations. Despite the high-life associations with the world of a baseball executive, he was certainly not living lavishly. The Indians were the laughingstock of major league sports at the time — and the inspiration behind the movie Major League.
"The position was extremely entry level," Shapiro said. "Cleveland for a single guy and the Indians as a sports franchise [were not too special at the time]."
The Indians encouraged Shapiro to contribute and eventually provided him with the opportunity to run their player development system. From 1994-98, Shapiro served as the club's Director of Minor League Operations.
It was in this position that Shapiro was able to use what he had learned from being an athlete at Princeton.
"I have an ability to identify with and understand the psyche of an athlete based upon the feelings that I had as an athlete," Shapiro said. "I restructured player development so that I involved the players more in the process of their own development."
On the heels of his success in player development, Shapiro was promoted to Vice President of Baseball Operations and assistant general manager. He spent three seasons in the position from 1999-2001.
Man in charge
Building upon this experience, he was more than ready when he was called to replace John Hart as the team's general manager in the fall of 2001.
"I felt very well trained to logistically handle all of the responsibilities of being the general manager," Shapiro said. "One thing you can't prepare for, however, is the accountability you have once you start making decisions and are responsible for them."
He recognizes that there is a tremendous amount of pressure on every move that he makes due to the scrutiny by the media, the fans and his superiors but tries not to let it get the best of him.
"You can't let public sentiment influence sound decision making," Shapiro said. "At the same time, you are basically responsible for hundreds of men and women who choose to work here."
When he took over as general manger, Shapiro faced the unenviable task of starting over. After winning six Central Division titles and two American League pennants in the 1990s, the aging Indians were on the downswing and in desperate need of fresh begining.
"The first challenge was to fully accept the repercussions and realties of a rebuild," Shapiro said. "We could have chosen to let the team fall apart, but instead we chose to preempt it and make a series of trades starting with the Bartolo Colon deal in 2002."
Mission complete
After four seasons as GM, he is happy to say that the rebuilding is officially done. After infusing upper-level talent into the organization over the past few years with players like Kevin Millwood, Juan Gonzalez and Alex Cora and hiring manager Eric Wedge, Shapiro expects the best from his team this upcoming season — expectations that include winning the division.
One of the reasons for his continued success has been the people on his management staff he relies on for advice — people who remind him most of Princeton student body members.
"I have tried to put myself in an environment of people who raise my own standards and my own expectations," Shapiro said.
"The student body gave me not only great friendships, but also high expectations for the people I surround myself with. The thing I take away from Princeton is the impact that the student body has had on me."
When asked about his future plans, Shapiro emphasized the need to concentrate on day-today goals.
"I tend to focus on the present and succeed in the job I am doing," he said. "I need to focus all of my energy on succeeding as general manager."
That approach is paying dividends that the man who once built homes could likely never have imagined. Last season, Shapiro's contribution to improving the team was recognized with a contract extension through the 2007 season. If he has his way, he'll be in Cleveland even longer.
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