OAKLAND -- Every bit the rookie at running big-league press conferences as the man he was introducing will be at running a big-league club, A's assistant general manager David Forst lost his train of thought at one point.
Subbing for GM Billy Beane, who was dealing with a death in the family, Forst then quickly snapped from his momentary space-out, looked directly at new A's skipper Bob Geren and blurted, "We're lucky to have him."
Geren, a 45-year-old who has been in the Oakland organization for the past eight seasons and spent 2006 as Ken Macha's bench coach, was handed the keys to the reigning American League West champions on Friday. And Forst wasn't the only one gushing.
"I think it's an awesome choice," said A's free agent lefty Barry Zito, who pitched for Geren's Triple-A Sacramento club in 2000. "He was an incredible manager. I've talked to a lot of guys who have played for Bob, and I've never heard anyone say a single bad thing about him. I'm talking about big-league guys like [former A's outfielder] Eric Byrnes and [former A's infielder] Mark Bellhorn. Everyone who's played for him loves him."
Last fall, in fact, after Geren interviewed with Beane during Macha's brief separation from the club, Byrnes called Geren "the best manager I've ever played for."
"He's just on top of it," said Byrnes, who played for Geren at Sacramento for parts of the 2000, 2001 and 2002 seasons. "He knows the game; he makes smart decisions; he knows how to deal with players; he communicates. He was a phenomenal manager -- just phenomenal."
Geren referred to Friday as "Day 1 of the journey," but in reality, he's been on the road for a very long time.
Bob Geren was the only finalist for the A's top job with managing experience. (Ben Margot/AP)
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Athletics name Geren new manager
Athletics name Geren new manager
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