By Donald Laible
Cooperstown is patiently waiting for Dave Dombrowski.
Friday’s Philadelphia Phillies’ 8–0 win at Citizens Bank Park was the start of a two-game winning streak for the National League East club. At the end of the evening, after all MLB games were in the books, the Phillies were nipping at the heels of the division-leading New York Mets. Any club presided over by Dombrowski, especially well before the mid-season All-Star break, is anything but out of contention for the postseason.
Philadelphia is quite possibly the toughest sports town, hands down. Think gladiators, lions, and the Roman Colosseum’s rabid audiences, where would-be slayers with swords and beastly cats both receive cheers—this is the modern day sports fan in “the City of Brotherly Love.”
No doubt Philly is a tough town to succeed in for any length of time. But, Dombrowski isn’t your ordinary front office savant.
Now in his fifth season as the Phillies’ president of baseball operations, the club remains relevant. Despite having first baseman Bryce Harper out of the lineup with right wrist pain and having no timetable for when he’ll start swinging a bat again, and starting pitcher Aaron Nola not expected back into the Phillies’ starting rotation until after the All-Star Game break due to ankle and rib injuries, manager Rob Thomson has his roster clicking on all cylinders.
Dombrowski has proven not to be shy to pull the trigger on transactions that will better his clubs’ performances.
It was in June 2022, when the Phillies were off to a slow start, that Dombowski dismissed skipper Joe Girardi in favor of an untested leader in Thomson.
The “interim” manager righted the baseball ship in Philadelphia to the tune of winning the National League pennant. Wherever Dombrowski has hung his hat, the ball clubs have performed significantly better.
Pennants and World Series championships have come their way. Players and managers under contract to Dombrowski clubs have found eternal baseball homes in Cooperstown, New York, with plaques in their honor at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Dombrowski, 68, isn’t showing signs of slowing down in baseball. When retirement rears its head for Dombrowski, he’s a sure first-ballot hall of famer. The Hall of Fame’s Era Committees is where Dombrowski’s path to baseball immortality begins. The Contemporary Baseball Era, which includes managers, executives, and umpires, next meets in December 2026. Any individuals selected at that time would be included in the Class of 2027.
The rotating Era Committee schedule is set. Once on the ballot, there would be little doubt by any who would review his successes that Dombrowski wouldn’t meet the 75 percent threshold.
Prior to taking the helm at Philadelphia, Dombrowski’s five previous stops in leadership roles were building blocks to Cooperstown. From August 2015 until September 2019, Dombrowski was the president of baseball operations for the Boston Red Sox. It was in 2018, when the Red Sox won their third consecutive American League East title, the club went deep into the postseason and won the World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers. A pennant won in 2022, a World Series championship in 2018, and before that, Dombrowski found success with the Detroit Tigers for 14 years.
During his tenure with the Tigers, between 2002 to 2015, the rosters built by Dombrowski brought two American League pennants to “the Motor City.” In 2006, the Tigers were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals in the Fall Classic, and in 2012, Detroit reached the World Series for a second time under Dombrowski’s leadership.
When the Florida Marlins (Miami since 2012) joined the National League as an expansion club in 1993, Dombrowski came aboard in the fall of 1991 to begin to piece together the organization. Hiring Hall of Famer Jim Leyland (Class of 2024) in October 1996 to manage the Marlins proved to be a wise move by Dombrowski. The following season saw the Marlins win the 1997 World Series over the American League’s Cleveland Indians.
A pattern of consistency was attached to Dombrowski’s front office career right from its beginning.
Remember the Montreal Expos who 20 seasons ago became the Washington Nationals? In 1988, at age 31, Dombrowski took over the reins as Montreal’s general manager. Before receiving the promotion to general manager, Dombrowski was brought aboard the Expos’ organization in 1987 as director of player development. Until accepting the Marlins’ position in September 1991, for five seasons Dombrowski was praised for rebuilding the Expos’ minor league system.
Dombrowski’s baseball starting line came with the Chicago White Sox in 1978. As a young 20-something, still wet behind the ears in MLB experience, learning the management side of operating a club under the guidance of then-White Sox General Manager Roland Hemond, Dombrowski began his baseball education. In 1979, the White Sox hired Tony La Russa (Hall of Fame Class of 2014), an unproven, rookie 34-year-old manager. Dombrowski worked his way up to the assistant general manager’s post, before moving on to take the Expos’ top administrative post in 1987.
No different than a player slowly building their resume with home runs, stolen bases, wins, no-hitters, and MVP awards, Dombrowski’s body of work in assembling winning organizations is well documented. He is a no-brainer for Cooperstown residency.
