Character counts

Sports: Lessons from the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves for general managers and managing generally, with commentary from John Smoltz | Marvin Olasky

VERO BEACH, Florida— A new major league baseball season begins next week, with success on the field once again heavily dependent on the wisdom of general managers. They are the ones who decide which players to sign and which to dismiss, but they don't make those decisions in an ad hoc manner: Consciously or unconsciously, they evaluate the facts according to their presuppositions.

Buildings and players at the granddaddy of spring training camps, Vero Beach's "Dodgertown," display three of the competing management theories. The Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers have trained there since 1948 and played since 1953 at Holman Stadium, which is delightfully non-frilly: For example, the dugouts are just that, plots of ground about 3 feet lower than field level. The players sit on a bench there, without railings, roof, or rah-rah provided by a mascot.