SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Major League baseball season hass opened, and the Chicago Cubs - I don't mind saying - have had a few frustrating seasons. They hope that fresh, young talent at all levels can help lift them into the playoffs. That includes Jerry Weinstein, who's just joined the club as special assistant to the general manager at the age of 81. In a career managing in the minor leagues and international baseball that spans nearly 50 years, Jerry Weinstein joins us now. Thanks so much for being with us.
JERRY WEINSTEIN: Well, good to be here, Scott. I have a little frog in my throat. I hope I come through all right.
SIMON: That's all right. Does that mean you're going to be - you're not going to be able to yell at players?
WEINSTEIN: I don't yell at players (laughter).
SIMON: What will you be doing for the Cubs? Help us understand, assistant to the general manager.
WEINSTEIN: Well, it's kind of a multitasking job. I - really, what I do is I watch all the games, either remotely or in person, and I keep game notes, and I send them to the bench coach and then field coordinator. And then I keep a catching chart every night, and I cherry-pick videos out of the game for the catchers, and, you know, anything that I see that, from my viewpoint, that could help them. It's a little different than the dugout when you're kind of locked in on that 60 feet, 6 inches between the home plate and the pitcher's mound. And I have a little different view, obviously.
SIMON: Yeah. You're known for coaching catchers. You've been the Rockies organization for, I guess, about 20 years. You know the old bromide in baseball - it's a simple game. You throw the ball, and you catch the ball. What else does a major league catcher have to pay attention to?
WEINSTEIN: Well, you know, that catching piece is very nuanced, and it's changed considerably, especially with the data and the analytics that we have today, where the catcher just touches the ball so many times. And they're over - well, there are 149 pitches thrown in each game, and somewhere around 29 of them are kind of in that shadow zone - could be a strike, could be a ball. The guys who receive it best get strikes, and the average to below-average guys, they don't. It adds up over the course of a season, 'cause we're talking about 5,000 pitches. This year, Patrick Bailey created 16 more runs than the average catcher in the big leagues. That's like two big-league wins. That's just a catching piece.
SIMON: I was going to ask you, how has the game changed over 50 years? You know, I think you've answered it by already citing some of the analytics. What has that done to shake up the game?
WEINSTEIN: Well, it provides more database decisions instead of gut field decisions - not that you don't make some gut field decisions during the game by using your eyes instead of the iPad. But it helps you - it's evidence-based from a player development standpoint, from a game management standpoint. You know what the probabilities are. Now, probabilities are historically based. They're not in the moment. It's based on past data, and you have to use your eyes as well. So the well-rounded best managers and game managers today are ones that use the data but also use their eyes as well.
SIMON: Coach, I'm going to broach this question being a man of a certain age myself. You're 81. Why not just take it easy?
WEINSTEIN: (Laughter) That's a great question. Everybody asks me that. I said, well, give me a good reason to take it easy. I'm really doing exactly what I want to do. I still have enough energy and my brain cells, most of them are still holding hands. I think I can contribute to players and mentor young coaches. And I like to be part of the process that helps people accomplish their goals and dreams. And I think, you know, 81 - every 81 years, you should get a new job. That's - I joked and said, can you believe at 81 I'm being offered a new job? I said, how stupid are these people (laughter)?
SIMON: I mean, did you say to them, do you know how old I am?
WEINSTEIN: It was Carter Hawkins, the GM. I said, Carter, I said, you know I'm 81? He says, yeah. We expect you to work to at least 90 (laughter).
SIMON: Well, I hope we can talk to you when you're 90.
WEINSTEIN: I hope so.
SIMON: Jerry Weinstein is the new special assistant to the general manager at the Chicago Cubs. Coach, thanks so much for being with us.
WEINSTEIN: Thank you, Scott. Really enjoyed it. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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