For the second time in two months, Brewers general manager Doug Melvin has been gracious enough to give me his time and attention for an exclusive interview to Brewers and Sounds. We had chatted during the final few days of Spring Training in late March, and on Monday I caught up with him before the Sounds’ doubleheader against Reno.
If you’ve never met him, here is all you need to know about the type of guy Doug Melvin is…when we talked in Arizona in late March, he had just met me for the first time, yet took the time not only to let me interview him but also to ask me a few questions about myself, my new role in Nashville, how I was enjoying it so far, etc. At no point did I get the impression he was trying to shuffle me out the door as quickly as possible. We did the closed-door, one-on-one interview from his office at Maryvale Baseball Park, and he treated me kindly and professionally.
Fast forward nearly two months later. I caught him Monday about an hour before game time and in between cell phone conversations that I’m sure were far more important than doing an interview with me. As we were chatting before the interview, he not only remembered our brief encounter in Arizona but also recalled specific details about the non-baseball related part of the conversation, asking about my personal situation and my move to Nashville. After we finished the interview, I thanked him again and certainly was not going to keep him, yet he continued to talk about one of the topics I’d asked him about in the interview. I was thinking he probably wanted to get back to his phone or into the clubhouse, and he seemed genuinely interested in furthering our discussion. As I made my way back to the Press Box, I remember thinking how impressive it was that a major league GM remembered such specific parts of a conversation he’d had two months ago with someone he’d never met before March 2012. Think about how many people he’s come in contact with between then and now and how many different things have been on his plate. Pretty impressive if you ask me.
May 15 – Chat With Brewers GM Doug Melvin
AP Photo of Doug Melvin (with Brewers manager and former Sound (’88) Ron Roenicke in the background).
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Jeff
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