A former Phillies executive found work as a blackjack dealer after being fired. Now he’s back in the game. – The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Phillies were thin on starting pitching in the summer of 2009 when they dispatched two members of their front office to watch Pedro Martinez pitch in the Dominican Republic. Martinez was 37, had struggled the year before, and was injured for most of the season before that. He was at home and practically retired.

The scouting reports came back to Philadelphia: Martinez still had it.

He joined the rotation in August, the Phillies won his first seven starts, and the future Hall of Famer turned back the clock with a 130-pitch outing before starting three playoff games. It was a success. And its all because Scott Proefrock had an idea.

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We were all just kind of sitting around, said Ruben Amaro Jr., then the teams general manager. He said, Hey, Pedro isnt doing anything. I said Call him. We were just trying to find guys. I think he had read something somewhere that he was throwing [batting practice] to kids in the Dominican.

Proefrock spent 13 seasons with the Phillies, joining them shortly after the 2008 World Series parade and staying on until he was fired in August of 2021. He thought up the idea to sign Martinez, handled the negotiations for pitcher Cliff Lees return, and was an assistant to three Phillies GMs. Proefrock specialized in knowing the ins and outs of the major-league rule book.

He was integral to some of the best teams in franchise history, hung on during the teams rebuilding process, and was there when Bryce Harper arrived. But after he was let go three years ago, the game rolled on without him.

Its amazing how you fall off the face of the Earth, Proefrock said. Its not anyones fault. The season and the year in baseball have a rhythm to it. You get busy doing the things you have to do, and its easy to just move on to the next person you have to deal with.

Thats how a former Phillies executive spent eight months as a blackjack dealer.

Proefrock, 63, worked at two casinos the Horseshoe in Baltimore and the Hollywoodin York, Pa. while waiting for another job in baseball. In between the casinos, Proefrock spent 10 months as a bank teller near his home in the Baltimore suburbs.

I really enjoyed dealing, Proefrock said. We worked on tips, so you try to be as friendly as possible and start conversations. My former life would come up sometimes, and that would start some conversations.

He was in the majors for more than 30 years, helping five teams the Pirates, Braves, Devil Rays, Orioles, and Phillies decide when to hit and when to stand. But after the Phils let him go, Proefrock could not find another seat at the table.

Experience has become sort of a four-letter word, Amaro said. Theres people in the game, running organizations and heading departments who honestly dont know baseball all that well. And they dont want to admit that they dont know baseball. So a lot of them, in my mind, have decided all of us were doing it wrong. Thats the sad part. People with experience and institutional knowledge, they were shunned.

Unable to land a gig, Proefrock asked the Major League Baseball commissioners office to keep him in mind if they heard of any job openings. He liked the casino but wanted back in his old game.

Finally, he was dealt a good hand. An owner of two teams in the Frontier League an independent league of 16 teams that partners with MLB was looking for someone to oversee the day-to-day operations of his teams.

Proefrock already knew the baseball side and was willing to learn more about the business aspect of a ball club. He was all in. Proefrock was hired in December by owner Brian Kahn and splits his time between the Windy City Thunderbolts outside Chicago and the expansion New England Knockouts in Brockton, Mass.

The rosters are being assembled Tommy McCarthy, the son of Phillies broadcaster Tom McCarthy, is signed to the Knockouts and opening day is in May. Proefrock resigned from the casino, saying he would go back if baseball busts again.

Its nice to be able to have fun and be back in baseball again, Proefrock said. But listen, I had fun at the casino. I really liked dealing. Im sure my wife would say I have other vices, but my only vice that I know of is gambling. Its a lot more fun losing someone elses money than losing your own.

I wanted them to win. Its not my money. The more they win, the better they tip.

Proefrock worked five days a week at the casino, 4 a.m. to noon, because it would not interfere too much with his schedule. He already went to bed early, so the start time was not much of an adjustment, and he would have his afternoons open. It wasnt baseball, but it was a good fit.

When I was in the game before, all I thought about was baseball 24/7 and it never seemed like work because that was my passion, Proefrock said. The best part about the casino was that I didnt think about it until I got there and I didnt think about it at all after I walked out at the end of my shift.

But at some points, it gets really sad when people tell you Im thousands of dollars in the hole and I have to pay my rent. That stuff happens, and sometimes that can be depressing, honestly.

Proefrock was at a Frontier League meeting when another owner told him that their clubs were in the business of making memories for the fans. Tickets are cheap, promotions are plenty, and the games are meant to be family entertainment. Sounds good, Proefrock said.

But the more I thought about it, I said How about we make memories for the players as well? Proefrock said.

Most of the leagues players are undrafted college players entering professional baseball for the first time. Others are players who tasted the minors and want to get back.

I think theres things we can do to help them get the most out of their abilities, Proefrock said.

Proefrock started calling some of his friends, baseball lifers who he said were either aged out or waged out of the game they loved. Like him, they werent ready to walk away. They just needed a team.

Proefrock pitched the idea of hiring Larry Rothschild and Chuck Hernandez two longtime big-league pitching coaches as consultants. Kahn agreed.

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Now when we recruit players, we can say Hey, youre going to have access to these guys, Proefrock said. Not only to their knowledge. But if you show them you can do something, youre going to have access to their network. If they see someone who can do something, theyre going to pick up the phone and say, Hey, you need to come look at this guy to someone they know in a major-league organization.

Hernandez will work with the Knockouts, while Rothschild is with the ThunderBolts. They will attend spring training and visit with their team once a month during the regular season, providing feedback to players and staff. Theyll watch games from home and communicate with the team throughout the season. Proefrock used his new job to find seats at the table for others like him.

They still have something to offer, Proefrock said. They have experience, knowledge, and wisdom to pass on. Baseball is their identity, and that was taken away from them. They still want to be involved, and they still have something to offer. I just picked up the phone.

Proefrock, then an executive with Baltimore, had tickets to Game 4 of the 2008 World Series when Amaro asked to meet him. He got up from his seat Proefrock was sitting with Ned Rice, then an Orioles staffer and now a Phils assistant GM and found Amaro on the concourse.

We were talking when Joe Blanton hit the home run, Proefrock said.

Amaro was then a candidate to replace Pat Gillick as general manager, and Proefrock agreed to join him if he landed the gig. Amaro soon did, and Proefrock moved north after three seasons with the Orioles.

I met Peter Angelos one time, Proefrock said of the Os owner. I shook his hand at spring training. One time.

So consider Proefrocks surprise on his first day in Philadelphia when David Montgomery then the Phillies president spent an hour in his office. Montgomery wanted to get to know the new guy, asking him questions about his life and career.

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You can talk to anyone that was there. The atmosphere, the environment that he created, was unlike anything Ive ever experienced, Proefrock said.

Everyone told me, It will be the best place youll ever work. And I would tell that story in front of David and I would say, They were wrong. Because its even better than what they said. And it was.

Those years, most fun Ive had in the game. Its a shame with the teams that we had, we couldnt close the deal, Proefrock said.

The closest the Phils came during Proefrocks time was 2009, when Martinez the three-time Cy Young Award winner they found in the Dominican started two games in the World Series loss to the Yankees. Martinez faded against New York but had been excellent in the National League Championship Series. Proefrocks idea helped the Phils win a second pennant in a row.

I didnt agree with him all the time, but I loved the fact that he wasnt afraid to give his opinion about stuff, Amaro said. As Pat Gillick used to say all the time: Were paid for our opinions. Pedro was Scotts idea. And thats cool. It was a product of people not being afraid of expressing themselves.

Its something that should be created in every front office and every business. How else would you learn? People give lip service to Thinking outside the box. Well, if you dont let people be heard, how can they think outside the box?

He threw some stupid ideas out there, too, Amaro said. So did I. We all did. But you dont get to the good ones without going through the stupid ones.

Montgomery was back in Proefrocks office a few years later, sitting on the couch and listening while the assistant GM hammered out a contract with Lees agent. The move was a stunner, as Montgomery had ordered the front office to keep negotiations quiet. Whatever they did, the president supported them.

He made this motion of these waves, Proefrock said. Like these waves are crashing over me. Im getting overwhelmed. I had so much fun with those guys.

The casino in York allowed dealers to wear sports jerseys on Sundays, so Proefrock manned his table while wearing his sons powder blue Mike Schmidt shirt. But he needed a new top when his son returned to college. Proefrock, during a visit to Citizens Bank Park, asked whether they had any of those God-awful, ugly burgundy jerseys they wore as throwbacks in 2019.

It didnt have a number on the back, Proefrock said. But you know what it did have? It had the DPM [memorial] patch for David. That was really cool. I was proud to wear that more for the patch than the ugly burgundy.

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The former Phillies executive dealt cards while wearing a Phillies jersey with his old boss initials while he waited to return to the game he loved. Hes finally back in baseball. And Proefrocks title president is the same as Montgomerys with the Phils.

The man who was on Proefrocks sleeve when he was hoping to get back is now on his mind as he starts a new chapter in baseball.

Its always fun to win, but we had fun regardless, Proefrock said. Even when things started to go south, we were still having fun. David Montgomery was just a wonderful, wonderful man.

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A former Phillies executive found work as a blackjack dealer after being fired. Now he's back in the game. - The Philadelphia Inquirer