The Four P's

Branch Rickey, the former Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager, was instrumental in breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball when he signed Jackie Robinson. Rickey pioneered creating the farm system—which allowed teams to develop talent at varying levels of play. While a member of the St. Louis Cardinals organization, he established a minor league team in Fostoria, Ohio, and encouraged local talent to try out for a spot with the Fostoria Firebirds.

One of the young players attempting to make the team was Anthony Lucadello, who grew up in Chicago, Illinois. Lucadello was a marginal prospect, playing just two seasons and working at the Fostoria Screw Company to pay his bills. But Tony yearned for baseball. He required the ballpark and the competition to make him feel complete. Lucadello knew his career as a player was going to be brief; therefore, he needed an alternative plan.

Tony Lucadello devised a plan to hold tryouts for other prospects in the Fostoria area, to assemble a team of players who would compete against other minor league clubs around the Midwest. One of his players, pitcher, Bob Rush, got invited to try out for the Chicago Cubs. After the tryout Cub's owner Philip Wrigley said, before we sign Rush, we better hire this young man right here. Wrigley said, "this young man pointing to Tony Lucadello was born to scout."

Philip Wrigley proved to be a prophet and utterly right about Tony. Lucadello had a tremendous MLB career as a scout, discovering seven All-Stars and two Hall of Famers, in Philadelphia Phillies' third baseman Mike Schmidt and Chicago Cubs' pitcher, Ferguson Jenkins.

Tony Lucadello broke down all scouts in four different areas, which all started with the letter P.

Now, we all want to become the best projector scout when evaluating talent. We want to be able to recognize talent with the ability to utilize that talent in the right manner. Talent, along with skill development in the correct role, is a successful formula.

In each part of our daily life, we are continually evaluating talent and opportunities. Make mental notes of the four P's when discussing talent evaluation. Hold yourself and others accountable to think about projecting the talent, not merely just labeling the talent.

We can also use the Lucadello method for "evaluating the evaluator," to make sure we are not falling into a destructive trap of listening to the wrong people. Most people are good at evaluating the obvious. The exceptional leaders will look beneath the surface and see what others don't see —while possessing the wisdom and courage to see beyond the obvious.

Tony Lucadello loved his work deeply. He took great pride in his ability to evaluate talent correctly. When the Philadelphia Phillies forced him to retire in the spring of 1989, at the age of seventy-six, he could not live without having baseball in his life. Tragically, he committed suicide on a baseball field in Fostoria. To best remember, Tony, let's find ways to utilize his four P's every day. It would make him proud!

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