GBN Baseball Title Still A Highlight For Ex-Cubs Pitcher

Scott Sanderson may have pitched in a World Series with Oakland in 1990, worked in two playoffs series with the Cubs and slugged a grand-slam homer in Wrigley Field, but his first championship will always be foremost in his heart.

The Glenbrook North grad and Lake Forest resident recalls the state championship team his senior year at Glenbrook North (in 1974) as one of his fondest baseball memories.

“They’re still my best friends,” said Sanderson. “I don’t know how you can have more fun than we had.  Even as much as I loved my time in the major leagues and it’s a fantastic experience, there’s a business component there that you just don’t ever get far away from. In high school, there’s no business (element). It’s just fun.”

Still competitive after 15 years as a player agent, Sanderson emphasizes cordiality, if not better, among his front-office contract-talk adversaries. That is a carry-over from sports relationships he had in high school, he said.

“Just the mention of growing up in Northbrook and playing sports there brings a smile to my face. It was so much fun there. I argue with people all the time—it probably was the greatest town in the U.S. to grow up in. It certainly was for me. We had great sports, I had great friends, the school was fantastic, every one got along.”

While the team played tough against rivals like Glenbrook South and New Trier, off the field, they were friends, Sanderson says, even gathering at Barnaby’s Pizza together after a game.

Making The Transition To Player Agent

An old saying states a man who acts as his own lawyer in court has a fool for a client.

You might have said the same thing about Sanderson representing himself in contract negotiations in the latter stages of his 18-season big-league pitching career, which included a six-year stint with the Cubs (1984-89) and a season with the White Sox (1994).

“It’s not a way I would recommend you go,” Sanderson said. But there was a rhyme behind Sanderson’s reason. The lanky 6-foot-5 right-hander wanted to be a player agent after his career ended, and was teaching himself the art of negotiating over millions of dollars.

“I didn’t want whoever my first client would be to be a test case,” said Sanderson. “As a player, you never know when your last game will be. I let some of my teammates know this is the direction I was thinking. One said, ‘When you do this, I want to be your first client.’”

The New York Yankees’ Andy Stankiewicz served that role. Now in his 15th year as an agent, Sanderson has 30 clients in partnership with Atlanta-based Mike Moye.

Negotiating For The Likes of Josh Hamilton

Texas Rangers superstar Josh Hamilton is the biggest name in the Sanderson-Moye stable. Other baseball luminaries they represent include the world champion St. Louis Cardinals’ Lance Berkman, the Colorado Rockies’ Todd Helton and the Boston Red Sox’s Josh Beckett. White Sox pitchers Gavin Floyd and Philip Humber are their Chicago clients.

Sanderson uses the experience he gleaned from winning 163 games to counsel the players on baseball and life, complementing Moye, whom he calls “the best negotiator in baseball.” Sanderson also gets involved in the nitty-gritty of contract talks.

“Sometimes negotiations are not easy,” he said. “But they never turn contentious. There’s always respect shown in conversations.”

Mid-November was normally the cool-down time for Sanderson the pitcher. But autumn is now his busiest time of the year with free agents seeking new teams and team executives negotiating new contracts for players under their control.

Keeping An Eye On The Ball—And The Business Side

While pitching for seven teams overall—starting with the Montreal Expos in 1978—and stretching a career through 1996 despite persistent back problems, Sanderson became interested in the game’s financial machinations.

“Ever since I got involved in the Players Association, I was very interested in the business side,” he said.

For some time, he considered becoming a general manager, but decided he was more interested in representing players.

“There are some aspects of the agent world that have a bad reputation, and I was going to do what I could to bring some increased integrity to that side of the equation.”

Sanderson knew Moye, then a youngish agent, during his playing career. After striking out on his own for two years after his retirement, Sanderson formally partnered with Moye.

Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You

“We found if you have a good player, they come after him,” Sanderson said.  “Other times with other players, you have to go out and market him a little more aggressively. It changes from player to player. With the 24th man (on a 25-man roster), you employ a totally different strategy.”

Sanderson prides himself on a personal relationship with clients. Some high-maintenance types need frequent contact from the agent. Others are in touch every few weeks.

All deal with fantastic dollar amounts far beyond the average fan’s comprehension. And despite the poor economy, revenues are still strong, providing plenty of work for the team of Sanderson and Moye, he said.

In Lake Forest, where Sanderson works from home, he is just starting to get used to empty-nest life with wife Cathleen. Son Patrick, 23, plays in a band in Austin, Tex. Daughter Erica is a senior at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego.

He’s still a fan of the Chicago Cubs—and has one suggestion for fans: it’s time to forgive fellow Northbrook resident Steve Bartman, who deflected a foul ball from left-field Moises Alou’s attempted catch in Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field. The incident, which caused Bartman to almost go undercover after a torrent of threats, was recently explored in depth in ESPN’s two-hour documentary, Catching Hell.  

“From the second that event happened, I just felt so badly for him,” Sanderson said. “Here was a young man who did nothing other than spending his whole life loving the Chicago Cubs,” Sanderson said. “Just let him be a part of the greatest fans in baseball.” 

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