“He was insistent that I interview for the job. I wasn’t sure, but with God’s direction and Preller’s insistence, I thought if he had that much confidence in me, why not?” (Press Pros Feature Photo Courtesy of The San Diego Padres)
North Star native and former Versailles High School pitcher was originally on the Padres committee to interview prospets to manage the team, but club executive A.J. Preller insisted that Stammen enter his name on the list and quickly named Stammen to be the manager, signing him to a three-year contract.
Craig Stammen, a God-fearing Christian, most likely knows the Bible passage from Isaiah 6:8, “Whom shall I send.”
San Diego Padres President of Baseball Operations/General Manager A.J. Preller may not be familiar with the Bible passage, but he knew who he wanted to send into the Padres dugout as field manager.
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Preller insisted that Stammen toss his name into the pile of candidates this week to possibly replace Mike Shildt as the team’s manager.
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And on Thursday, the North Star resident and former Versailles High School pitcher was named manager of the Padres, signing a three-year deal.
It was a shock to the baseball world because Stammen has not managed, not even in the minors, nor been a coach in the minors or majors.
Those folks, though, don’t know the passion and knowledge the 41-year-old Stammen carries with him.
A west coast baseball writer who covered Stammen when he pitched for the Padres, recently wrote, “Craig Stammen is the nicest guy I ever covered.”
Even though I didn’t really cover him, just encountered him when he pitched against the Cincinnati Reds, I concur and second that emotion.
Stammen makes Norman Vincent Peale appear to be gruff. When Leo Durocher said, “Nice guys finish last,” he never met Craig Stammen.
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One only needs to chat with Stammen for five minutes to know he is one of the nicest guys to put a foot on a pitcher’s mound rubber.
Ironically, Stammen originally was on Preller’s committee to interview candidates, including a 9 1/2-hour session with Albert Pujols.
Preller, though, had his own ideas.
Arguably, Stammen’s biggest impact has been that of his local profile and support of amateur youth baseball in his hometown of Versailles, Ohio.
“He was persistent that I interview for the job,” said Stammen. “I wasn’t sure, but with God’s direction and Preller’s insistence, I thought if he had that much confidence in me, why not? His confidence in me gave me confidence.”
So, as Stammen put it, “I went from an old pitcher to a young manager.”
And he is young enough to have played with several current members of the Padres roster, all of whom have the highest respect and regard for their new manager.
Stammen retired from the Padres pitching staff after the 2022 season, forced off the mound by shoulder miseries, but joined the front office staff.
“I know the team and the players very well,” he said. “I attended 40 or 50 games this year year. And I have some great players to work with — guys like Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Ramon Laureano, Jackson Merrill, Xavier Bogaerts and some strong pitching.”
Asked about his style, he said, “We have speed, power, defense. . .we’ll be aggressive.”
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Every year, they seem to say, “The San Diego Padres are going places.” And they do…straight to the beach after the regular season.
Stammen is just the man to change it.
While at Versailles High School, Stammen won nine games one season (high schools normally play 20 to 25 games a season). For his career he struck out 185 batters.
His coach recognized his value. He pitched 11 complete games and when the game was on the line and he didn’t start, he came in to save nine games.
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Then he was off to the University of Dayton, where he pitched for coach Tony Vittorio and was 30-14 with a 3.36 earned run average over three seasons.
The Washington Nationals drafted him in the 12th round after his junior year and he spent 13 years in The Show, the last six with the Padres as a middle reliever, nearly all his 333 appearances out of the bullpen.
Stammen, though, vividly remembers one start, a surprise start. It was during the 2020 National League Division series.
It was best-of-three against the St. Louis Cardinals and it was tied one game apiece. The problem for the Padres was major — two starting pitchers were injured and they had nobody to start the decisive Game 3.
Nobody had a clue who would start Game 3, including Stammen. He was so drained after Game 2 that he left the stadium straightaway. With no ballpark traffic in 2020, he was home in an instant.
“I just remember being exhausted after that game, mentally,” Stammen told me after that season. “Half an hour after that game, I was in bed, sleeping. I really didn’t think they were going to choose me to be the starting pitcher, but I knew we needed somebody. I got the best night of sleep I had gotten in months that night. It was so good that I didn’t see that text message until the next morning.”
About an hour after Game 2, the Padres settled on Stammen, who had broken into the big leagues as a starter in Washington but hadn’t started a game in 10 years.
Once that decision was made, then-manager Jayce Tingler sent Stammen a text message, a text Stammen said would have likely caused a restless night.
”It would’ve been a whole different story,” Stammen said. “But I slept so good that night. I just had such a good night’s sleep. When I woke up, the heart starts racing, going a little faster, and you’re understanding: They’re going to give me the ball. Then I was fired up for the rest of the day.”
What ensued, Stammen said, was his favorite on-field memory in his six seasons as a Padre. He pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings, the first in a procession of nine Padres relievers to pitch in Game 3, the most pitchers to ever combine on a postseason shutout.
It was a monumental performance from a bullpen that was fried and fricaseed. Stammen set the tone. In fact, the way his teammates tell it, the very decision to start Stammen set the tone long before he took the mound.
“Craig is one of the most high-integrity people I’ve ever been around,” said fellow pitcher Joe Musgrove, “He knows how to connect with every type of player in that clubhouse. That’s something you can’t teach.”
And you can’t teach character, which Stammen has in abundance.
For several winters, Stammen staged a dinner in Versailles to provide proceeds for the Versailles High School baseball team. He brought in major league players as speakers and one year I shared the stage with George Foster.
Obviously, A.J. Preller know what he wanted and knew how to get it. Managing a major-league baseball team is a pressure-cooker always on the verge of exploding.
Shildt resigned, citing stress and some death threats from gamblers. If anybody can handle the pressure and the stress…well, facing major-league batters under stressful conditions is a pretty solid preparatory course.
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