How Hayes ended up here

Tom Herr * Butch Hobson *
Wally Backman * Gary Carter *
Andy Etchebarren * Bob Robertson

VON HAYES

A month ago, Tom Herr appeared likely to return to his old job. So how did Von Hayes ultimately vault to the top of Lancaster’s list?

The Barnstormers can thank the Long Island Ducks for helping find Lancaster’s new manager. Well, indirectly.

Von Hayes first entertained the idea of coming to the Atlantic League after talking with Ducks skipper Dave LaPoint during a function in St. Petersburg, Fla. LaPoint put Hayes in contact with executive director Joe Klein, who forwarded Hayes to the Barnstormers. That’s how he became a late entry in Lancaster’s lengthy search.

If you’ll recall, when the Barnstormers listed their seven candidates to be interviewed on Oct. 22, Hayes was nowhere to be found. Once Jon Danos became aware of Hayes’ availability, the team president asked the manager’s old employer — the Midland Rockhounds — about his skills. The Rockhounds offered a strong endorsement.

From that point, the Barnstormers’ interest was piqued. Hayes’ interview on Nov. 7 sealed the deal. He sold himself with a thoughtful, soft-spoken, yet intense approach.

“I thought he was very engaging, very respectful,” Danos said. “He’s a real family man. We talked about his involvement in the community, speaking with folks and signing autographs — all of those things. He was on board, right where you want him to be.”

Both Danos and head of baseball operations Keith Lupton described the search as difficult because they had to choose between so many qualified candidates. Both wished Opening Day Partners had another job to offer in another city. The company didn’t. So Hayes landed here. Butch Hobson ended up in Southern Maryland.

What about Tom Herr? He was left out. That was the most difficult part of all. In the beginning of this process, it was unthinkable that the local legend could be passed over, but Herr never seemed to truly covet this position.

“Tom earned our respect,” Danos said. “He did the job and obviously delivered a championship. A month ago, when we sat down with Tom and talked about him returning, we basically had him penciled in. He wanted to continue to pursue some opportunities. We understood. We had no ill feelings about that. We both agreed we had to get on with our search.

“Once we engaged in that process we had to be open-minded. We had to find quality candidates, which we did. … As we had these quality candidates, we started to define exactly what we wanted and Von was the best alignment.”

If Hayes hadn’t emerged, chances are the Barnstormers would have brought back Herr. Why not? He proved himself the first time around. But Herr was ultimately victimized by last season’s dismal record and even more dismal aura — even though they were out of the Lancaster native’s control.

The glow of the 2006 championship has faded and the organization needed a fresh start. It also wanted to make a splash. Hayes provides both and — best of all — he came highly recommended with excellent credentials.

“We wanted an opportunity to build from the ground up again,” Danos said. “We won a championship two years ago, but last year was a rough year on the field. We’re going to take the opportunity to rebuild it from its foundation.”

It starts in 2008. It starts with Hayes coming out of nowhere to be the Barnstormers’ new manager.