- “But just as I thought baseball and I had parted ways, a really cool opportunity came along in 1992: I was asked to be a part of an ownership group pursuing the newly awarded expansion franchise in South Florida. This would mean going from a broken-down, somewhat bitter old ballplayer to part owner of a brand-new big league ballclub at the age of forty-two. It took me about ten seconds to say yes. For almost a year, I traveled back and forth from Philadelphia to South Florida, meeting and greeting politicians and community leaders, and helping develop our group’s formal presentation to Major League Baseball’s expansion committee. I visited Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami with our group to offer my opinion on the proposed baseball layout and tour the location of our future offices. It was exhilarating, because it represented a whole new page in my life. I was getting a small ownership piece, and I was going to be GM of our new ballclub. I was back, baby! No more worries about what I was going to do with the rest of my professional life. I’d use every ounce of energy, just like when I played, only this time to build a club from scratch. Heck, we’d go beat the Phillies! There was no downside. I already wanted to move to Florida in the worst way. Now I had a perfect reason. Bring on the coat and tie!” Clearing the Bases (Schmidt, Mike;Waggoner, Glen) Kindle Location 1078-1088