"It was a lucky thing more than anything else," he acknowledges. "There was a lot of incredibly fortunate timing involved in getting here. You don't have a lot of turnover in this business, and a lot of qualified people lose out. I just hit the jackpot."

If getting his foot in the door was a matter of fortuitous timing, then making his way through the baseball ranks was a matter of skill. Within two years of making van runs to pick up players from the airport while getting paid almost nothing as an intern, he was named Advance Scout for the 1997 and 1998 seasons. He wrote scouting reports for each regular and postseason series, performed the background work for various roster moves, and oversaw the Indians' professional scouting system.

After the 1998 season, DePodesta was named Special Assistant to Cleveland GM John Hart, but he was on the move again before the paint on his nameplate could dry. In November of that same year, Hart called DePodesta into his office and told him the A's had called to ask permission to interview him for the Assistant GM position.

"It shocked me," DePodesta remembers. "Especially considering my age [25 at the time], the fact that I didn't know Billy, and that I had just been promoted in Cleveland."

DePodesta was hired after a brief interview with Beane and another A's official.

His current job is somewhat complicated by the unfortunate financial constraints that define who wins and loses in professional sport. The Oakland franchise lies on the smaller end of baseball's salary scale. With an estimated 2000 payroll of $32 million, the A's rank 25th on the list of Major League Baseball's highest spenders. When compared with the robust $93 million George Steinbrenner and the Yankees will attempt to buy another World Series championship with this year, one might expect little to come of the management's efforts.

Yet the results have been refreshingly positive. Oakland finished second the AL West last year with an 87-75 record, and contended for a playoff spot until the final two weeks of the season. They have put together a core of young talent led by a triple-crown threat in first baseman Jason Giambi, a potentially dominant young hurler Tim Hudson, and several power hitters including outfielders Matt Stairs and Ben Grieve.