Bill Neukom is Giants' idealist-in-chief

<p>SAN FRANCISCO - You size up someone by looking at him. That’s the first thing, the lasting thing — the initial impression.</p><p>Bill Neukom, the Giants new managing general partner, the successor to Peter Magowan, suddenly an important man in our lives, introduced himself to the media on Tuesday.</p><p>Neukom sat on a stage behind a microphone and he wore a bow tie and in the breast pocket of his jacket — it looked like an expensive jacket — he’d folded in a white handkerchief. So he’s not a hippie or a slob. He’s meticulous in an affluent way.</p><p>He’s the immediate past president of the American Bar Association and he’s been one of the Giants owners since 1995 and he’s from San Mateo and went to Dartmouth and added further polish at Stanford Law School.</p><p>He oozed polish and had a nice cut to his white hair. He conveyed competence and self-confidence and, on first view, he seemed like the kind of man who can lead an organization that matters to a large community.</p><p>Mostly you noticed his enthusiasm. It was the childlike enthusiasm of a beginner, a newcomer, one of the uninitiated. It was more than enthusiasm. It was a state of wonder — Dorothy entering the Emerald City kind of wonder.</p><p>His enthusiasm was attractive, but it also was innocent, Neukom talking about getting back to fundamentals on the baseball field. How many times have we heard that? But you felt, well, sure, this notion is new to Neukom, a non-baseball guy, and God love him.</p><p>He lectured us about fundamentals and “The Giants Way” — still to be defined — with the same enthusiasm as someone just discovering the world is round.</p><p>“I have a lot of learning to do,” he said. And he meant it.</p><p>He also meant it when he said, “I am not doing this out of a sense of ego. I’m doing this because I’ve been a Giants fans since they came to San Francisco. I’ve followed the Giants quite closely for the last 50 years. It’s an enormous honor and an exciting opportunity for a fan from San Mateo to be part of the leadership of this team. I don’t need to be out front or prominent. What I need to be is good at my job.”</p><p>He came off as an idealist — as a man who wants to instill the highest standards in every phase of the Giants operation. There is something to be said for idealists. And he’s an honest idealist — appears to be.</p><p>He admitted the Giants’ current talent pool is not enough and they will have to seek free agents. He wants the Giants to compete in 2009 but admitted they won’t contend before 2010. He expects the Giants to contend year in and year out. I believe that is what he means by “The Giants Way” — a promise of high performance every season.</p><p>He wants general manager Brian Sabean to create a potential roster — a hypothetical roster — without concern for money. Be creative. Be bold. If the roster costs too much, the Giants will make adjustments. The idea is to reach far, to overreach if necessary.</p><p>He made no promises about renewing the contracts of Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy, both up after the 2009 season. He was polite, but hardly innocent or naïve on this score. He made it clear Sabean and Bochy need to deliver, and that is a reasonable demand for a team that has disappointed.</p><p>“We’re not going to worry about what their status is with the Giants beyond the 2009 season now,” Neukom said. “We’re not going to be distracted by that. Plenty of time after the ’09 season to look back and evaluate how each of us did and decide where to go from there.”</p><p>And he addressed the Barry Bonds conundrum in the most politic way. Would Bonds have a future of some kind with the Giants?</p><p>“We all need to be respectful of what Barry Bonds has done for baseball and this team,” he said. “We need to permit the legal process to play out. Where we go in the future with Barry Bonds will depend to some extent on the future. It was a very good sign that he came to the (players) reunion event. He’s always been enormously popular to the fans who populate this ballpark. I think there will be other opportunities for Barry Bonds and the Giants to find common ground. We don’t have any concrete plans at this point.”</p><p>No ambiguity there. Bonds has to earn re-entry, has to reclaim his Giantness if he can.</p><p>So, what was final first impression of Neukom? How about a fist of steel in a velvet glove? Most good leaders exhibit that particular combo.</p><p>For more on the world of sports in general and the Bay Area in particular go to the Cohn Zohn at cohn.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Lowell Cohn at 521-5486 or lowell.cohn@pressdemocrat.com.</p>