"Where’s George" is an internet website where people can enter serial numbers of dollar bills. The Site will tell you where the bill was, when last entered, and advise you if entered again after if leaves your hands. I’ve used it and had bills pass through my wallet that had traveled through most of the United States. They get around.

"Who’s George" also got around in his field of endeavor. First though he had to be born. The George I write of was born August 4, 1934 in Newport, Delaware. He liked the State and in 1953 he went to the University of Delaware on a basketball scholarship. A good fit as he was six foot five inches. It took a while to graduate as other matters got in the way. In his case it was playing professional baseball. As a very tall pitcher.

Aspiring ballplayers’ lives start out in the minor leagues. For some it ends there as well. However, George did make the bright lights and debuted in 1960 with the Philadelphia Phillies. That run lasted until 1964. The following year found him with theWashington Senators. In 1966 it was the New York Mets. In 1967 he found himself once again with the Phillies.

On September 12, 1967 he found himself with a career total of 268 strikeouts, 4.26 Earned Run Average, a 20-22 win/loss record, and no employment. It was time to learn what ex-pitchers do for a living after the bright lights go out.

It seems more bright lights were in store for George. He decided to do the next best thing. At least for him it seemed like a good idea. He took a job offer and spent the next twelve years, from 1967 to 1979 in the Phillies farm clubs. It seems he had more success here then on the mound. Over time he went from managing to assistant director and finally director of their minor league system. Liking what they saw him do in the minor leagues the front office decided to see what he could in the majors. So from 1979 to 1981 he managed Philadelphia’s major players.

This caught the eyes of some of the Chicago Big Boys, in this case the Tribune newspaper guys who bought the Cubs from the Wrigley Family in 1981. They made George the General Manager and gave him a green light. Given the Cubs decades old record of woe George did what he did best. He went about cleaning up the Farm System. In so doing he drafted a couple of young pitchers that might last a few years. Greg Maddux and Jamie Moyer. They held up, and so did some of the other efforts George put into the Cubs. In 1984 he tweaked their losing tradition and they won the National League East title.

So for awhile in Chicago he was "Good Old George", but that was not to last. He once said of himself "I’m a screamer, a yeller and a cusser. I never hold back." True to his word he didn’t and the green light in Chicago went out. In late 1987 he resigned from the Cubs. As it was nicely explained that the leaving came about over philosophical differences with the Tribune Company Executives Media Company.

Some also thought he left because no matter how loud he got he could not stop the lights from coming to Wrigley Field. He was against it and had no problem voicing this concern in the media. In this case the media was also the name that signed his paycheck. So George stuck to his principals and left the Cubs.

This does not mean he left baseball. He always stayed involved in some capacity. He would later go on to manage the New York Yankees in 1989. After a few years of consulting work he managed the New York Mets from 1993 to 1996. It was about this time he returned to the area where he found his most success. He returned to Philadelphia and to this day is welcomed as a "Special Manager". Fifty plus years in a business where many players are lucky to make fifty months.

You see George worked some magic in the City of Brotherly Love in 1980. When baseball was over Dallas Green had coached the Phillies to a World Series Win. That is George "Dallas" Green did.

That is the name he was born with. It also is the name on his Bachelors degree which he finally got around to completing in 1981. When George starts something he finishes it. For some teams in baseball the lights were not on for him.

He was the light.