How do we score in the front office? While blacks have landed some high-profile posts, few are getting the jobs that really count.

Despite the considerable presence of African-Americans as athletes, the fact remains that only a handful of the top executives in big-money sports are black. Just one of Major League Baseball's 28 teams, the Houston Astros, has a black general manager, Bob Watson. The National Basketball Association's (NBA) 27 teams employ five leading black executives. The 30 franchises of the National Football League have yet to hire a black general manager.

However, after Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott was suspended last year for using ethnic slurs to describe blacks, Jews and the Japanese, public scrutiny of team hiring practices intensified. Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Commission for Fairness in Sport was formed, along with the Coalition for Equality in Sports, even as the governing sports leagues themselves began to press for front-office diversity. As a result, teams opened their doors a crack, creating internships and making special outreach efforts to identify minority talent. Yet, observers--including several African-Americans who have reached front-office pay-dirt--say that real change will be slow to come. It's been seven years since former Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Al Campanis asserted on national television that blacks lacked the "necessities" to be baseball executives. And there are those who believe that a great many team owners, smart enough not to say so publicly, privately share the opinions of Schott and Campanis. Apparently, these attitudes are more persistent than efforts to promote equal opportunity.

Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society, which tracks hiring practices from support staff to senior management, thought so poorly of baseball's diversity efforts in 1993 that it gave the sport an F for top management hiring and a C-minus for front-office/administration hiring. The NBA received a B-minus and a B, while the NFL got a C and C-plus.

Bill White, who has just completed his term as the first black president of baseball's National League, openly stated that one of the reasons he refuses to serve another five-year term is because of baseball's hiring practices. "To be quite honest, I have not been able to make an impact on minority hiring in the National League," he says. "We have not been able to get in at the club level for a lot of reasons, some legitimate, some not."

Peter A. Magowan, president and managing general partner of the Giants and part of a five-man committee charged with exploring team ownership by minorities, maintains that there is no excuse for baseball's poor minority hiring record. "I honestly believe there is a clear understanding of the problem and a willingness to find solutions and make improvements," he says.

Changes In The Field

The most visible changes in the complexion of sports team management appear not in the front office but at courtside, in the dugouts and on the sidelines. Basketball has the longest track record of providing head coaching opportunities. The most recently named in the NBA are second-year San Antonio Spurs coach John Lucas and rookie coach and former broadcaster Quinn Buckner of the Dallas Mavericks. The NFL finally broke the color barrier among its head coaches with the hiring of Art Shell and Dennis Green, coaches for the Los Angeles Raiders and the Minnesota Vikings.

Since the Campanis incident, baseball has seen fit to add six minority managers to its previous list of one (Frank Robinson, most recently with the Baltimore Orioles): Cito Gaston (the Toronto Blue Jays), Hal McRae (Kansas City Royals), Don Baylor (Colorado Rockies), Felipe Alou (Montreal Expos), Tony Perez (Cincinnati Reds, until he was fired last season) and San Francisco's Dusty Baker. Gaston managed the Toronto Blue Jays to back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993. In his first campaign, Baker, 44, led the San Francisco Giants to a club-record 103 wins and nearly captured the National League West tide last season. So far, no one has voiced doubt over whether those men have the "necessities" for leadership.

Magowan, the man responsible for putting Baker and three-time MVP outfielder Barry Bonds on his team, insists that the opening up of on-field management opportunities to minorities can be duplicated in the front office. "The new owners in baseball have a lot of practical opportunities and experience in trying to get minorities into their businesses," he asserts.

One of the newest owners, Drayton McLane Jr., who bought the Houston Astros in 1992, has best exemplified Magowan's vision of them. Last October, McLane, a Texas trucking magnate and the second-largest shareholder in Wal-Mart Inc., named Bob Watson, 47, general manager, baseball's second black in that position. Watson oversees all aspects of baseball operations and a budget that was $30 million last year.

Watson played 15 years in the major leagues for the Astros, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves. He was a hitting instructor and bench coach for the Oakland Athletics before joining the Astros as assistant general manager in 1988. He also has a business background, having done financial planning and investment banking for E.F. Hutton.

Yet, Watson is the first to admit that being offered the Astros GM job caught him by surprise. "I was shocked when McLane asked me to take the job," Watson says. "This has been a lifelong dream for me."

Dreams Deferred

Unfortunately, that dream is one that few African-Americans are likely to experience in the near future. Elaine Weddington-Steward has been an assistant general manager with the Boston Red Sox for four years, all the while sitting in the shadow of longtime Boston general manager Lou Gorman (now executive vice president of baseball operations). Reggie Waller, who was promoted to assistant general manager with the San Diego Padres last year, will first have to make his mark overseeing minor league operations. Likewise Willie Randolph, who last April was named an assistant general manager with the New York Yankees. Frank Robinson, a field manager for nine and a half seasons in Cleveland, San Francisco and Baltimore, has been an assistant general manager in Baltimore for three years, but may have to leave the organization to get top billing.

Waiting, says Watson, is part of the game. "I'm not going to sit here and tell you I was content to be an assistant general manager for five years," he admits. "I understand the process: You have to pay the dues."

That sentiment is echoed for minorities in the NBA, where having played or coached the game seems a prerequisite for getting your foot in the door. All five of the African-Americans currently functioning as front-office executives first made a name for themselves in collegiate or pro sports. Bernie Bickerstaff, VP/GM of the Denver Nuggets, started as head coach at the University of San Diego, went on to become an assistant with the Washington Bullets and made his big breakthrough as head coach of the Seattle Supersonics. Wayne Embry (VP/GM of the Cleveland Cavaliers), Willis Reed (VP/GM of the New Jersey Nets), Elgin Baylor (VP/basketball operations of the Los Angeles Clippers) and Billy McKinney (director of player personnel for the Detroit Pistons) all started as NBA players.

By contrast, many of their white counterparts took much different routes to the top. Seattle Supersonics President/general manager Bob Whitsitt, 37, received a bachelor's in communication and a master's in sports administration before beginning his "pro" basketball career as an intern with the Indiana Pacers in 1978. He was promoted in 1979 to director of business affairs and promotions, and in 1981 to assistant general manager. Five years later, at age 30, after serving in similar roles with the Kansas City and Sacramento Kings, Whitsitt became one of the youngest team presidents in the NBA.

It's not that having a background in sports is a negative. In fact, says the NFL Philadelphia Eagles assistant to the president/general counsel Bob Wallace, "Having some sports background is a necessity to being an effective negotiator and making good bottom-line decisions for the franchise." It's just that most white front-office executives relied on executive experience and business contacts, not athletic prowess or coaching success, to catch the attention of owners looking for top management talent.

"If you get one of these positions, you have to feel very lucky," says Willis Reed, 51, who played for 10 seasons and coached for four before getting the chance to make payroll decisions in New Jersey. "There's only 28 of these jobs available in basketball and I feel very fortunate to have one."

Who You Know--And Who Knows You

Good fortune aside, Reed's status as a star on the New York Knick championship teams of the 1970s was hardly a hardship. But you shouldn't have to be a legend to get a good job. To get more minorities into the front office, say most observers, team owners must broaden their pool of candidates beyond former players to executive talent in other areas.

"It's just like any other business," says the New England Patriots executive vice president/football operations Patrick Forte, the highest-ranking black team-executive in the NFL. "People hire people they have a comfort level with and people they know.

"There are a number of qualified people of color who could fill any substantial role in this business," he insists, "but it's a matter of who are they and where are they. The people of power who make decisions aren't exposed to these people. It's a closed system. But once you're in, you're in."

And once you're in, you've got to deliver. Forte, 43, got his start in sports management as a sports agent from 1983 to 1985. He spent five years with the Philadelphia Eagles as an assistant to the president, COO and chief contract negotiator before accepting what he considered to be a bigger challenge with the Patriots. This team has been mired in fiscal problems and near the bottom of the NFL since losing to the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl in 1985. As the number-three man in the Patriots hierarchy, Forte says he is ultimately judged in two areas: "Winning and managing the bottom line. If we don't manage ourselves properly from a financial perspective and if we don't win, then what's the use of me being here?"

Where The Jobs Are

The odds of getting to the Gm's office are long in general, not just for blacks. After all, including the NFL expansion teams in Jacksonville, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C., there are only 85 such jobs in baseball, basketball and football combined.

Some teams, however, are genuinely pressing to improve their minority hiring by making moves in departments that don't rely as heavily on specialized sports knowledge.

While this may help improve the numbers, critics point out that routing so many African-Americans into jobs that don't affect the team's bottom line is no way to prepare candidates for the powerful front-office positions. Minorities, for instance, now represent 41% of the community relations directors in the NBA, 33% in baseball and 31% in the NFL, according to the 1993 report by the Center for the Study of Sport in Society. Among those who say that African-Americans need real opportunities, not makeshift positions, is San Diego Padres assistant general manager Reggie Waller. "If you can't grab onto something tangible and make people know you're responsible for its success or failure, no one will ever know--or care--what you're doing," he says.

The league offices and most teams now have internships earmarked specifically for minorities. The NFL offers about a dozen internships each summer, while the NBA runs a program for college sophomores and juniors interested in public relations, team services, consumer products, production and broadcasting. Elaine Steward is one of the most touted success stories. Before becoming an assistant general manager with the Boston Red Sox, she was an intern with the Office of the Commissioner through baseball's Executive Development Program. Budget cuts eliminated that program, but baseball still offers a program for college undergraduates in its public relations departments.

Some clubs are relying more on executive search firms to find qualified candidates in fields outside of sports. That's how the Minnesota Vikings found Jerri De Vard, 34, their new director of private suites marketing.

Prior to joining the Vikings, De Vard was senior marketing manager for the Pillsbury Co., where she gained national attention for the development of the award-winning Pillsbury Doughboy's 25th birthday promotion. She now manages the leasing of all 115 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome suites, each of which rents for $30,700 to $78,900 annually, and a broad range of customer services to some of Minnesota's most influential CEOs. "It's my job to know the suite owners," says De Vard, who received a bachelor's degree in economics from Spelman College and an MBA from Atlanta University's Graduate School of Business. "I'm looking at the person who sees the business side of the sport, who sees the suite as an extension of their living rooms and their boardrooms."

Jonathan Mariner, 39, on the other hand, might not have his current job as vice president of finance and administration with the Florida Marlins baseball team (and also for the Florida Panthers hockey team) had he not kept his eye on the newspaper and made a few calls. About two years ago, when he was vice president of finance and administration for the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, Mariner noticed an advertising spread with pictures of the Marlins' front-office staff. Its message? The expansion baseball team was looking for the position he eventually landed and for a vice president of community relations. "You can imagine which one I thought I could get," he jokes.

Instead, he was given control of the Marlins' day-to-day financial and administrative operations, including budgets, accounting, payroll, financial reporting, treasury and administration of all insurance and benefit plans. "As sports becomes a bigger money game, there's a growing trend to move towards more professional financial managers," says Mariner. "There's a lot more focus on the bottom line and not just the ego attached to owning the club. I can tell you there's no ego at all with our owner, Wayne Huizenga. He's in it to make money."

More Changes Are Needed

For other African-Americans to land similar jobs with sports franchises, most observers say several changes must take place.

In their increasing difficulty running pro clubs at a profit, owners will have to realize it's a mistake to overlook a significant source of new executive talent. And that, says the Patriots' Forte, will require owners to be honest about racism and sexism in their organizations. "If you're qualified, what difference does it make what color your skin is?" Forte asks. "It's a travesty that continues to exist based on people's insidious justification of racism. But it will never change until people admit that's the way they do things."

Others suggest black ownership might help, but no one foresees an African-American buying a major stake in a team anytime soon. Presently, the only blacks in ownership are BE 100s CEO Comer J. Cottrell, who owns Dallas-based Pro-Line Corp. and is a limited partner with baseball's Texas Rangers; and Kansas City businessman and former NFL defensive back Deron Cherry, who owns an undisclosed part of the expansion Jacksonville jaguars of the NFL.

Ultimately, public pressure, of the type generated in the aftermath of Campanis' and Schotts' candid discourses on diversity in sports, may be the only long-term catalyst for change. "I don't think there's going to be much movement unless there's pressure," says Richard Lapchick, director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society. "Our organization puts information out there to keep the pressure on. We don't want time to elapse to have people forget that we haven't traveled as far as we want to."