PLUMMER TELLS IT LIKE IT IS JETHAWKS MANAGER KNOWN FOR DIRECT APPROACH WITH PLAYERS.

Byline: Gideon Rubin Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Bill Plummer's involvement in professional baseball began long before the proliferation of big-money contracts and the term ``players' manager'' came into vogue.

And at a time when offending players is practically a fireable offense, the straight-talking Plummer is by his own admission a baseball ``dinosaur.''

A former major-league catcher who backed up Hall of Famer Johnny Bench on the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970s, Plummer, at age 58 - going on about 100 in baseball years - began his 40th year in professional baseball Thursday in his second stint as JetHawks manager.

He engineered one of the most remarkable turnarounds in recent California League history in 2002, leading the JetHawks to a wild-card playoff berth after inheriting an 11-29 team that at the time had one of professional baseball's worst records.

``I'm always going to do what I think is right,'' Plummer says defiantly. ``If (players) don't like that, there's nothing I can do about that.''

Plummer's intimidating presence and in-your-face style haven't always made him popular. Players on the 2002 team openly wondered why they played harder for Plummer than the well-liked Steve Scarsone, who Plummer replaced as manager that year.

``He doesn't pull any punches,'' said JetHawks hitting coach Damon Mashore, who played for Plummer at Yuma in 2000 in the independent Western League and briefly for Lancaster in 2002. ``You know where you stand (with Plummer), and for a lot of guys that's different from what they've been around because they're used to everybody telling them exactly what they want to hear and not what they should hear.

``Sometimes that's hard for them to get used to.''

After his arrival in Lancaster in 2002, Plummer got the JetHawks used to winning, transforming the culture of what had become a perennially hapless team. Lancaster was 72-108 as an Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate before Plummer took over as manager in 2002. They JetHawks have put together a 159-121 record in two-plus seasons since.

Plummer - who managed Yakima (Wash.) in the Northwest League in 2003 and 2004 - won't even take credit for the 2002 season, and to be fair, Wally Backman, last season's Sporting News' Manager of the Year, and 2003 manager Mike Aldrete, played big roles in the team's successes in those years.

Many in the Arizona organization also give credit to scouting director Mike Rizzo for leading the resurgence of what has become one of baseball's most improved farm systems.

But to hear players tell it, the JetHawks haven't been the same since Plummer came to town.

``From that year on, we kind of set the tone for how Lancaster is supposed to play, and we've tried to live up to it every year after that,'' said reliever Carlton Wells, who is among four current JetHawks who were on the 2002 team.

Despite his public image as a win-at-all-costs manager, Plummer says that developing winners in life is more important to him than developing winning ballplayers.

``It's about building character,'' Plummer said. ``I think it helps them in life, whatever they do, that they do it wholeheartedly. It doesn't matter if it's in baseball or in business. If you go about it and put 100 percent into it you have a much better chance to succeed than if you quit.''

Gideon Rubin [phone]

gideon.rubin(at)dailynews.com

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Straight-talking JetHawks manager Bill Plummer is, by his own admission, a baseball ``dinosaur.''

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer