If Andy Green was selling vacuums Thursday, I would have walked away from Petco Park with three of them.

I don’t need a vacuum. I have no idea how the carpets in my home get cleaned. But I was buying what this guy was selling.

The 38-year-old Green is still 0-0 as a major league manager. His Padres team will start the 2016 season probably just about as awful as we think they will.

But Green won his introductory press conference. Led from start to finish. He grabbed the room, embraced it, and when walking away gave it a pat on the backside.


ANDY GREEN NAMED NEW PADRES MANAGER

That doesn’t change the fact that Padres General Manager A.J. Preller has a whole winter and spring full of challenges just to give Green a fighter’s chance to succeed. But even to those of us resigned to the reality that the Padres are presently worse than they were a year ago, it was impossible to not melt a little and think that maybe Green is the right man to steer this wreck back toward the long-departed land of respectability.

You hear a lot of clichés at these gatherings, but there wasn’t one from Green on Thursday. You hear a lot of gratitude expressed to new bosses, but none like the anecdotal, passionate praise from Green. You hear a lot of vows, but few more believable than when Green threw his entire being into them.

He spoke of his “heartbeat” and his “passion,” and the assembled cynics didn’t roll their eyes.

When talking about his leadership style, Green said this as if his life were built around the tenet: “It’s all about relationships. … Everyone wants to be part of something bigger than themselves.”


If anyone can make that true of Matt Kemp, it might be Green. He might even inspire Andrew Cashner to overcome adversity, James Shields to actually be a leader.

One of the Padres’ goals was to hire a new manager with a little fervor, a guy who could win over and rile up a clubhouse that needs to be shaken (if not as much as it needs better players).

Phil Nevin was my pick. He has not only the experience and knowledge but the fire and the clout to command a major league clubhouse. He could have done some good here.

But it is easy to sense similar attributes in Green.


We’ll learn about Green’s strategies and tendencies and the way he manipulates a pitching staff. There can be no doubt he is a good man with a good heart who his players will know cares. That’s really what these young, fragile egomaniacs want. Green also played in the big leagues. Players like that, too.

Green was described to the Padres by those who recommended him as intelligent, prepared, detailed, someone with a “feel for the game,” a leader.

One member of the Padres brass described Green as “comfortable in his own skin.” I love that phrase. It means he doesn’t care if you like him, but he knows you will.

Another person who sat in on Green’s second interview recounted: “After 15 minutes, I said, ‘He’s an evangelist.’ Three hours later, I said, ‘This is who he is.’”


Genuineness. It’s the central characteristic of a leader.

All that said, it is reasonably certain Green can’t walk on water (though his three daughters’ middle names are Grace, Hope and Faith). Too bad, because this team will need a miracle to finish better than third in the NL West next season.

When asked about the holey roster and feeble farm system, Green paused. Possibly, a vision danced in his head of Jedd Gyorko playing shortstop.

“I think it’s wise … to get to know these guys before I start talking about what perceptions are out in the industry,” Green said.


For an instant, it seemed he was copping out. Then he continued, rapidly and earnestly, seamlessly weaving together disjointed thoughts.

“Last year was what it was,” he said. “No one was excited about the end result. … What begins in anticipation and expectation in the general public doesn’t always end up (happening). Look at some of the teams in the playoffs this year. No one expected the Astros to be special. No one expected the Cubs to be special.

“I think when you hand over ownership of a team, it takes a lot of confidence to give it over to them. I’m betting there is a tremendous amount of integrity in here, even if the world doesn’t necessarily think it right now — great people that want this team to be the absolute best it can be. And I want to hear guys voice their vision for this club, and that’s what I want to be a part of.”

We all should at least be eager to see what he can do.