Shelton mourns 'greatest influence' Newman

Pirates manager Derek Shelton joined the Yankees and many others around baseball on Saturday in mourning the death of longtime Yankees executive Mark Newman, who passed away on Friday at the age of 71.

It was Newman who gave Shelton his start as a coach in the Yankees’ system -- and who first predicted after the 2002 season that Shelton would one day become a Major League manager.

• Patience clearly among Shelton's assets

“It was a gut punch, man,” Shelton said Saturday. “Seriously, besides my dad, he’s probably been the greatest influence in my professional life.”

Newman joined the Yankees in 1989 and held multiple roles in their front office before retiring in 2014. As coordinator of Minor League instruction and vice president of player development and scouting, he oversaw the development of some of New York’s finest players in the 1990s, including Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams.

“He was at the center of the dynasty of the Yankees,” Shelton said. “He developed really good players -- like great players, Hall of Fame players. He also probably created some of the best coaches in baseball. And I’m not including myself in that group, but some of the guys that are Major League managers, coaches that have done unbelievable things, came through that system.

“When I was hired in ’97, I think there’s like 11 or 12 of us that managed or coached in the big leagues, different things, and that’s directly his influence. People like to throw around ‘coaching coaches.’ This guy was the master of coaching coaches. He was the best ever at it. There’ll never be anybody like him because of the way he challenged people. I’m very fortunate that he was a part of my life.”

Newman also thought quite fondly of Shelton. In an interview with MLB.com earlier this year, Newman described a young Shelton as “bright and hard-working,” with “a personality that attracted players to him and coaches -- genuine, authentic, respectful of other people.”

Newman said Shelton embodied one of his favorite player development adages: “They don’t care what you know until they know that you care.” The two formed a strong bond for several reasons, including their shared alma mater of Southern Illinois University.

As Shelton said, “It’s one of those people you don’t see every day, but he’s still part of you. And this guy’s part of me.”

“He was a mentor to me. He challenged me every day. He made me better. He made me pay attention to details,” Shelton said. “It’s about as hard as it can be. I woke up this morning to multiple phone calls telling me. Not only did he hire me, he was the first person that told me I was going to manage in the big leagues.

“There’s a couple things that stuck with me with Mark. He never let me be complacent. When I thought I was doing a good job, he challenged me to do something else. It wasn’t that he wasn’t proud of me or he wasn’t happy with me. It was like, ‘OK, you’ve got this. Here’s the next step.’ When I was working in instructional league, he wouldn’t let me work with the catchers. He made me work with the outfielders. He made me work with the infielders. Because he knew I was going to manage, and he knew I was going to have to watch the whole game.

“There was always a process to what he did to make me better. I appreciate that to the nth degree. He never let a small detail that I thought should get by go by. He was always pointing it out to me.”