By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The moment was decades in the making. So when the Reds officially announced hiring him as their new general manager, Dan O'Brien did more than map out a strategy to make a storied franchise proud again.

He set aside three minutes to recognize many who helped him reach that podium Monday at Great American Ball Park.

"As I stand here today, I'm the compilation of all the people that have ever worked with me in my career," O'Brien said. "And I've certainly been blessed to have the privilege of working with many talented people."

His thank-you list was 113 people long.

To those who know him best, the gesture was classic Dan O'Brien.

"I would have to say he is probably one of the most conscientious, hard-working and honest individuals, without question," said wife Gail O'Brien, a professor in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at the University of Texas-Arlington and a one-time resident of Columbus.

Coming in at No. 64 was Doug Melvin, who brought O'Brien to the Texas Rangers as that team's assistant general manager in 1996.

"If the Reds turn things around and it's because of a decision that he makes, Dan will give credit to somebody else," said Melvin, now the Brewers executive vice president and general manager.

Humility and gratefulness only scratch the surface of 49-year-old O'Brien.

He appealed to the Reds on several fronts.

"I think they made a great hire," Rangers executive vice president and general manager John Hart said. "Dan's a straight shooter, a good guy and a hard worker. Business all the way. This guy is really a throwback, an old-school baseball guy."

A former pitcher at Rollins College, who earned a Master's degree from Ohio University, O'Brien has a proven background in building a winner from within.

In his 15 years with the Astros (1981-1996), leaving as Houston's director of player development and scouting, O'Brien helped start a baseball academy in Venezuela.

He also had a hand in scouting and/or signing Bobby Abreu, Craig Biggio, Richard Hidalgo, Phil Nevin, Roy Oswalt, Shane Reynolds and Billy Wagner.

"The realities of the game are, with mid- and small-market clubs, that the only way to success is through player development and scouting," said O'Brien, who began his career with the Mariners in 1977 as their assistant director of group sales.

While the free-spending Rangers approached player personnel differently than the Astros did until the opening of Minute Maid Park in Houston, O'Brien made a name for himself in baseball's inner circles for additional reasons.

"He gets along with everybody in the game, but also can be firm," Melvin said. "He thinks through things before he just goes out and makes a rash decision."

The decision to pursue a career in baseball was never a questionable one for O'Brien.

"You either learn to love it or you learn to hate it," he said. "I love it, and always knew that."

A primary influence on O'Brien's decision to work in baseball was his exposure to the game growing up.

His father was general manager of the Rangers from 1973-1979 and also served as an executive for the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues in Columbus.

"I pretty much grew up at the ballpark, sun up to sun down and then some," O'Brien said.

And it was while living in Columbus from 1963-1974 that O'Brien also developed an affinity for the Reds.

"I bothered my father incessantly to drive me to Cincinnati," he said.

Now that he's been hired as the 16th general manager in Reds history, no such trips will be required.

However, there's plenty of work to do.

"I mean this sincerely," O'Brien said. "Of all 30 teams in Major League Baseball, if I had the opportunity to be with one, this would be it."