Cashman and Epstein: A Profile of Contrasts

As some of you may know, Buster Olney and his brother recently hosted a charity event called “Going to Bat for Vermont” which was designed to raise money and provide relief to those that suffered the greatest impact during Hurricane Irene this past summer. Olney himself turned out for to speak at the event (of course), as well as Brian Cashman, Theo Epstein, and several others. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to be in the audience (as I am about 1,100 miles away from Vermont), but my friend Andrew over at The Baseball Historian was there. Andrew was kind enough to post his pictures from the event on Facebook, and once I got over my jealousy that he was able to chat with Buster Olney and Brian Cashman, I couldn’t help but notice the differences between Cashman and Epstein. I got a laugh out of their differences in dress – Epstein in a full suit and tie, Cashman in jeans and a sport coat. I chalked it up to differences in personality; not because one was taking the event more or less seriously than the other, but merely because Cashman is more of a jeans-and-t-shirt type of guy in his down time and Epstein prefers a more tailored look, even when outside of the office.

But of course, that is merely my take based on the above picture and interviews I have seen with Cashman and Epstein over the years. Since Andrew actually attended the event he has a much more accurate take on the contrasts between these two men and has written an excellent article about it (which I highly recommend reading). At the end of the day, it is interesting to note that two men who are professionally paralleled and have been so successful at such a high level are cut from quite different molds.