Talent scout seeks team players

During Jeff Luhnow's Kellogg School tenure in the early 1990s, he lived so close to Wrigley Field he could hear the crack of the bat and the crowd's roar. Now, living his dream, he's vice president of player procurement for Chicago Cubs archrival St. Louis Cardinals.

"What is more exciting than finding a player you think has a chance to be a big leaguer some day?" asks Spanish-speaking Luhnow '94, who oversees amateur scouting domestically and in Puerto Rico, international scouting and player development.  He's also re-established a Cardinals baseball academy in the Dominican Republic.

His New York City youth shaped the Mexico City native's perspective. "Most young men who play baseball in Latin American countries come from lower-income families. I played little league ... with many poor kids, so I have an appreciation for them and an understanding of their background."

Luhnow majored in finance and engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. After three years with Gore Fabrics in Delaware, he chose Kellogg for a business education emphasizing teamwork. That decision serves him well, he says, noting the quantitative skills he uses with the Cardinals to evaluate and predict performance. Prior to his current role, Luhnow founded a technology and software company, and acted as general manager and vice president of marketing for Petstore.com and as a consultant at McKinsey & Co.