"Former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth was the first to mention Jeff Luhnow to Jim Crane as a solid candidate to be the Astros' general manager.

Crane, an exceptional golfer, owns a home in Pebble Beach, Calif., where Ueberroth is owner and co-chair of Pebble Beach Company. At the time, Crane was still waiting for Major League Baseball's approval of his purchase of the Astros.

As time passed, Crane and Astros president and CEO George Postolos were supplied many more names of candidates for a position whose filling Crane described as "the most important decision we will make for the next three or four years.""