A new wave of Blackberry-carrying wunderkinds, with first names like Josh and Theo and Dayton, are displacing the Charlies and Harrys who once generally managed baseball teams. Fresh princes from the Ivy League are in, and anybody old enough to remember when Tommy John wasn’t a surgical procedure qualifies as a throwback.

Friday morning at Safeco Field, the Mariners defied the GM youth movement.

They introduced Jack Zduriencik as Bill Bavasi’s full-time replacement.

Zduriencik will turn 58 in January, and with 71-year old Pat Gillick stepping down from the Phillies after the World Series, the new face at the winter general manager meetings also will own the distinction as the oldest.

Which raises a question: If Zduriencik is as qualified as the Mariners insist, how did it take him all these years to call the shots?

The answer can be traced to the late John P. Zduriencik, Jack’s dad. “Big John” worked at the steel mills in Youngstown, Ohio, during the day, then made an 18-mile drive to his second job as proprietor of a barber shop in the family’s hometown of New Castle, Pa.

“Big John” died in 1993, but the example set by the barber from the mill had an indelible effect on his son.

“My roots are in loyalty and working hard, doing the things you’re supposed to do,” said Zduriencik. “My loyalty to the people I work with is really the bond I’m cut from.

“Did I want to become a general manager? Yeah, I did. I wanted to become one for a long time. But I just wasn’t going to go out there and do anything but the best of the job I was given.”

In other words, he wasn’t going to campaign for a better-paying gig during his free time as the Milwaukee Brewers’ scouting director. In Zduriencik’s world, the notion of free time on the job is an oxymoron.

One way to describe Zduriencik is to point out what he isn’t: He isn’t hip, glib or glitzy. He isn’t cerebral, urbane or suave. He isn’t larger than life, or stronger than dirt. He doesn’t swagger into a room and silence onlookers by his mere presence.

I was impressed.

He gave concise responses on topics with which he was familiar (delegating authority, the general science of scouting) and took a pass on Mariner-related specifics the National League transplant couldn’t possibly fathom a few minutes into Day One.

The man credited with rebuilding Milwaukee’s once decrepit farm system was asked to assemble a quick scouting report on himself.

“I’m probably a 24-7 guy,” he said. “No-nonsense. I like to get down right to it – let’s not waste each other’s time. There’s a job to be done here, the hours are valuable.

“I like decisions. I like information. I’d love to be able to turn some things over to my subordinates so they can run their department the best they can. I want to do that …

“I will lead. I will guide. I will suggest, but others may have better suggestions than I do, so I have to be open to that. When this thing is said and done, it’s gonna be a team, and it’s gonna be a team from the top to the bottom.”

No wonder Mariners president Chuck Armstrong, who began the GM search with 71 candidates on his master list, kept returning to the only name he couldn’t pronounce.

And no wonder CEO Howard Lincoln insisted Zduriencik will own the last word on personnel moves

“This is a tough, seasoned executive,” Lincoln said. “He’s been around this game for a long time. Jack Zduriencik is the man who is going to be making the baseball decisions for the Seattle Mariners.”

Despite his old-school roots – he was working summers in the steel mills before Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein was born – Zduriencik isn’t averse to player-evaluation methods supplemented by metrics that didn’t exist when he broke into scouting.

“You look at statistics to verify – to etch in stone – what you see with your own eyes,” he said. “You look at all angles for opinions.”

Most encouraging – at least for those skeptics convinced the Mariners have devoted more emphasis to putting together teams stocked with good guys than putting together good players to make good teams – was Zduriencik’s take on the character component.

“I’d love to have guys with character, guys with good makeup, guys that are committed to the community and this organization,” he said. “But when the day is done, talent wins.”

Put another way: A clubhouse populated by deeply principled pro athletes associated with charitable foundations is the ideal, all things being equal. Except the Mariners finished the season with a 61-101 record, 40 games below equal.

It hasn’t been a stellar month for straight-talk expresses, but if Friday was any kind of indication of Zduriencik’s ability to define a reconstruction agenda for the Mariners, Mr. Z will join George Karl and Chuck Knox in the Puget Sound area’s Western Pennsylvania wing of sports icons.

As for the steelworker who clipped hair at night? Zduriencik still can hear his voice. Asked what advice “Big John” would’ve shared on the proudest day of his son’s professional life, the general manager answered with a wide smile.

“You better win, Jack.”

The search for a Mariners general manager took four months, and the vetting of 71 prospects narrowed to a final four of standout candidates. And when it was over, Zduriencik’s decree was upheld.

Talent wins.

John McGrath: 253-597-8742; ext. 6154

john.mcgrath@thenewstribune.com