Stricker: Why did you decide to become the General Manager?
Towres: Larry Lucchino and John Moores gave me that opportunity. I was the scouting director and Randy Smith, who was the GM at that time, left to go to Detroit. John and Larry gave me a great opportunity at that time. I had never dreamed of being a GM and I’m very thankful for it.

Stricker: What’s your favorite book?
Towers: My favorite book is "Put a Dollar Sign On the Muscle", which is about scouting. Scouting is really where my heart lies; I love scouting, I love evaluating. The book is no longer in print, but it’s about the old time scouts evaluating prospects.

Stricker: What was your favorite book as a kid?
Towers: As a kid I liked "Green Eggs and Ham", By Dr. Seuss.

Stricker: What’s your favorite website?
Towers: espn.com

Stricker: What do you spend most of your time doing?
Towers: Reading scouting reports, reading "Baseball America", reading "Baseball Weekly", looking at other teams’ websites and following what’s going on, not only in Major League Baseball, but Minor League Baseball. A lot of reading.

Stricker: Who is your biggest surprise as a player that you brought up?
Towers: Well the guy that has probably surprised me the most, we didn’t bring him up from our minor leagues, was Phil Nevin. How good of a player he is has been my biggest surprise.

Stricker: : What’s one thing that you do that makes you successful?
Towers: I would say that I communicate well with people within the organization, and I delegate real well, so I let people run their own departments, empower them to make their own decisions, and I’m a good listener. Also I think I’ve hired good people around me and that helps me become successful.

Stricker: Where were you on September 11?
Towers: I was in bed at home here in San Diego and was just getting up when I heard the reports on the TV. It’s a day I’ll never forget.