Jason Falcon may be as qualified as anyone from outside this city to claim he understands what may, and may not, work when it comes to fielding a professional, or amateur, baseball franchise in Lynn.Falcon, who will manage the North Shore Navigators this summer, is a former Massachusetts Mad Dog.Yes. Mad Dogs. Remember them?”That means,” he says, “I played for George Scott. The Boomer. If any of you have a couple of days to kill, we’ll get together and we’ll swap ‘Boomer’ stories.”I was with the Mad Dogs for two years, right out of college, and I can say I didn’t understand a single thing he did,” Falcon says with a laugh. “But I was 24, and you don’t know everything at 24. I look back, and there was an awful lot he taught me.”Falcon, who grew up in western Massachusetts and graduated from Western New England College, will bring back 85 percent of the team that he managed in Holyoke last year ? the team that had the best record in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.”This league,” he said, “is all about getting an opportunity for young kids to be seen.”But it’s so much more than that, too. For one thing, Falcon, who actively recruits the players who will take the diamond at Fraser Field this summer, wants to win. That’s the whole point, he says.But he also has to walk the fine line that exists between winning and trying to satisfy a local market ? not to mention his relationships with the college coaches who try to push players in his direction.”I want hard-nosed kids who will come out and compete as part of a team,” he said. “I want to bring in winners.”Like any manager, he will contour his team around the ballpark. Last year, the Navigators were in Holyoke, playing in a ballpark that would make Fraser Field seem quaint by comparison.”It was huge,” he said. “So we built the team around speed. Even my catcher had 10 stolen bases.”We needed people who could run down fly balls, because that outfield was enormous,” he said.Fielding a team of college kids from all over the country can be a challenge, he said, because they don’t have a lot of time to come together.”They need to come together fast,” he said. “Last year, our team did. They played their hearts out, and when the chips were down, they responded.”There’s a double-edged purpose to leagues like the NECBL. First, the players participate for the purpose of being seen by scouts. But Falcon wants to make sure there’s a “second,” too – to blend in with the team for the purpose of winning.”I want to combine the two,” he said. “I want them to be noticed for the right reasons. I’m looking for unselfish players.”He’s also looking for a real commitment.”I tell coaches if kids aren’t going to stick it out for the entire summer, then I don’t want them,” he said. “And I also tell coaches that we need kids who are going to make scouts come back.”If they’re trying to sell me anything other than an A-level player, then don’t try,” he said.His most important references, he says, are the coaches themselves.”Most of them are honest,” he said. “But the problems is how good they are at evaluating talent.”While Falcon says his team is almost formed, there are a few spots open, and he’s hoping some local players can land on the roster.”This is their future,” he said. “They know why they’re here.”Steve Krause is sports editor of The Item.