Every year about this time when Major League Baseball managers start dropping like flies, bad starts compounded by lack of confidence usually adds up to a coaching change in any sport. It seems especially prevalent in MLB circles.
There are possible five or six coaches in the entirety of baseball that seem to make a difference to their teams. Mike Scoscia, Joe Torre, Terry Francona, Lou Piniella and Tony LaRussa are the first names that come to mind over another.
The truth is though, but unless you have some cache with your players, managers just sit on the bench and occasionally send in a signal, even make a scene with the umpire.
You'll notice the names above have at least one World Series championship ring on their fingers, and long tenures with their franchise.
Some are known for being able to resist the slings and arrows of outrageous media, some for their even-kiel with the players, some for their fiery, hands-on nature on the field, but ultimately, they’re known for coaching MLB’s greatest players.
Francona and Torre are known for handling big egos and being darlings of the media. Piniella likes to use his bombastic nature to light fires under his players, and LaRussa may be the most technically brilliant baseball strategist in years.
As for the rest of the coaches in the League, they have some big shoes to fill, high expectations to live up to.
John McClaren of the Mariners was a few games from the playoffs last year, this year they are abhorrent with pretty much the same team plus another ace pitcher.
Willie Randolph was a paragon two seasons ago, now he's apparently on the short list of early firing candidates. The only similarity between the two teams is under performance of the players. The veterans are starting to fall off and the young guns of the team are not performing to expectations, either.
Fans of individual Major League teams need to stop calling for coaches' heads, it does not matter who is sitting on the bench. The lack of success in teams can be traced to a few factors:
1. General Managing:It all starts at the top. From this position the entire personality of the organization is set up. Great GM's like Billy Beane start their players in the Minor Leagues on basic fundamentals they expect when they get to the big show; the same goes for teams like the Angels and Cardinals, they know how they want to play, and they get the guys who do it that way.
With an organizational ethos that permeates from low-A ball all the way to the Big Club, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have probably one of the best farm team systems in the league.
2. Scouting: If a team has a sub-par scouting system, they’re doomed with overpayment for veterans on the downside of their careers and releasing good talent.
3. Players: The people who actually have to make it happen. Players have to play, hands down. It's all well and good to assemble an All-Star, multiple MVP lineups, but if they play like dogs, they will look like dogs— failure. Ask the Yankees a few years ago, the Tigers of this year or the aforementioned Mariners how much their high payrolls are buying them. All three teams are in last place in their divisions and spend more than any other team.
Anybody could take the Boston Red Sox lineup and sit in a dugout and do just as good a job as Terry Francona, same with Joe Girardi in New York. Right? You just don't see that much actual “hands-on” managing in the game anymore.
When was the last time you saw an American League team try the squeeze bunt? Double steal? If it was anything, but an Angel’s game, you probably were watching an Inter-league match up. The average beach bum knows enough about the game to indicate "swing away" or "bunt" in most situations, and most players have such an ego that they ignore signals anyways.
The old saying goes: "Managers are hired to be fired." This adage has shown its truth over the years, but recently it has become the trend to fire managers at even the slightest hint of underachievement. Who really thinks Willie Randolph is that bad of a manager? Why is he viewed as a bad manager when Joe Girardi, who learned at the heels of the same man, Joe Torre, considered Jesus in Pinstripes?
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4 months ago
The Dodgers would probably be the same with or without Joe Torre, but It makes me feel better knowing he's there. Go Dodgers!
from 4 months ago
Amen to that. I think they'd be much better if they would jettison some of the dead weight. They shouldn't have signed Andruw Jones, because they already had an ineffective center fielder in Pierre. They should have cut Nomar loose, because they've got LaRoche primed to go. They have two excellent corner infielders in Ethier and Kemp, but they've got to platoon because Pierre takes one of those spots because Jones took his! Add that to an excellent starting rotation, a lock-down bullpen, and the best catcher in baseball, and you've got a championship caliber team with a championship caliber manager in Torre. Remember, Torre inherited a young, talented team and then won 4 championships with them.
Anyways, I bet they get better with Jones on the DL and LaRoche coming back. The Diamondbacks are gonna skid eventually, and then they can pounce.
4 months ago
Nomar has had a rough season...but hes a fan favorite. He and Martin are my personal faves.
from 4 months ago
I've never been a fan of the "fan favorite tag." I'm a fan that values winning and performance above other factors in my teams. Sure, I like sportsmanship, applaud it, and try to encourage it, but in the end, I'm paying $50 a pop to see these guys win, and if someone is standing in the way of a player who may help us win more, then I can't see him as my favorite. Nomar by all accounts is a great guy, but he hasn't been fully healthy for a whole year in about 7 seasons, and he hasn't been effective when he was healthy for the same time. It's time to move on.
4 months ago
True, but theres one memory that stands out in the lone Dodgers game ive been to, and that was the fans going insane when Nomar was up to bat.
4 months ago
As I am a baseball lover, I try to watch games whenever I have time. But, for me, and without doubt for thousands of other fans all over the world, I love the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and I do my best to attend their games though we notice that Angels tickets got a little pricy and hard to be found especially when we talk about some hot games. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim tickets are a little pricy but this should not prevent us from fallowing our favourite team and support it, and this is what means to be a good fan.
from 4 months ago
Most teams are pretty good about at least making the cheap seats available to people with less disposable income. Personally, I live almost 2 hours from my favorite team's stadium, so I usually pick one or two games all season to go to and get the best seats I can. If I lived closer, I'd get the cheap stuff and go like 10 times a year. I love the atmosphere of the park, not necessarily the closeness of the players.
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