Major League baseball managers

[cj's dad]

How important are they ?

[cj's dad]

I accidentally submitted before I was finished.



Recently hired Buck Showalter has guided the O's to a 6-1 record since taking over the team last Tuesday. The O's look focused, are palying excellent defense with some clutch hitting and solid pitching.

This year Dave Trembley was 15 and 39 - .278 Juan Samuel was 17 and 34 .333 and the team looked overmatched.

The O's swept the Rangers, and won 3 of 4 from the ChiSox; two teams not too shabby.

Every single stat offensively, defensively and pitching has improved significantly iover the last 7 games.

Do managers really make this much of a difference or is this an aberration?

I can hear it now; "break up the O's"

[OTM Al]

Always thought the mid season manager change was like the poll bump after a party holds its convention. Everyone is super focused in for a time, but things go back where they should be.

In baseball any team should win 50 and lose 50 just due to the nature of the season, it's those other 62 games that make the difference. Talentwise, the Os weren't nearly as bad as their record. They are all professional athletes and they all, as you well know, play at a level way above the rest of us. A guy that just makes it up for a cup of coffee still is more talented than 99.9% of everyone who has played the game. So Buck has kicked some butts and changed some attitudes and got them playing like they should, maybe even a little better, but they won't sustain this because no one is that good. However if Buck's record plays out again, he will get them to competitive, where honestly I thought they should have been this year.

[Marshall Bennett]

A manager can make all the difference in team morale which for all practical purposes can make or break a season . I believe a good manager is the very backbone of a successful team .

[skate]

Yep , good mgrs are perhaps the biggest key to winning. but you'll need Exec branch to bring in some players.

Mgrs bring along the assistants and bingo.

[kenwoodall2]

Originally Posted by Marshall Bennett

A manager can make all the difference in team morale which for all practical purposes can make or break a season . I believe a good manager is the very backbone of a successful team .

I agree!

[cj]

The O's swept the Angels under Showalter, not the Rangers. That was just before the All Star break and was followed by another long string of bad play.

[OTM Al]

Originally Posted by kenwoodall2

I agree!

I don't entirely. Lou Pinella managed a team to the World Series and IMO he's not that good. A good manager keeps the personalities of the team in line over the length of the season. He takes the heat for players that can't and he makes sure all egos are properly stroked. The good manager is a cohesive force for the team that keeps them playing as a unit, so if you want a bodily analogy, I wouldn't say he's the backbone, that's the player(s) that the others look to for leadership, he's more like the skin that keeps everything together.

[sonnyp]

from an x's and o's standpoint there's just not that much difference in the head guys (managers, coaches etc).

i think the difference is in the ability of some of them to inspire and motivate their teams over, what becomes, a very long and grueling season.


although he's great with the x's and o's look at that guy from boise st. football especially vs. oklahoma. even though he's a jerk at times, look at ryan's effort with the jets.

in baseball, larussa, cox etc. they do it over and over and it's no accident. their players are focused and, more often than not, have their heads in the game.

[cj's dad]

Originally Posted by cj

The O's swept the Angels under Showalter, not the Rangers. That was just before the All Star break and was followed by another long string of bad play.

Excuse me - Angels/Rangers both wear red helmets and play in the West.

My bad !

It's not polite to correct your father publicly.

[Marshall Bennett]

Originally Posted by OTM Al

I don't entirely.

Enough so to agree with my post , or not enough simply because you've never agreed with anything I've ever posted here ?

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by cj's dad

Excuse me - Angels/Rangers both wear red helmets and play in the West.

My bad !

It's not polite to correct your father publicly.

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by OTM Al

I don't entirely. Lou Pinella managed a team to the World Series and IMO he's not that good.

That team he took to the World Series was built by Marge Schott and Pete Rose over a five year period when Pete was the Manager and Schott pretty much gave him and the GM Carte Blanche. Just an FYI

[OTM Al]

Originally Posted by JustRalph

That team he took to the World Series was built by Marge Schott and Pete Rose over a five year period when Pete was the Manager and Schott pretty much gave him and the GM Carte Blanche. Just an FYI

All true but we forgot the other important feature, he was going against LaRussa, who's managed more good teams into the ground than anyone I can think of. I'll never say Rose didn't know how to play the game either. To bad he didn't figure anything else out in his life.

[OTM Al]

Originally Posted by Marshall Bennett

Enough so to agree with my post , or not enough simply because you've never agreed with anything I've ever posted here ?

Evidently we've squabbled about something, but whatever it was, I don't recall. However, I was responding that I don't agree because I've always found certain roles in sport to be vastly overrated. The value of a manager is one. There certainly is value, but I really doubt it is anything like most would believe. How was Joe Torre such a genius in the late nineties and the rest of the time not so much? And the "pitching and defense wins" crowd drives me nuts. So if you think I have something personal against you, be assured I don't. Your just another guy on a message board that I've evidently disagreed with at some point about something. Be assured that there are people in this thread who I've disagreed with and yet very much enjoy their opinions and company.