The Baseball Zealot

I’ve never been a proponent of instant replay in baseball.  I’ve always felt that deep down, we should stick with the human element.  Like umpire Bill Klem once said, “It ain’t nothin’ till I call it”. 

But dang, some calls the umps are making recently are making it difficult to maintain my case.  There was the incident last Tuesday with Randy Marsh making a questionable call of Bobby Keppel’s pitch.  Did it hit Brandon Inge’s uni or not?  Marsh said no. 

Now, Minnesota Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire is floating the idea of a “red flag” now in response to an incorrect call of a Joe Mauer ground rule double on Friday night (it’s not the first time he’s brought this idea up.  He suggested it after a bad call in July). 

Gardenhire’s summary of the red flag proposal:

"I’ve said all along that I want a red flag," Gardenhire said in the Star-Tribune after the Cuddyer play. "If you use it and you’re wrong, you don’t get to use it the rest of the game. If you use it and you’re right, you get your red flag back and that would save a lot of money (for ejections)."

The red flag?  Bad idea.  But worse, it’s a only a natural extension of the current implementation of instant replay and one of the reasons I was against it in the first place. We’re just headed down that road now and there’s not a lot to stop us.

I don’t blame Gardenhire.  He’s gotta be pretty pissed.  But there’s one tenet I’ve always held to.  Whether it’s baseball, business, politcs or whatever, you never make policy decisions based on one particular incident.  It might look good now in the heat of the postseason and with the emotionally charged atmosphere of an admitted bad call but it needs to hold up to the test of time.

To his credit, Gardenhire did leave himself an out:

“(the) great thing about baseball is the human element, and we always want to keep it that way. We made enough mistakes ourselves and we missed opportunities to win the game. It just goes that way."

Maybe this red flag idea will just go away. 

Posted in: Managers by The Baseball Zealot
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Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox has agreed to a one-year extension but says he’ll plan to retire after the 2010 season.

"While I have decided that 2010 will be my last season in the dugout, I want to make it clear that we will all be working as hard as ever to win another world championship," Cox said in a statement.

While this statement sounds like the typical PR cliché, there’s no doubt in my mind that Cox really wants a World Championship for the Braves.  Cox ranks fourth all-time and second among active managers in wins.  He also ranks #1 in postseason appearances among all managers with 15.  

Posted in: Managers by The Baseball Zealot
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Neither closer has had all that much success this year, neither Matt Capps, nor Brad Lidge.  Capps spit out a one run 9th inning lead, allowing back to back doubles, and then with two outs Shane Victorino lined a ball right at Andrew McCutchen, McCutchen froze, and the ball took off over his head, and gave the Phillies a one run lead.  Now it was time for Brad Lidge to protect a one run lead.  Hits by Luis Cruz & Brandon Moss, with a wild pitch in between, tied the game when Jayson Werth over ran the ball, and pinch runner Brian Bixler scored.  That brought up the kid, Andrew McCutchen.  Andrew talked with Lastings Milledge during the game, talking about what he’d do if he hit a walkoff home run, and told him he’d be like a basketball player taking the dunk to the hoop when he reached home plate.  He thought he might get the bunt sign, but when he didn’t, he focused on the job at hand and looked for a ball to hit hard.  And BANG it happened!

Which got me to thinking of managers putting their players into positions where they can achieve success.  I remember a couple of nights ago where Jim Tracy didn’t panic, he told Adam Eaton to take three pitches with the bases loaded (he walked), trailing in the game, wanting Ryan Spilborghs to bat with the bases loaded, and BANG it happened!

Then there was the opposite, which happened in last night’s Texas/Yankee game.  With nobody out in the bottom of the 9th New York trailed the Rangers 10-9 with runners on 1st & 2nd, facing Frank Francisco.  Now we all know Swisher cannot bunt, I presume Girardi knows this as well, but he had him try, popout.  And then BANG it happened!  Linedrive up the middle by Melky Cabrera, caught by Elvis Andrus for a game ending DP.

I’m reminded of what Stacey King always says regarding Da Bulls, KYP, Know Your Personnel!  Don’t have players do what they can’t!

Posted in: Managers, Prospects, Rookie Watch by Teddy Ballgame
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Cubs minor league manager and uber-legend Ryne Sandberg came out publicly in support of re-instating Pete Rose back into baseball. He went as far as to say he wouldn’t mind having him on his coaching staff. 

I know Sandberg is just talking out his –ss but who knows?  And with rumors of re-instatement surfacing once again, Pete might remember those words. 

And unless things change for Sandberg, that would make Pete Rose a Cub.

Generally, I’m favor of re-instating Pete Rose back into baseball but I’m not THAT ready.

Posted in: Managers by The Baseball Zealot
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MLive.com should get an journalistic award or something for managing to use “Jim Leyland” and “Sexy” in the same headline.

The article was in reference to Leyland taking off his shirt to support Tiger OF Curtis Granderson’s charity event called “Passport to the Wines of the World” which supports his Grand Kids Foundation.

Midway through the event was when things got a tad seedy.

(Comedian Jeff) Dye mentioned that Jackson, like Perry, had tattoos. Jackson’s tattoos could only be revealed by removing his shirt, so he asked his manager’s permission.

"You take your shirt off, I’ll take mine off," Leyland yelled from the middle of the room.

Jackson obliged by removing his shirt and showing off his tattooed back and arms. He then demanded his manager keep his word. Leyland came up to the stage and said he would remove his shirt as long as the picture did not end up on TV or in the newspaper.

Thank goodness for that.

Posted in: Good guys, Managers by The Baseball Zealot
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As a Cub fan, one would expect that I would have a dislike for Ozzie Guillen.  Not necessarily so.  Oh sometimes I can’t stand him.  Other times, he does things that make me stand up and applaud.

Then there are these times when he talks to the press and I just smile:

"I’m always bored," Guillen said. "I’m not playing. You’re sitting around for seven innings. My game starts in the sixth [or] seventh inning. That’s when you see me look around the stands a lot, because you play this game for that many years and coach it and be there for that many years and you’re just managing, it’s a boring game all day for me."

I may not like exactly what Ozzie said but I appreciate the fact that he speaks his mind.  Twenty-nine other managers talk to the press and toe the company line and use pre-approved clichés.  When the media puts a mike in front of Ozzie, he makes baseball a little more interesting for us.

Oh no doubt you’ll here those in the media respond to this.  They’ll recoil in horror and say, “How could he say such a thing?”. 

Let’s face it… to some degree, he’s saying what a lot of the other managers are probably thinking. 

Posted in: Managers by The Baseball Zealot
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Word is out that Don Zimmer is recovering from a stroke he had last month.  He is doing much better and actually hopes to join the Rays for spring training this year. 

The game of baseball has taken Zim all around the majors wearing different hats.  Even after he left the Cubs in 1991, has always remained one of my favorite men in baseball and I sincerely hope he gets back soon,

Posted in: Managers by The Baseball Zealot
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The Seattle Mariners named former White Sox catcher Don Wakamatsu their new skipper. Wakamatsu becomes the first Asian-American manager in major league baseball history. He is a fourth generation Japanese-American, born in Hood River, OR, to a Japanese-American father and an Irish-American mother.

Don last managed in 2000, when he guided the Erie SeaWolves of the Eastern League to a 12th place finish, with a record of 47-94, which would be seven losses better than the 2008 Mariners 101 losses, and there is no way they could finish in 12th place. Wakamatsu’s bloodlines might give him an edge in managing Seattle’s Japanese players, Ichiro Suzuki & Kenji Johjima, but more important than that are his baseball bloodlines. He’s paid his dues, is a baseball man, seems qualified for the job, and was on the Texas Rangers short list when the Rangers went with Ron Washington.

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish him, Gokouun o inorimasu, which is Good Luck in Japanese.

Posted in: Japanese Baseball, Managers by Teddy Ballgame
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Could Lloyd McClendon be on his way to managing the Mariners?  It’s a possibility. 

Most remember Lloyd as the manager of the Bucs earlier this decade (2001-2005) but as for me, I remember him for his couple of years with the Cubs as a OF/1B.  He even managed a few games at 3B.

He played eight seasons in the majors and of the 35 career homers he hit, 12 were in 1989 with the Cubs. 

Mac didn’t exactly wow them in his five-year stint with Pittsburgh (336-446 record).  But considering the team he was given, I thought he was an ok manager.

Posted in: Managers by The Baseball Zealot
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Does anyone think the firing of Ned Yost as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers is a wise move? 

I actually had predicted before the season that Yost would be the first NL manager fired in 2008.  I wasn’t correct of course.  And now that he has been fired, I think it’s a bad move. 

The Brewers are eight games back in the NL Central with little chance to catch the Cubs.  They ARE tied for the lead in the Wild Card race with the Philadelphia Phillies.  They are right in the midst of the playoff race and by firing their manager, the Brewers have introduced an element of extreme chaos. 

If they had a manager-in-waiting with extreme skill and smarts like a Jim Leyland type or perhaps a uber-charismatic-type, maybe I’d understand.  But they’re bringing in Dale Sveum as an interim manager who will in fact finish the season.  Sveum has no managerial experince and boy, he has his work cut out for him. 

General Manager Doug Melvin didn’t seem to sure of his decision either:

"I’m not sure I have all the answers, and I’m not sure this is the right one, either," general manager Doug Melvin said. "But I’m going to turn the managerial position over to Dale Sveum at this time and hope that we can kick-start a ballclub that we feel has a lot of talent."

But who knows?  Sveum may surprise us.  He has already saying things like, "it’s not for two weeks, it’s for six weeks", referring to his interim tenure.

Melvin’s decision seems to have befuddled the baseball pundits but a cursory look at a couple Brewers blogs seem to indicate that many fans of the team welcome the move though they admit it is a bit late in the season. 

A couple other notes worth mentioning:  Bench coach Ted Simmons will be re-assigned.  In his place, Sveum named Robin Yount. 

Posted in: Managers by The Baseball Zealot
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