An MLB Manager has almost no tactical/strategic impact to the game. The most important thing he needs to do is to know when to get a pitcher to start warming up.
The rest of the stuff hit&run, pinch hitting, stealing, etc either gets washed out in the long run or is so blindingly obvious that any moron would make the same decision. This isn't football, folks. Baseball has the least individual choices of any of the big 4. Most of the time the play to be made is obvious and the results are delivered by a roll of the dice. On the other hand, keeping a bunch of overpaid man-children focused for 8 months is a tough leadership job, and that's 90% of what Francona needed to do. I also think that's the part that wore him out this year. On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 7:51 AM, Tom Salemi <[email protected]> wrote: > 1) Could be. Kirk Gibson apparently has some extensive system in AZ where > he has Pitching and Hitting "coordinators" like Football. Not sure what > their roles might be. But the roles your describing sound a lot like the > manager and bench coach roles most teams employ today. I don't know whether > Francona fit the leadership or tactician role but he definitely seemed to > lean heavily on the bench coaches. He lost Brad Mills a couple of years ago > and then John Farrell. I'm sure they helped him a great dael. > > 2) No doubt. Still, the Patriots remain somewhat compelling because they > have an identity, a narrative. The sox don't have unless you count, "we'll > spend a lot of money." For a time there seemed to be a Red Sox way - idiots, > dirt dogs, even finding Ortiz on the trash heap. There seemed to be > "something" that made me at least think that we were doing something > special. But the Lackey and Crawford signings - perhaps due to their sheer > size - took away from that a bit. > > On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 10:33 AM, William Marino <[email protected]>wrote: > >> **1) **not sure if anyone read the WSJ article about the Rays >> having 12 coaches, but it got me thinking. I wonder if the modern-day >> manager’s job is actually two jobs. The first guy is the day-to-day >> tactician. The second guy is responsible for overall leadership of the >> clubhouse. I think it might be too much to ask a guy to be a good tactician >> and a good leader. Clubs might actually need the equivalent of a CEO and a >> COO. I don’t think a GM fits the second part because he is too aligned with >> management in bargaining.**** >> >> ** ** >> >> **2) **I was reading “The Giving Tree” to my 4-year old daughter >> last night, and it got me thinking about the conversations on this board >> about not connecting with this team. If you don’t know the story, the >> lesson is to be grateful for what you have, and not always strive for more. >> Could the lack of connection many of us seem to be feeling with this club >> actually be because the lack of a championship for all our years was >> actually something we could pine for, and now that we’ve won a couple, it is >> just not as fun to watch them any more? The diminished connection I feel >> for this club has spanned several rosters. I don’t think it is just the >> players.**** >> >> ** ** >> >> ** ** >> >> ** ** >> >> P.S. where has John been in all these discussions? It was fun to watch >> John and Ray disagree. I learned from that.**** >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Red Sox Citizens" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Red Sox Citizens" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en. > -- Author of Confessions of a Good Mother<http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Good-Mother-ebook/dp/B005LSR57W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315785606&sr=8-1>: The story of an assassin and mom who struggles with life balance issues. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Red Sox Citizens" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/redsoxcitizens?hl=en.
