Bryan 10/7/2003
I'm
not sold on Florida's manager (what's his name? Jack McKeon or something? I
know he's the guy that they "pulled off the tractor in North
Carolina." That's getting to be about as cliched
as calling Michael Lewis the "beer man."). As I've mentioned before,
I certainly don't consider myself smart enough to question managers, or to the
extent that I am, I'm not going to let it affect my pick, but still, let's talk
about learning from mistakes. In game 1, he brings in Willis to face Bonds late
in the game. Bonds is retired. Great- mission accomplished. But then, he
inexplicably leaves him in to face two straight right handers...his
game 4 starter. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I'm pretty sure
Alfonzo rocked him; I don't think the results were disastrous, but San
Francisco certainly won that game. Now, here we are in game 4, and Willis is
clearly running out of gas (which I can't imagine had anything to do with
pitching in game 1). He retires Bonds albeit via a sacrifice fly, but hey, 1
out, you've still got a 5-2 lead, now Alfonzo and Santiago are coming up, solid
start for the kid, time to go to the bullpen, right? Nah, why not let him face
the right-hander, Alfonzo? Oops, two run double. Hmmm...that made a lot of
sense. I know this guy's usually discussed with quite a bit of reverence, but
it is true that this is his first time leading a team to the postseason,
correct? And he's 72 (I'm quite sure of that; still, I think the game
announcers should mention it a few more times each broadcast), so I'm guessing
he's had a few chances before this. And who's the manager of the Cubs again?
I'm sticking with my pick, but just something else to consider.
Asher
10/7/2003
Jack McKeon, aka "trader Jack"
because back in the days before the big fire sales occurred every year with the
teams barely out of contention, he essentially liquidated the San Diego Padres.
In 1990, he traded Sandy Alomar Jr. to Cleveland, who
became rookie of the year. In 1991, he sent RoAlomar
and JoCarter to the Blue Jays in exchange for Tony
Fernandez and Fred McGriff. The Blue Jays won
consecutive world series. In 1993, he traded McGriff to
the braves (1995 champs) and Sheffield to the Marlins (1997 champs). The
Padres got nothing for years. The Padres had quite a minor league system
developing young players (both Alomars, Santiago,
Andy Benes, Andy Ashby) and they came out of it
clinging to Tony Gwynn. His managerial career is
funny because its three different 2 to 4 years stints with several clubs, which
is not a successful indicator. He became soley the GM
for the Padres in 1991, and his on the field "prowess" translated
into the front office.