A break, in more ways than one
I guess some people believe that a major league manager really has a major impact on wins and losses, but if history means anything, that myth has been busted multiple times.
I'd really hoped the Nationals would go against the grain on Manny Acta, and recognize that what's happened this year has been largely out of his hands.
But, they didn't, and now we move on.
Let me say this: Jim Riggleman is a rock solid baseball man who I doubt will do many things differently from Manny. Jim's got a lot of experience in the dugout with sub-.500 ballclubs, and this assignment won't do anything to improve that career winning percentage. I'll be shocked if he gets any more than the rest of the season to turn things around when they introduce him to the media later this morning, but I've been wrong before.
Jim's a local guy, too, from Rockville originally, so he'll carry that distinction into the job.
The Nationals are in a serious state of transition at the moment. I look for other front office changes in the fall when some other contracts expire. The mess left behind by Jim Bowden can't be scrubbed away in just a few months.
Having said that, there's always the future. It's remarkable to me how many fans believe that this is the only season that matters. Plenty of other clubs have fallen on their faces only to rise again to championship-caliber heights within 5 seasons, more or less. The Nationals have a solid collection of young arms coming along, and as anyone in the game will tell you, winning starts with starting pitching.
Manny Acta made a lot of friends in Washington; he'll survive to manage again in the big leagues.
This is just a bump in the road.
I'll have more later.
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Categories (click for archive)Phil Wood |
"Having said that, there's always the future. It's remarkable to me how many fans believe that this is the only season that matters. Plenty of other clubs have fallen on their faces only to rise again to championship-calibre heights within 5 seasons, more or less."
I agree with everything you wrote above, but what you wrote does not translate into "fans should (or will) attend Nat games (at major league prices plus) even if the the current product is awful." "Go to a Nats game today because 5 years from now they may be good" is something that Stan Kasten can say with a straight face. But can you? ================== This is what I say: I love baseball. I go to high school games in my town. I'll stop and watch Little league games. I watch girl's fast pitch softball. I take my girls (14 & 19) to Nats' games and we frequently sit in the $5 seats, and have a great time. Baseball is what you make it, Bob, and the prices at Nats' Park are pretty much in line with other big league stadiums. Please show me a team that cut prices considerably when times were tough, and teams that simply don't raise prices don't count. It's funny, people will go to NFL games and watch 5-11 teams and can't wait to run back for more. The Wizards went 19-63 last year, a lower winning percentage than the '62 Mets, and there's no sign of the moral outrage there is about the Nationals. Why are the Nats held to a higher standard? Baseball tickets will always be cheaper than the NBA. If you've got an explanation, I'd be interested in hearing it.
Phil,
Did Brandon King sign?? Doy ou know where he is at?
Bob in fairfax said: "'Go to a Nats game today because 5 years from now they may be good' is something that Stan Kasten can say with a straight face. But can you?"
I can say that with a straight face. There is something to be said for supporting your team and not being a bandwagon fan. I am a proud Orioles fan, that has been to MORE games the last few years while we have stunk then I ever had. Its great to watch the young players develop and know that you are seeing these guys from their humble beginnings. I would feel ashamed of myself if I was a bandwagon fan who only cares about the team enough to show up when they win.
I will miss Acta personally. I thought he was a wonderful person, but as he himself has said, managers are 'hired to be fired'. I know he tried, but ALL of the Nationals need to take a good, hard, long look at themselves and ask "Am I doing my best?" Joe Beimel said it more eloquently several days ago than I did. Manny was a casualty of this season, and I wish both him and Mr. Riggleman all the best. Manny will be snapped up by another organization; he need not worry. I also think it's time for the owners to release some purse and wallet strings and PAY to get the talent we need in here to fill in the weak spots. It's going to be an interesting second half, that's for sure. Manny- thank you for some great times!
o.k. Lets project where Manny will manage next. New York Mets? They are under performing because of all the injuries but hey its New York. How many of you see Manny going there? How about the Yankees? If they don't get better Giradi is out. Maybe the Braves when Bobby Cox retires. He will be going out with the record for being tossed. Manny comes in with the record for never getting excited. I am thinking that all of major league baseball saw Manny for two and a half years. I don't think he should plan on managing any time soon.
Phil,
Did Brandon King sign?? Doy ou know where he is at?
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Or you can just not answer, thanks Phil! ============== Brandon signed late last month and has been assigned to the GCL Nationals.The scout who signed him, Alex Smith, is someone I've known and spoken with many times, and he's quite high on King. 27th round picks are rarely given big bonuses, but King apparently got closer to 12-15 round money in order to forego college. Just curious if you're a WVa guy - my dad's side of the family is from Charleston, and I have many relatives still there.
Phil,
Can you educate me? What do you see in Manny in manager that I'm not seeing?
OK, I get that he is level headed, and a good teacher. Are those unique skill sets? When I am watching games, and watching players make mistakes - mental mistakes, not physical errors - I see a team that is frequently not prepared for that day's game; wasn't that Manny's primary responsibility?
I'm not arguing that Manny ruined a playoff contender, but surely this team should be better than 25-61. He didn't have the players to win the division, but I don't think that he maximized the situation here in DC. ============= I guess it depends upon what you were looking for. If you talk to 100 veteran baseball people, you'll get a lot of different answers as to what constitutes game preparation. The one constant is, the better the player, the better equipped he is to handle the different situations. Lots of younger players make mistakes that they could've gotten away with in the minors, but they're magnified in the big leagues. The group of players Manny was saddled with the past few years were largely ill-equipped to play in the majors every day. It's easy to say, well, get rid of them and bring in somebody else, and they're tried to do that, but there's a limit as to how many changes you can make. I'll say this - I heard from scout after scout who thought Manny worked "miracles" to win 59 games with the bunch he had last year. I hate to keep using this comparison, but based on the idea of game preparation being a manager's first responsibility, how could managers like Frank Robinson, Casey Stengel, Cal Ripken Senior, Earl Weaver (I could go on and on) have horrible seasons like they did during their careers? Yes, they should be better than 25-61. Even a mediocre bullpen effort in April & May would have netted them another 10 wins, and the inability to hit a fly ball with a man on third and less than 2 out, probably cost them another 4-5 wins. That's baseball. The manager can't swing the bat or pitch the ball. I agree completely with Ryan Zimmerman on this: managing a baseball team is terribly overrated. You need to have one, yes, but his impact on ultimately winning or losing is relatively small.
Jim Bowden -- gone.
Manny Acta -- gone.
Stan Kasten must be next to go, since he hired and/or continued with both these men. ============ Well, let's agree that he was there when Manny was hired, but Bowden had already ingratiated himself with ownership, pre-Stan. He may never say so publicly, but I assure you, he wanted Bowden out from day one. Once Jim was gone, Stan finally had some autonomy, but it's going to take some time to clean up the Bowden mess.
According to MILB.com, Brandon King has made 1 start for the Nats team in the Gulf Coast League - Rookie ball.
The line: 2 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 5 K's.
hey Andrew -- Don't bother asking Phil any questions. He won't give you the courtesy of a reply. About a month ago, I sent him an email to the Examiner to give him a heads-up on a couple of Washington Senators books about Ted Williams and the '69 team, which were just published. To this day, he has never given me a reply. I have often seen him on MASN on Tom Davis' baseball show at 11am on Saturdays, and he constantly complains about message boards and the people who post on them. In other words, he sees himself above the level of fans like you and me. IMO, he's just another member of the kiss-ass Washington media who were afraid to criticize Manny Acta, along with Rob Dibble, Bob Carpenter, Ray Knight, Johnny Holiday and the rest of them. ================ Howard, I'll offer an apology. I received several different e-mails about the books you mentioned, and thought I'd answered every one, but I guess not. My gripe about message boards is the lack of accountability. Most folks won't put their names on their posts, so why should anyone pay that much attention to them? Gee, am I the only person who's ever complained about them? Obviously, your mind is made up about me, but since you don't actually know me, neither one of us will lose any sleep about it.
Jason: Call me a bandwagon fan if you like, I am more inclined to go to games when the product is good and go to less games when it is bad. A good product does not mean that it is a pennant winning team either - the 2005 and 2006 Nats were much more interesting to watch they then the 2008 or 2009 versions.
I suggest that you -- as a true fan of a team, -- should embrace us (bandwagon) fans because without us, the Lerners of the world would never have to put a good team on the field. Why would they? ============== Not many owners have found instant success just 2 1/2 years into ownership. A few have, certainly, but very few. Isn't it amazing, Bob, how harsh people are on the baseball team, but not on the other teams in town? Oh sure, there's some criticism of the other clubs when they lose, but nothing close to the hammering the Nationals get. Perhaps someone can explain why that's the case.
I am nauseated by Manny's firing. I remember the Washington Post video of his triumphant return to the Dominican after being signed. It showed the house where he grew up - the poverty he overcame. He is such a solid baseball man, and such a quiet leader, like Torre. He is not responsible for this debacle. We thought we were getting Tyson's Corner. What we got was Landover Mall. === Clever comparison, and I don't disagree. Here was a chance for the club to break the mold of "club loses, fire manager" that has permeated the game for so long. The people inside the game - executives, scouts - know all they need to know about Acta - he's already receiving feelers, from what I'm told. I hope he gets the opportunity to get a nice greeting when he comes back to town in another uniform.