Trembley talks about Datz
Dave Trembley was managing at Double-A Bowie in 2003 when his pitching coach, Dave Schuler, offered up a suggestion.
"If you ever get to the big leagues and manage the Orioles," Schuler said, "I've got a great guy for you who would be your bench coach."
That's the first time Trembley had heard about Jeff Datz.
"I've been keeping track of him ever since," Trembley said.
Datz was hired as bench coach today after Trembley narrowed down a list that began with around 40 names on it, including a few people inside the organization.
"I spoke to many, many, many people on the telephone," Trembley said. "I did a lot of background work, I talked to a lot of people, talked to managers for some recommendations. I talked to some managers in the AL Central about Jeff.
"He has experience. And it's kind of unheard of that a guy would be with an organization as long as he's been with the Indians, 19 years. I think that speaks highly about what kind of person he is, his loyalty. He's a hard worker, a very meticulous instructor. He's a very, very, very good game tactician. And he has a background in catching and has run spring training, both at the major league and minor league levels. He's going to be in (Matt) Wieters' back pocket, along with doing a whole lot of other things.
"I think you're really going to be impressed with his approach and how he goes about things. He's very loyal, very humble. You're going to be very impressed by him."
Trembley contacted Datz within three days of arriving home after the season ended. "And
we kept following it up and following it up," Trembley said.
"It's been a real long process. I spent a lot of time on the phone and returned a lot of calls. A lot of good names inside the organization and outside the organization. I spoke to Andy MacPhail numerous times. I spoke to a lot of people from other organzations about his work ethic, the ability to teach, his communication skills with the front office, coaches and players. I'm pleased we got a very high-quality guy.
"You try to get the best available fit for what your needs are. I think you have to understand what the needs are from the standpoint of the team and the organization. You do the best you can, do your homework. And when a guy has been with an organization for 19 years, that ought to answer a lot of questions about what you're looking for. He will be a very, very, very positive addition to our staff, not only for our other coaches, but more importantly, for our players. We'll all benefit having him on our staff."
If he becomes real popular in this town, someone will have to print up the "Datz What I'm Talking About" T-shirts. I get the first one.
And if he's eventuallly replaced..."Datz All Folks."
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Categories (click for archive)Roch Kubatko | Roch Kubatko Orioles |
Datz enough Roch.
Roch, remember this movie?
"Datz the Fact, Jack"
(repeated by platoon)
Trembley plays Warren Oates (Sgt. Hulka)
Albers is John Candy
McPhail is John Larroquette
(resigned) Bedard plays Francis ("Psycho")
Any suggestions on Murray or Ramis' characters? I'm liking Jones as Murray, Wieters as Ramis...
Dats quite thorough Trembley.... & dats all I have to say about dats....
I hope Dats doesn't unpack or buy a house here. His man DT could be gone by Aug. Mr. Dats, think short term rental
Sounds like a signability pick.
Actually, I sure hope Trembley's right about good in game tactics. We really need some around here.
So based on the last post, 7 guys have come off the 40 man. That's a good start.
Think I haven't heard all this before? Dats simply not funny....
So Miller was on the 40 man, but management never bothered to call him up in September? That's a smart approach. Use a roster spot on a guy you are not going to include on the roster!
Is this part of the "plan"?
LOL
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Are you done for today? - Roch
I just saw Datz's picture on the last post. I can't believe we hired Master Blaster from Mad Max - Beyond the Thunderdome for our bench coach: http://www.prisonflicks.com/images/btBlaster.jpg
I guess that makes Trembley the little guy who sat on his shoulders.
"Two men enter, one man leaves, two men enter, one man leaves..."
Geez Brummie just give it a break...just once.
As for Datz, it is just another reason why I really like Trembley. He knew exactly what he wanted and he worked hard to get it. Superb.
Dats waht I was hoping for...experience. Good move, DT.
Brummie, can't you please please just give it a rest. You waste alot of time with all the negatives, just negatives. Did something happen to you personally that made you so miseable?
See Roch, I would have expected you to go with the "Datz What She Said" t-shirt!
Now, is there any chance that Trembley switches T-Bone and Samuel for next season? Being that my seats are down in the hot corner area I'm not really sure I can handle another season of Juan sending the guys he shouldn't and holding the ones he should.
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Yeah, not sure how that one got past me. The rest of the coaches are staying put. - Roch
We need Ann Marie to weigh in on this signing. Hope she says, "Datz the way, uh huh uh huh, I like it, uh huh uh huh." Calling Ann Marie...
Roch - Here is an instructive and true story for you. Really. I once managed a small office of professionals in San Francisco. Great time. Anyway, I was a bit new to managing managers. One of the new managers who reported to me was a bit... odd. She brought in huge pictures of Ralph Samson, and other UVa stars and tacked them haphazardly on the walls around her area of the office. It looked like a 12 year old girl's room in the middle of a very professional (client visible) consulting office in a posh office building overlooking the Bay and the Bay Bridge. I knew the posters had to go.
But being new to senior management, and trying to be nice, and not too autocratic, I looked for a way around a direct confrontation with the woman. So I started to set up a group or committee who could represent all of us in the office and recommend some office decor guidelines for everyone to follow. My plan was to get a couple of junior consultants, a senior consultant or two, and maybe a couple of managers to hammer out some reasonable rules for what kinds of decorations were appropriate in the client visible workspaces. I figured whatever the group came up with, it would surely rule out cheap, trashy and very large posters hung badly and looking awful.
So I spent a few meetings trying to choose the group and get them started, etc. etc. After extensive discussions before even the first group meeting, I began to feel we were getting somewhere. Slowly maybe, but some progress might be happening.
My college-aged brother was interning with us that summer, so I happened to have a guy who knew me very well and was working down in the trenches and might know the "word on the street" or have some sound advice for me. His desk was pretty near the Ralph Samson shrine. So I went up to my brother one day, as this was all going on to ask him how he thought my little committee was progressing and if he thought I was clever to have finessed the whole issue so tactfully.
Here is what he told me: "Mark, you are wasting a bunch of time and [annoying] a bunch of smart people who don't want or need to fool around with committees. Just tell Brenda to take the damn posters off the wall! You're the boss, just do it."
Roch, you have had the patience of a saint. But it has gone way beyond any reasonable definition of "long enough". The latest posts on this entry of yours are all the evidence you are ever going to need. Quit trying to finesse or educate or rehabilitate or rein in the trolls. Take some advice from my brother:
"Roch", [he would say] "You are wasting a bunch of your precious time and talent and causing continued aggravation to your smart and loyal readers. Just tell the trolls they are finished. You are the boss, just do it!"
I hope that helps. I appreciate your efforts to control them without resorting to the ultimate effective solution. But enough is enough and we reached enough in May. Just my opinion and advice. It is, of course, your show. Good luck.
Hey Brothaaa...Mora didn't get his option picked up today...are we close to "story time"? Just sayin'
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I mentioned it in the previous entry. What else is there to write? Did anything think they were picking it up? I think we've done all our farewells. - Roch
I just read every entry on the 'firedatz' website. It's one guy ranting and raving about a few base running mistakes, a couple of which sounded to me like it was the manager or the players mistake. They were also dated in 2006. So yeah, don't read into that. I'm sure a few base running mistakes four years ago means absolutely ZIPPY to DT, AM or anyone else in the O's organization.
ONE, I repeat, ONE idiotic fan posted a free blog on the internet because his team sucked and he felt the need to bash his organization.
Hmmm......That sounds A LOT like a couple of people I know on here!!
OK, so I've looked over this supposed "website" devoted to firing Jeff Datz when he was with the Indians. It's not a website... it's some goofball's blog from over three years ago. I guess he had nothing better to do than to zero in on all the "mistakes" Datz made as a third base coach. Show me one third base coach who doesn't take some heat from time to time.
It's not even relevant because Datz has been hired as a bench coach. And the goofball who posted all the criticism got a grand total of one reader comment which consisted of the following...
"I guess all you clowns beaten up Jeff Datz all think you could do a better job.......right? Wrong! That is why you are at your PC's complaining because you couldn't play ball and make it to the big leagues like he did. None playing baseball, back seat driven people complaining and never played the game. I played with Jeff for many years and he is a class act, a great guy, and a great coach. Do you want some cheese to go with your wine???
CRHS #44"
But hey, for some people, if it's in print somewhere it must be true.
Listen, I'm not going to sit at my keyboard and try to convince anyone that signing Jeff Datz is a stroke of genius, but let's look at the facts. We have a man who has spent nearly his entire life in the game. He's a former catcher, the one position that seems best represented by managers and coaches throughout professional baseball. And Jeff Datz was hand selected by the man who will be working most closely with him. What more is the organization supposed to do?
Then again, there's no pleasing some people. If you're going to criticize a move, provide some real evidence backing your argument. Otherwise you have zero credibility.
Welcome aboard Jeff Datz and good luck. Roch, maybe some day you can ask him about getting his first big-league hit off Gregg Olson during an Orioles-Tigers game in September 1989.
I just spit coffee on my computer screen at the master blaster reference! Great pull Mason.
Roch,
It would be great that Datz could help Rhyness Hughes. Se his stats below. Oh by the way, the below is the correct stats on Hughes, not what the O's post.
Rhynes Hughes
Montgomery Sou 25 TB AA 15 46
Norfolk IL 25 BAL AAA 10 33
Durham IL 25 TB AAA 7 26
33 hrs 105 hrs
Datz = Beaker from the Muppets. It's a tossup who has the better vocabulary. :)
Sorry V Putin, those are erroneous stats.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hughes008joh
You can find his real stats there and trust me he didn't play 50 games with Norfolk nor did he hit 10 HR's there. I did see the site you went to for those stats. Still he knocked 25 HR's in 3 stops last year.
Once again, NY:
- overpaid
- overpriced
- overrated
If Mr. Datz is willing to say "Dave, have you thought this pitching change through", he'll be my new best friend.
Datz what I'm talkin' about!
I hope Datz a good choice.
Tracy has the best post on this entry:
Tracy said:
See Roch, I would have expected you to go with the "Datz What She Said" t-shirt!
Noone is going to top that.
The worst post on this entry is quite obvious.
"Datz all folks"...Roch, you kill me! BTW, are you feeling 100% yet?
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I'm definitely in the upper 90s, and Datz good enough for me. Thanks for asking. - Roch
Roch,
Maybe you overlooked it on purpose because of all the bad "Datz" jokes everyone is making, but wouldn't a better title to this entry be:
"Datz what Trembley is talking about"
Thanks again for all the great info, you Roch!! (pun intended)
I just saw that Datz actually had a fan club in Cleveland called "Datz Disciples". Yep, he seems to have been really hated there. I mean, usually fans start up a fan club for guys they think should be fired right? I mean thats the only logical explanation.
D-
They started a fan club for the BENCH COACH? Datz good enough for me!
As an aside, we are going to get a ton of mileage out of his last name. Datz for sure!
Mason, Master Blaster! "Datz the Law: Two men enter, one man leaves."
Brummie, Complaining about how the Orioles used their roster a month ago? Not only are your comments as pointless and relentlessly negative as ever, but this time they're way stale. Couldn't you like take a vacation from blogging till, oh say, next spring? I guarantee you'd win a lot of friends around here that way! And even better, you won't have people coming through cyber space to punch your lights out! LOL
Datz seems to be picked just to coach Wieters. Wow. They are going all out to make sure this kid turns out to be the franchise.
What odds would you give that they give the firstbase job to Aubrey and let Snyder get more time in AAA then move him up after a couple of months?
No way I would block Snyder or Bell long term. Really what in the FA market is worth picking up for more than one season?
What odds would you give Sarfate being on the team next year? 25%?
Gurgi said:
Datz seems to be picked just to coach Wieters. Wow. They are going all out to make sure this kid turns out to be the franchise.
Gurgi,
Did you learn to reason and interpret cause and effect on your own, or are you taking a logic course, offered on-line, by Whatsamatta U. in our sister city of Frost Bite Falls, MN?
Why don't you take another run at figuring out why the O's picked a former catcher. Don't forget that former catcher's often become managers because of their perspective on the game from the position they played and the knowledge of pitching acquired while catching.
Datz wasn't chosen just to be Matt's caddy, but we should all hope the O's are "going all out" in many ways to help Wieters fulfill his potential.
good suggestion...Schuler was also Trembly's best pitching coach ever...where is that guy now? Get the three together!