Lou PiniellaI believe that managers and coaches make a big difference in professional sports today.
2001: Mariners 116 Wins / 46 Losses (.716)
2002: Mariners 93 Wins / 69 Losses (.574)
2003: Devil Rays 63 Wins / 99 Losses (.389)
What difference did Piniella make for the Devil Rays?
Othe examples:
- Joe Torre had a .471 winning percentage as manager before joining the Yankees.
- Lou Piniella led the Reds to 5th place with nearly the identical team which won the World Series a year before.
- Sparky Anderson finished last with the Tigers.
- Tony LaRussa finished first as well as last with the A's during the 90's.
Despite changing from Tom Robson to Chris Chambliss as hitting coach, the Reds are once again among the league leaders in strike outs.
When do you blame a manager/coach for success or failure and when the team or individuals? My impression is that a lot of fans are comfortable to blame the manager when they have a personal agenda against him, as it is so hard to show evidence that a team would actually be better with someone else. This years edition of the Reds proves that they are not better than last season, despite a new skipper.
Which good baseball man would play Castro (and his .280 OBP) continously instead of Freel, Larson, Lopez or whoever and then even bat him second? With Miley the worst position player on the team has already 250 at bats!? How can you justify that with better options at hand?Miley is fine if the Reds want to go the "good baseball man" route ...
