Let me ask a general question:
Some of you that are defending Dusty, are you doing because you honestly think he's a good to great manager, is it because he gets slammed so much, or is it both? Neither?
Let me ask a general question:
Some of you that are defending Dusty, are you doing because you honestly think he's a good to great manager, is it because he gets slammed so much, or is it both? Neither?
For me, it's both.
I disliked Dusty when he got to Cincinnati. He won me over though. I think whatever deficiencies he might bring in probability as to how games are managed (which I think are often overstated on this forum), I think he makes up for in managing a clubhouse and how much his players respect him. I've always said happy employees are productive employees. It's been shown time and again through studies that workers produce more when they're happy. I believe baseball is no different in that you might not see it immediately, but players are more likely to reach their talent when they respect their employer and enjoy showing up everyday.
There are still times when I'm slightly annoyed by something he does or doesn't do, but I think the complaining is greatly out of context with the actual significance. I also get annoyed when people complain about what Dusty says in the media. He's proven that he'll say nothing negative about a player's role in the media, even if he is going to make a change. Heck, everyone complained that he said Cozart was his two-hitter and a couple of days later, lo and behold... he wasn't. Dusty doesn't air his grievances publicly. People haven't figured that out yet, though.
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
They keep going on because the responses in the other direction continue not to hear their points and to respond with platitudes like "If he's a bad manager, why does he keep getting hired?" or "Everyone else is doing it."
These are, unfortunately, neither responses to the critiques at hand nor relevant points in the same debate.
The problem is, it shouldn't have taken him 600 plate appearances to figure out that Cozart shouldn't bat near the top of the lineup.
Trying something you "wish" worked is dumb. I will come out and be blunt about it. Do what you think "will" work. Not what you hope works. Not what you wish would work. What will work.
I don't think anyone who gets sabermetrics would say to follow it blindly. Of course you need to assess the situation. I think the 6th might still be a bit too soon for a sac bunt, but in a game like that I don't have a gripe about it in the 7th or later. It is doing so earlier in the game that just seems like a poor idea.
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
Always Red (08-02-2013),Revering4Blue (08-02-2013)
The reason I come back with those arguments are because people like you continue to bash away. Look at past threads I have posted in, I stay calm, cool, and collected until the Dusty bashing starts, then imget irritated. If the bashers would just make their point then leave it alone i think most of us could live with that. That's not what happens, they keep beating the dead horse. Then, when someone makes a point on Dusty's side it is always discredited. When Dusty is fired the next manager will be bashed the same way, mostly by the same people who are never satisfied!!! I want a WS championship also, but at the end of the year 1 team wins it. As long as my team has a chance at the end and plays hard, that's all I ask for. If that doesn't happen, then the manager needs to go. I could care less if a manager uses sabermetrics, his gut feeling, or rock paper scissors. As long as my team wins!
And as I pointed out in that same thread most of his time came in the #1 spot that year and he hit .223/.262/.379 over 471 plate appearances in 2012. Cozart didn't hit in the #2 spot more than 3 days in a row in 2012 except for the first 10 days of the season and the last 10 days of the season. Dusty hit him leadoff almost the entire season with a .262 OBP.
joshua (08-02-2013)
For me it is because I honestly believe that Dusty is not a material problem for this team. My belief is that certain individuals on this board will go after the easy targets rather than look at the entire situation objectively.
If someone told you before the season that, at the 120 game mark, due to injury:
- Cueto would have given us 49 innings
- Marshall 7
- Ludwick less than one game
- Broxton 27 innings
- Hanigan 46 games
And the Reds would be in a playoff spot at this stage, would anyone expect anything more? And we think that Dusty hitting certain people 2nd is really what is hurting this team?
Always Red (08-02-2013),Big Klu (08-02-2013),dubc47834 (08-02-2013),reds44 (08-02-2013),Revering4Blue (08-02-2013),westofyou (08-02-2013)
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
Yes, I do believe that the guys Dusty hits second is really hurting this team. Is it the biggest problem? Of course not. Injuries have been. But Dusty can't do anything about that. He can easily do something about the crappy #2 guys or that terrible #4 hitter he has used for the last 8 weeks who has produced like a 5th outfielder at the plate.
joshua (08-02-2013)
wlf WV (08-02-2013)
I can't defend the #2 hitters, however one thing to think about is the Reds are leading the majors in sac bunts by #2 hitters. Just think how many times he'd take the bat out of a better hitter's hands if there was a change made there.
Regarding Phillips, I think it is somewhat unfair to go after Dusty here. We know BP isn't as bad as what he has shown in the past 2 months. What is Dusty supposed to do? Time it? If Jay were to go into one of his 4-6 week downward spirals starting today, would you advocate him being dropped in the order?
joshua (08-02-2013)
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