The Managers

Matt Bruce

As various teams chose new managers, this was a good week to be a former player. It was a bad week to run a sports broadcasting network, since the pool of photogenic ex-jocks is light on intelligent analysis. It was an ugly week to be a Cincinnati Reds fan, though the team that survived Ray Knight's managerial tenure will recover from this new chapter at some point.

We start in the Queen City, where Bob Boone gets a second chance after his lackluster Kansas City years. Given that his tenure fell between Hal McRae and Tony Muser, we can safely say he was neither the first nor the last ex-jock to run the Royals into the ground. Indeed, despite his double-edge reputation as some sort of mad proto-genius, he may not have been the real problem. Then again, as they say, if you're not part of the solution...

Let me plug Baseball-Reference.com for the second week in a row. This site provides for free the historical record for which many reference books charge $50-60, and (as a non-profit venture) without any ads. Anyway, we learn from this site that in 1995, Boone's first year, the Royals were the second-best team in their division, though "best" might not be the word to associate with a 70-74 record.

If you want to know where that team's problems lay, look who led the club in OPS that year: 36-year-old Gary Gaetti, at .261/.329/.518. Wally Joyner put up Mark Grace numbers (.310/.394/.447) at age 33 but nobody else knew how to draw a walk. With Tom Goodwin and Vince Coleman in the same outfield, it's little wonder that Boone focused so much on the tricks that get base runners home and completely forgot that they have to reach base to begin with.

To make matters worse, this was not a young club. Five regulars were 30 or older, counting Keith Lockhart (who took over second base after Chico Lind called it quits). Of the youngsters, Brent Mayne posted a .648 OPS, Goodwin swiped 50 bases with a .346 on-base percentage, above average for him. Reigning rookie of the year Bob Hamelin hit .168/.278/.312 (at least he knew how to draw a walk) and was soon out of baseball.

Jon Nunnally was 23 that year. He batted .244/.357/.472 in 119 games, not great but certainly promising for his age. Can anyone tell me where he is now? Is the man who made Nunnally and Johnny Damon what they are today really the one we should trust with Sean Casey and Dmitri Young?

The Reds have arguably the deepest pool of outfield prospects in baseball. Ben Broussard, Austin Kearns, Jackson Melian, Alex Diaz, and Mike Frank are just a few of the names for you to look up now and remember later. Keep tabs on which ones make it to Cincinnati in Boone's tenure and which ones are later maligned for failing to live up to their potential.

At least the Reds still have players with potential. In Pittsburgh, the prevailing wisdom is that Jason Kendall won't be a Pirate much longer. If they let him go, he'd be either the most underrated free agent signing or best steal in trade in several years. You've read about how good he is plenty of times, but you probably didn't know he's still just 26 years old, same age as Warren Morris.

With the 25-year-old Alex Ramirez already sent to Japan (you've heard about punitive demotions, but is this a punitive expatriation?), Pittsburgh will build around Brian Giles, Morris, and (assuming the Pat Meares mystique rubs off someday) shortstop Enrique Wilson. There to supervise it all will be Lloyd McClendon, a mediocre ex-player now getting his first chance to manage.

McClendon is supposed to be amazingly personable. In the best case, this makes him Dusty Baker without the arm slagging. At least, with nobody in the rotation older than 28, Kris Benson and company have to hope McClendon knows what a bullpen is. Either way, he'll also be Dusty Baker without Barry Bonds. Expect a few .500 finishes, nothing more.

On the opposite end of Pennsylvania, and of any good stress test, is Larry Bowa. If McClendon is Dusty Baker then Bowa is Terry Collins. For those who don't remember his first managerial tenure, Bowa led the San Diego Padres to shocking depths of badness in 1987-88. That team was comparable to these Phillies on offense, with a few stars but a few positional holes.

As is often the case, pitching makes all the difference. Led by Eric Show and Ed Whitson, those Padres had a trio of 23-year-olds (Jimmy Jones, Mark Grant, Eric Nolte) whose careers amounted to almost nothing. These Phillies now have the second most promising young staff in the National League (behind, ironically, the Padres). Check up on Bruce Chen and Randy Wolff and forget about the pep talks: Pitch counts will make or break the Bowa regime.

Two of the three remaining new guys come straight from the broadcast booth. I've heard Buck Martinez a lot but for the life of me can't remember anything he ever said. This comes in stark contrast to Joe Morgan, who combines occasional brilliance with breathtaking stupidity. Morgan deserves a shot at managing soon, if he wants it. For the surprisingly talented Blue Jays, Martinez is a better choice: He won't work miracles but he won't have to, and he certainly won't break things.

Like Martinez, Bob Brenly is best defined in contrast to the A-team announcer at his network. He and Thom Brennaman made for network TV's most underrated baseball broadcasts last year. He said intelligent things every now and then, but unlike Tim McCarver he never thought of his word as gospel and always knew when to shut up. In Arizona, that should be a refreshing change from the cult of Showalter, but not enough to save a team on the decline.

This leaves us with Jim Tracy. For the first time in nearly half a century, the Dodgers start the season with a manager nobody's heard of. He had a cup of coffee with the Cubs, then spent several years as bench coach under two of the game's best, Felipe Alou and Davey Johnson. For all I know, he should do fine.

Speaking of doing fine, a quick prayer for the best ex-jock manager of all-time. Ted Williams didn't exactly succeed in four years as skipper of the Texas Rangers (formerly Washington Senators), yet nobody knew more about hitting. Now he's in the hospital with heart problems. All the best to him, since this world isn't yet ready to bid the Kid adieu.

about the author

Matt Bruce was briefly in the running for the Reds' managerial position, but was rejected when he refused to accept a compensation package consisting of an outfield season ticket and a box of Ho-Hos. Let him know that holding out for Moon Pies was nevertheless the smart idea at mb@strikethree.com.