bobby valentine

[greebs]

anybody see the verbal beating he got from the press over the weekend?

east coast fans and press are absolute brutal on coaches/managers. don't think anybody really deserves that much but I really do wish the local press would just once get on gardy just a little bit more than they do.

those strib writers on occasion will get on a few players and didn't seem to have a problem going after chilly but for whatever reason gardy gets the free pass every single time. they ask him any kind of question that is just a little bit off of script and the slightest bit critical and gardy does the tomato face scolding and never does answer the questions and then the press guys don't push for the answer and let him off the hook every time.

like I said, nobody deserves what those east coast guys put up with but is it possible, that the gardy has possibly the safest head coach/manager position in all of professional sports?

[Musky Buck]

I think Gardy gets a longer leash for how well he managed when he had talent in camp and made good decisions in those playoff making it there years, There aren't too many managers that would want to be in his shoes now and 2 underachieving former MVP's meaning our 184 million dollar man is ranked the 6th best catcher at present time and morneau with his concussion stuff so it aint all on those 2 you still need plenty around them and when we did we won and a staff that can't break glass. Bring in any manager you want and the results wouldn't be much different up to this point. Bobby V I bet he misses baseball tonight, why do you think Francona stepped down, he new the wrath was a comin.

[greebs]

I agree 100% about what you say about a longer leash based on success with more talent. Problem is though how seldom did gardy's teams beat teams with more talent even in those years they won weak AL central titles? I honestly can't think of one time where they won a game against a better team and thought myself, "that ol sly fox gardy sure outmanaged the other guy this time".

Now that the team is not so talented, it sure seems that he's in over his head and really looks like he's almost in pain out there. And I'll say it again about the local press. Why do they always let him do his little scolding whenever just a little bit of a tough question comes up? Just wish for once that someone would say to him "thanks for the lecture, but you still haven't answered the question" once in a while and ask the tough question again. They didn't let chilly get away with that.

Blog article in the strib today comparing gardy's record to flip saunders and their lack of success in the playoffs. one of them lost his job so have to once again ask the question if gardy has possibly the safest job in all of professional sports; and if so, why? Not saying he needs to be fired yet but ask me again at the end of the season. Just would like the press to man up to him once in a while and not let him off the hook so easily with the questions.

[B. Amish]

the wolves have gone through how many coaches since they canned flip? that sure looks like the right move.

do you honestly think another manager gets more wins out of this group? err, i mean pitching staff?

[Musky Buck]

At the pro level, keep Gardy going, why not who else, he doesn't throw the pitches that Boston just destroyed all over the park last night. How do you manage an 11-2 drubbing ? Start bunt and running lol, you just sit back and take it, when we were ranked dead last in the power rankings there were mega reasons and I doubt Gardy forgot how to manage baseball, he played as well, he gets it that we aint got it. Now it's time to see who we want to keep on, who we want to let go, etc. It's more a season of scouting at this point than anything, too bad Liriano had that no-no he's been a mystery ever since. They'll try to sort it out, sounded like Paul Bunyan in there last night when big papi connected. Thome had that sound also. It aint Gardy wish we could point the finger there at times but we can't, you can see other teams at bat confidence peak when they come to town, look at the swings people are putting on us.

[B. Amish]

the writers write to their audience. i think the majority of the strib readers don't care for the b*tch fest articles as much. i know when souhan goes off on a rant he sounds like a crabby old man.

it's a different animal out east. the audience eats that stuff up. and bobby v. is a toolbag and brought a lot of that on himself. he's an arrogant jacka$$ who happens to know baseball. always has that smirk on his face even when they got pounded by the yankees and he's getting booed.

[nofishfisherman]

I think managers in baseball take too much of the blame. They can't go out there and make the pitches, they can't go out there and swing the bat. Players are the ones who ultimately decide who wins and who loses.

How many wins or losses do you think a manager directly accounts for during a season? I'm talking about when calling a hit and run or making a substitution directly decides whether you get a win or a loss. Maybe one or two games a year, maybe. The vast majority of games are decided by pitchers and hitters, pitchers got to pitch and hitters got to hit. Its that simple. Even the right decisions can make you look foolish if your players don't go out there and execute like they are supposed to. You can make the perfect hit and run call but if the guy at the plate can't hit the ball you just look like a tool after sending the runner from first into an easy out at second. You can send out the pitcher who has the best chance at stiking out a particular hitter but that pitcher still has to go out there and execute his pitches. If he doesn't he gives up the game winning run and again makes the manager look like a tool for apparently putting in the wrong guy.

In other sports like football or basketball I can see a coach having a more direct impact since there are offensive and defensive schemes and specific play calling. But in baseball there are only situational decisions to be made and most of those are based on tendencies and averages from the opposing team so there is little guess work.

If you think about Joe Torre when he was with New York, he had the absolute easiest job in terms of managing a game. He had a lineup that he could just set it and forget it. No need to move guys around in hopes of boosting production. No need to tinker in the bull pen, he knew day in and day out who was starting and who was pitching the relief innings. He could have mailed in his lineup 6 weeks before game day and little would have changed. Does that make him a great manager? To me it just makes him lucky to have superstar players that could execute when needed. All Torre had to do was sit back and wait for the homeruns to start flying out of the park. Not much strategy or gamesmanship in that.

[Musky Buck]

Indeed, no doubt, put whoever you think the best baseball manager or mind is in the dugout tonight and it won't guarantee a win. Not saying a manager just sits there either, they can change the line up, batting order, pitching rotation, in game situations, etc. Speaking of Bobby V, I really liked when he got booted from that Mets game and slid back in the dugout with the mustache trying to be all incognito, wonder if the Boston faithful will cut him some slack, likely they might be saying well look at the twins and no wonder they won a couple, they're waiting to pounce on him the next obvious chance they get. When they get Youkilis and Ellsbury back they could get rockin, but like the twins pitching is so huge, they have proven pitchers, we have semi-proven pitchers. Seeing our staff makes me appreciate guys like Brad Radke all the more, guys that really really compete on the mound, a guy that never 2nd guessed a pitch he threw, I think it will take some time for the twins to turn things north again,I just don't think we can go on very many long winning streaks like it takes sometimes, Gardy or not.