Play For The Day
One of the things I love about Ozzie is that he has a feel for each and every game. Each one has its own personality.
You get a lot of managers who do not have a feel for the individual games. They are so locked in to a format or a computer that they lose their feel for what is going on that day.
Look at the Sox at Cincinnati yesterday, where that game quickly became about playing for a single run at a time in what is normally a big hitter's ballpark. The Sox got there first and won that game.
You have Ozzie, Lou Piniella, Jimmy Leyland, and LaRussa - they all share the ability to treat each game by itself and have a feel for it. I can add Gardenhire and Scioscia to that list as opposed to the guys who go strictly by the printouts they have sitting there.
Hawk
Comments
"You get a lot of managers who do not have a feel for the individual games. They are so locked in to a format or a computer that they lose their feel for what is going on that day."
Unfortunately, you also have managers like Dusty Baker or Don Zimmer, who manage by whim and end up blowing more games than they win.
Oh, and note that I actually provided an example to back up my assertion, which is more than can be said for the original author of this entry.
Posted by: Tracy | June 20, 2006 7:15 AM
Agree. But...
It's their ability to *apply* the info on the printouts -- not just krazy-glue themselves to it but appreciate the nuances -- that makes managers like LaRussa and Scioscia for sure, and Guillen, it seems, superior.
I think it's the printouts, *AND* the ability to set them aside for that current context that makes the difference.
Posted by: jeff angus | June 20, 2006 8:54 AM
Here is my analogy about the Ozzie situation: the media is acting the same way managers do when their guys get beaned. Ozzie has "beaned" Mariotti and now the media is "protecting" their player by firing back at him with everything they have. The problem is the scenario is it is a little one sided. How can Ozzie or any other player stand a chance against media giant ESPN? They have been relentless. To me it is criminal that they feel so powerful that they can make or break players, managers, teams etc. This is one reason I love the White Sox. As a team they stick together so well, that they force ESPN to pay attention to them. They have won, and continue to win in spite of the great pressure against them.
Posted by: Don Golden | June 23, 2006 7:49 AM