Experience and Managing

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

5 hours ago, South Side Hit Men said:

The top current front office leaders have zero baseball playing experience. Andrew Friedman and Matthew Silverman have no baseball experience, yet both lead the lowest payroll team to continued success, the former to continued annual excellence with the high payroll Dodgers.  Fans of Rick Hahn will note he also had no professional baseball experience. Would say playing experience would help a manager empathize with what a player is experience, but it's apparent Tony LaRussa does not empathize with any players unless they obey and adhere to his viewpoint and dictates. I didn't hear him acknowledge HOF players like Ozzie Smith, or excellent players like Ron Gant, when he referenced "black people I managed" during his pathetic hiring press conference.

Successful modern day managers are able to navigate the dictates / directives of the Front Office, while accommodating the personal and professional needs of players. I like Rick Renteria, didn't always agree with his decisions, but also was aware some of his decisions, but despite Steve Stone's pithy tweets, these decisions were not Rick Renteria's alone, and in some vital instances may not have been his at all. Those that worked Renteria did not get credit for, those that didn't the Chicago media and most posters here assigned 100% blame to Rick Renteria.

Rick Renteria lead his team to the Chicago White Sox' best season in fifteen years, despite the fact he didn't have the experienced deep Starting Pitching staff Ozzie was fortunate to manage in 2005. Rick Renteria brought the White Sox to a playoff appearance, the extent Tony LaRussa did during his much longer tenure with the team. Ozzie didn't advance ever beyond the single season, yet people think he was/is a great manager.

My post has exceeded the length for those who cannot or refuse to read more than 10 words per week by three paragraphs, unless they support pre-existing beliefs, but it is accurate.

The OP was talking about being a manager. Front office personnel are different. I saw nothing in my post to say LaRussa could empathize with his players. Texsox said " None of Tony's playing experience helped ". That statement is an absolute to which I argued LaRussa may not agree with. I usually disagree with absolutes unless LaRussa himself had said that.

Apparently LaRussa is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't . Name a few black players and it's stereotypically. Don't name enough and you are slighting some. While I agree that RR was used as a scapegoat for way too many White Sox problems, that is neither here nor there. LaRussa's 1st stint as Sox manager also means nothing. Comparing RR to Ozzie's or LaRussa's tenure and stating how long it took each to make a playoff appearance while accurate also means nothing. As you accurately pointed out RR didn't have the pitching Ozzie did so you acknowledge that different personnel in entirely different seasons and tenures have much different results so how long it took LaRussa vs. RR is mute based on your own reasoning.

Also while true that short responses are better for a message board insulting the board for that seems odd. Post what you will and if no one reads it or responds to it so be it.

I was not in favor of LaRussa being named manager nor the process that led to it. I have stated my piece on it as much as I care to. It's time to get down to the business of winning . That is what I think most of the board cares about. Any underlying social issues will work themselves out in due time. Of course the decision could backfire just as it could end in satisfactory results.

[South Side Hit Men]

13 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

The OP was talking about being a manager. Front office personnel are different. I saw nothing in my post to say LaRussa could empathize with his players. Texsox said " None of Tony's playing experience helped ". That statement is an absolute to which I argued LaRussa may not agree with. I usually disagree with absolutes unless LaRussa himself had said that.

Apparently LaRussa is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't . Name a few black players and it's stereotypically. Don't name enough and you are slighting some. While I agree that RR was used as a scapegoat for way too many White Sox problems, that is neither here nor there. LaRussa's 1st stint as Sox manager also means nothing. Comparing RR to Ozzie's or LaRussa's tenure and stating how long it took each to make a playoff appearance while accurate also means nothing. As you accurately pointed out RR didn't have the pitching Ozzie did so you acknowledge that different personnel in entirely different seasons and tenures have much different results so how long it took LaRussa vs. RR is mute based on your own reasoning.

Also while true that short responses are better for a message board insulting the board for that seems odd. Post what you will and if no one reads it or responds to it so be it.

I was not in favor of LaRussa being named manager nor the process that led to it. I have stated my piece on it as much as I care to. It's time to get down to the business of winning . That is what I think most of the board cares about. Any underlying social issues will work themselves out in due time. Of course the decision could backfire just as it could end in satisfactory results.

LaRussa is damned because his actions and statements over the decades, including last week. LaRussa was not asked if he was a racist, yet that is how he answered a question regarding his previous statements on protests. Instead of offering examples of how HE changed and learned to be more tolerant or changed his opinions over time, he said go ask those black people over there if I'm racist.  It said a lot regarding his mindset and "thought" process. No amount of PR coaching can prevent these types of statements, especially at his age and temperament.

It's the reason Tony is unwilling / unable to reach out to players or speak to media not employed by MLB since his hiring announcement. Yet Tony had plenty of time to speak out multiple times about how wrong it was for blacks to speak out on issues and protest, as recently as 2020 Black History Month, and then tripling down by stating several times during the Zoom conference he would deem whether a player is sincere and worthy of speaking.  Tea Party supporters invading Diamondback Stadium, sure that's a protest Tony can support without qualifications.

Tony LaRussa is a crony hire who has no business managing or being the public face of any MLB club, especially THIS ball club, especially in 2020. It's why 95% + of this board and fans across the country is absolutely disgusted with this hire.

[Texsox]

So Katz never played at the MLB yet were all excited to have him as a pitching coach. In a few years I could see him develop into a MLB manager. 

 

[The Hawk]

If I were a general manager hiring an MLB manager, I would certainly look for the best guy I could find who knew every aspect of the game. And I do not believe that you could just find anyone who hasn't played the game at a high level collegiately or professionally and who also has not  managed the game collegiately or professionally could be nearly as good a one who has.  The thought that anyone with a decent brain could manage a major league baseball team is ridiculous. 

Edited November 14, 2020 by The Hawk