The TLR Manager Thread

[Texsox]

19 minutes ago, gusguyman said:

I don't know why everyone else does, but as an owner of the Green Bay Packers i have set an unfortunate precedent for myself....

Good point,  I own Top Golf,  Drive Shack, and Organigram. 

[Blackout Friday]

3 hours ago, tray said:

The fan base has been cultivated by Jerry since Bill Veeck almost destroyed it.  WSox are a respectable organization playing in a nice clean facility, and they are still competing in their Division, despite key injuries.   IMO, they probably have little chance now to win the Division without Eloy and Robert, but they fight on.

And no, LaRussa was not responsible for a loss where the Sox got 2 hits in 10 innings.  Maybe Vaughn should have done better than 0 for 3 and a key GIDP.

Madrigal had the longest hit  ball for us at 281 feet.   Whatever, forget that loss and move on.

 

How did ol’ JR go about getting his shiny new stadium? It’s the envy of the league, too. 
 

As for the game, look...Sox didn’t hit. But  regardless, they were in the game. It was 0-0, if you recall. These are the games where a manager earns their money in terms of being chess players. Any dummy can manage a 9-0 game. He botched it. Period. 
 

 

[poppysox]

11 hours ago, Texsox said:

I just went through with the major changes to the rules of golf. I read them. Passed the USGA test. And you start getting into situations that are more complex than you’ve encountered before and it’s tough to get them right. We see umpires huddling at times trying to figure some variation on rules and how they apply. When you say the league was that the National League, the American League or both? 
 

Look at all the variables that happened in this specific situation. It wasn’t basic by any stretch. If people feel compelled to yell about every misstep he makes, go for it. I’m complaining about a few things myself. But I’m just not too upset about him blowing a fucked up National league rule as an American League manager. I’d rather complain that we need to stop playing these games until there is a uniform set of rules in place for all of baseball. I’d rather complain that putting any guy at second is teeballesque bull.
 

Let’s just have each team put out in their best gamers and spin a wheel to see which esports game they play. That will help attract new sponsors and younger fans. Why even play baseball to end a tie?
 

 

Amen to teeballesque bull.  That's a mouthful.

[Texsox]

15 minutes ago, poppysox said:

Amen to teeballesque bull.  That's a mouthful.

My autocorrect fought me all the way lol

Thank you

[Texsox]

21 minutes ago, Blackout Friday said:

How did ol’ JR go about getting his shiny new stadium? It’s the envy of the league, too. 
 

As for the game, look...Sox didn’t hit. But  regardless, they were in the game. It was 0-0, if you recall. These are the games where a manager earns their money in terms of being chess players. Any dummy can manage a 9-0 game. He botched it. Period. 
 

 

Great point. In fact that has me rethinking not being too upset about an obscure NL stadium only rule. It's exactly the edge you expect from having a Hall of Fame manager. 

I now place more blame on Tony. 

[South Side Hit Men]

8 minutes ago, Texsox said:

Great point. In fact that has me rethinking not being too upset about an obscure NL stadium only rule. It's exactly the edge you expect from having a Hall of Fame manager. 

I now place more blame on Tony. 

These two tweets didn't age well, the second because rather than "I'll tell you what I think", he just blocked Sox fans who followed up for a comment,.

 

 

[tray]

 

6 hours ago, Blackout Friday said:

Any dummy can manage a 9-0 game. He botched it. Period. 
 

Knowing the NL nuance of the 10th inning ghost runner rule rule would have changed the runner, but not the outcome of the game. 

Please reserve judgment on LaRussa until we see how he handles a team that lost two of its star players for the season.  He's got them in First place right now.

 

[IWokeUpLikeThis]

4 minutes ago, tray said:

 

Knowing the NL nuance of the 10th inning ghost runner rule rule would have changed the runner, but not the outcome of the game. 

Please reserve judgment on LaRussa until we see how he handles a team that lost two of its star players for the season.  He's got them in First place right now.

 

I have been reading your posts and am impressed by your mind for the game. We should get together for a game this summer. I would love to pick your brain. 

[hankchifan]

Hope TLR has learned the lesson that you have to go all out to score in the 10th inning or you lose.  No way you run Leury and throw away an out in the 10th. No way you do not pinch hit for Billy Hamilton who is hitting .130.  No way you run Hendriks. These were not Hall of Fame moves.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

8 minutes ago, IWokeUpLikeThis said:

I have been reading your posts and am impressed by your mind for the game. We should get together for a game this summer. I would love to pick your brain. 

With a pick axe ?

[Blackout Friday]

56 minutes ago, IWokeUpLikeThis said:

I have been reading your posts and am impressed by your mind for the game. We should get together for a game this summer. I would love to pick your brain. 

Why do I hear the theme song from Dawson’s creek playing?

[VAfan]

I think the jury should be out on TLR until the end of the season. The Sox aren't going to fire him, so we're all going to be along for the ride this year, for better or worse. 

I can question some of his decisions, just like anyone else. I just think there is a lot more to baseball managing than lineups or pitching changes or in-game adjustments. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes that we don't know about. 

The Sox have lost some very close games. The bullpen has not performed the way anyone expected. We've lost two of our best players in Robert and Jimenez. Yet our starting pitching is lights out, we're in nearly every game, and we're in first place. 

Dave Martinez was an idiot manager who finished around .500 with a seemingly loaded Nats team in 2018, then started horribly in 2019 with lots of people calling for his head. Then Baby Shark happened and Martinez suddenly was a genius, especially the way he managed the postseason without much of a bullpen. 

In the meantime, let's celebrate what's going well -- like Carlos Rodon!!  And Dylan Cease!!  And Michael Kopech!!!  

[Blackout Friday]

2 hours ago, tray said:

 

Knowing the NL nuance of the 10th inning ghost runner rule rule would have changed the runner, but not the outcome of the game. 

Please reserve judgment on LaRussa until we see how he handles a team that lost two of its star players for the season.  He's got them in First place right now.

 

We fired a guy who was outstanding in the clubhouse and bad on the diamond. The expectations was that we needed a better tactician. Only a fool thinks that has gone well. 

[South Side Hit Men]

1 hour ago, hankchifan said:

Hope TLR has learned the lesson that you have to go all out to score in the 10th inning or you lose.  No way you run Leury and throw away an out in the 10th. No way you do not pinch hit for Billy Hamilton who is hitting .130.  No way you run Hendriks. These were not Hall of Fame moves.

Tony continues to do the same thing over and over again. He actually defended the ridiculous decisions you mentioned, and repeated and rinsed tonight.

• Tony replaced Andrew Vaughn with Billy Hamilton in the seventh after Andrew went 2 for 3. Only White Sox batter tonight with two hits. Why the hell would you want him in a still close game?
• With Billy Hamilton the pinch runner, La Russa AGAIN has Leury Garcia bunt. Tony decided to THROW AWAY AN OUT with two on and nobody out in a three run game. 
• One inning later, the Sox once again have two on, this time with two out. Guess who's up. Not Andrew Vaughn, he went 2 for 3, but who needs hits when you can have small ball. Billy Hamilton promptly flew out to end another threat. When it comes to late inning ballgames, Tony eschews hits and power for automatic outs, time and time again. 

1983 - Men At Work's It's a Mistake, Tony La Russa's Walk Up Music, peaked at number 6 on the music charts. Tony La Russa plays small ball and loses Game 4 of the ALCS against rookie skipper Joey Altobelli.

Wednesday wasn't the first time Tony's team went scoreless into the 10th inning, running themselves out of a chance to win the game.

1983: "Well, this is a state of confusion."

 

2021: Same as it ever was...

Sox go from a 50% expected win, to 18% after Tony butchered the inning.

Darrin Jackson: "I don't know what they're doing out there."

Hawk Harrelson, watching from home and screaming at the TV: 
 

Quote

 

"Oh, what are you doing. Tony had Leury run out of the inning. You gotta be bleeping me, What in the hell are you doing. What are you doing, Tony!

You gotta be kidding me. That is so bad it's absolutely brutal. (receives text from Wimpy, "That's incredible")

That is unbelievable. I'll tell you what. They have got to start making Tony be accountable. That is totally absurd. 

That just tells you he has no clue. Here's a manager in the American League knows nothing about the game of baseball. That's unbelievable.

 

Top of the 10th, White Sox Batting, Tied 0-0, Reds' Lucas Sims facing 6-7-8
									Lucas Sims replaces Alex Blandino (PH) pitching and batting 6th Liam Hendriks running at second base to start the extra inning
t10	0-0	0	-2-	5,(3-1)		CHW	Yasmani Grandal	Lucas Sims	-5%	45%	Walk
t10	0-0	0	12-	4,(1-2)	O	CHW	Leury Garcia	Lucas Sims	4%	49%	Groundout: 3B-2B/Forceout at 2B (SS-3B Hole); Hendriks to 3B; Garcia to 1B
t10	0-0	1	1-3	4,(1-2)	O	CHW	Billy Hamilton	Lucas Sims	19%	68%	Garcia Caught Stealing 2B (C-SS)
t10	0-0	2	--3	5,(2-2)	O	CHW	Billy Hamilton	Lucas Sims	14%	82%	Strikeout Swinging
									0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB. White Sox 0, Reds 0.

I'm guessing you (James Fegan) knows the rules better, now I know.

 

 

[Texsox]

Let’s change history.

“Why didn't you pitch run for Vaughn?”

“I knew later in the game he would come up with runners on base.”

SSHM “Exactly right, save him for a hypothetical chance later in the game. Great managing Tony!”

Close game with runners on first and second and they maximized the chance to score multiple runs then. I don’t have a problem with that move at all. Plus it’s a defensive upgrade late in a close game. 

Knowing how much you hate, loath, disrespect Tony it’s difficult to tell if this is a serious discussion of baseball strategy (of which I know you can do) or just you taking an opportunity to rip everything Tony does (something else you relish and do often). 

[Blackout Friday]

6 hours ago, tray said:

 

Knowing the NL nuance of the 10th inning ghost runner rule rule would have changed the runner, but not the outcome of the game. 

Please reserve judgment on LaRussa until we see how he handles a team that lost two of its star players for the season.  He's got them in First place right now.

 

I don’t give a shit what happened. There’s have been a handful, at most, of changes to the rulebook since he last retired. Either wake up or go sleep in your car while the grown ups work. 

[southsider2k5]

7 hours ago, tray said:

 

Knowing the NL nuance of the 10th inning ghost runner rule rule would have changed the runner, but not the outcome of the game. 

Please reserve judgment on LaRussa until we see how he handles a team that lost two of its star players for the season.  He's got them in First place right now.

 

Are you paid by the post?  Blink twice if you are being held against your will.

[poppysox]

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

Are you paid by the post?  Blink twice if you are being held against your will.

Your response to Tray's post is clever but unfair.  Tray has a very good percentage of likes to postings.  That means that a fair number of us enjoy what his post have to say IMO.  Perhaps you meant to add a smiley face.  In that case...carry on.

[South Side Hit Men]

5 hours ago, Texsox said:

Let’s change history.

“Why didn't you pitch run for Vaughn?”

“I knew later in the game he would come up with runners on base.”

SSHM “Exactly right, save him for a hypothetical chance later in the game. Great managing Tony!”

Close game with runners on first and second and they maximized the chance to score multiple runs then. I don’t have a problem with that move at all. Plus it’s a defensive upgrade late in a close game. 

Knowing how much you hate, loath, disrespect Tony it’s difficult to tell if this is a serious discussion of baseball strategy (of which I know you can do) or just you taking an opportunity to rip everything Tony does (something else you relish and do often). 

Come in Tex, your much smarter than this poor attempt.

1. Tony pinch ran for the trail runner at first (Vaughn sprint speed 31), up 3-0, behind lead runner Collins (sprint speed of 6).

2. There is nothing hypothetical about my criticism of Tony’s late inning instance of either keeping worse LFers  in the game (Lamb and Williams, both in the five hole no less), or continually leaving good, ACTUAL hitting alternatives on the bench while Hamilton and Garcia flail away, time after time (cues Cindy Lauper), late in close ballgames. Not because these are the best chances of winning, but rather because “Veterans have earned their at bats”. This is Tony’s reasoning.

2021 Batting Averages (Innings 7-10):

Andrew Vaughn: 5-14 .357 vs.

Tony's Guys 3-45 .0666 (Let he who hath reckon the number of the beast…)

• Leury Garcia 2-22 .091
• Billy Hamilton 1-12 .083
• Jake Lamb 0-6 .000
• Nick Williams 0-5 .000

3. I listed my criteria for possibly considering EVER installing Hamilton as a late replacement (9th inning or beyond, with little to no chance of a meaningful at bat). You know, like running Hamilton in the tenth instead of of say, LIAM HENDRIKS, a move nearly the entire universe, including Tony’s dugout, were screaming WTF. If we put it to a poll, of SoxTalk members, or baseball people (like Steve Stone), I’m confident my preferred usage of Billy Hamilton would win out over Tony’s.

No Hypotheticals Required.

[hi8is]

I really want to say a four letter word that both starts and ends with “p” which also has “oo” in the middle.

["The Kids Can Play"]

13 hours ago, Blackout Friday said:

Why do I hear the theme song from Dawson’s creek playing?

Hey Hey Hey Yeah!

[caulfield12]

1 hour ago, ejm3 said:

Hey Hey Hey Yeah!

Who’s our James Vanderbeek and Joshua Jackson?

No shout outs for Party of Five?

[Texsox]

19 hours ago, South Side Hit Men said:

Come in Tex, your much smarter than this poor attempt.

1. Tony pinch ran for the trail runner at first (Vaughn sprint speed 31), up 3-0, behind lead runner Collins (sprint speed of 6).

2. There is nothing hypothetical about my criticism of Tony’s late inning instance of either keeping worse LFers  in the game (Lamb and Williams, both in the five hole no less), or continually leaving good, ACTUAL hitting alternatives on the bench while Hamilton and Garcia flail away, time after time (cues Cindy Lauper), late in close ballgames. Not because these are the best chances of winning, but rather because “Veterans have earned their at bats”. This is Tony’s reasoning.

2021 Batting Averages (Innings 7-10):

Andrew Vaughn: 5-14 .357 vs.

Tony's Guys 3-45 .0666 (Let he who hath reckon the number of the beast…)

• Leury Garcia 2-22 .091
• Billy Hamilton 1-12 .083
• Jake Lamb 0-6 .000
• Nick Williams 0-5 .000

3. I listed my criteria for possibly considering EVER installing Hamilton as a late replacement (9th inning or beyond, with little to no chance of a meaningful at bat). You know, like running Hamilton in the tenth instead of of say, LIAM HENDRIKS, a move nearly the entire universe, including Tony’s dugout, were screaming WTF. If we put it to a poll, of SoxTalk members, or baseball people (like Steve Stone), I’m confident my preferred usage of Billy Hamilton would win out over Tony’s.

No Hypotheticals Required.

Fair enough. 
 

 

[VAfan]

Do you know what's so tiresome about all these "bash TLR" posts?  You could likely write the EXACT SAME THING against every manager in MLB.  

Managers make decisions for reasons they feel like make sense at the time. They don't always work out. To say another strategy would have been better doesn't mean the other strategy would have worked, and therefore, it may not have been better. 

Now, we ALL second guess managers. That's the nature of being a baseball fan. 

But NONE OF US -- absolutely none of us -- COULD ACTUALLY BE A MAJOR LEAGUE MANAGER.

So, by all means go ahead and continue to question TLR. But just know that you haven't:

1. Ever managed a major league game

2. Ever won Manager of the Year, much less won it as many times as TLR has

3. Been elected to the Hall of Fame. 

So, forgive me if I find most of the criticism of TLR to be misguided, shortsighted, over the top, and tiresome. 

Edited May 10, 2021 by VAfan

[Jerksticks]

10 minutes ago, VAfan said:

Do you know what's so tiresome about all these "bash TLR" posts?  You could likely write the EXACT SAME THING against every manager in MLB.  

Managers make decisions for reasons they feel like make sense at the time. They don't always work out. To say another strategy would have been better doesn't mean the other strategy would have worked, and therefore, it may not have been better. 

Now, we ALL second guess managers. That's the nature of being a baseball fan. 

But NONE OF US -- absolutely none of us -- COULD ACTUALLY BE A MAJOR LEAGUE MANAGER.

So, by all means go ahead and continue to question TLR. But just know that you haven't:

1. Ever managed a major league game

2. Ever won Manager of the Year, much less won it as many times as TLR has

3. Been elected to the Hall of Fame. 

So, forgive me if I find most of the criticism of TLR to be misguided, shortsighted, over the top, and tiresome. 

Absolutely.  Again, more big boy pants headed your way.  Enjoy them.  They’ll fit nicely brother ?