Robin Ventura Named White Sox Manager

[Dick Allen]

It's funny cause Cowley is a bad journalist.

 

 

 

This. Guys, its MLB manager. The decisions aren't hard with modern day stats ready 24/7, unless you're Ozzie. If he can help people, which he has enough baseball knowledge and seemingly-not-asshole persona that he probably can.

 

Is it the best hire? No. He would have been my fourth choice, but come on.

Its also strange Cowley will be wasting his writing talents tomorrow on a team he said became irrelevant once Ozzie left.

Edited October 7, 2011 by Dick Allen

[The Beast]

Kenny Williams and Robin Ventura.

[Milkman delivers]

Wow. A lot of overreaction here, in my opinion. I think the guy knows baseball, and it seems like he has the respect of the players. We'll have to wait and see.

 

I'm tired of this argument. It stands to reason that the vast majority of ex-players know the game of baseball. So, the signing could have been almost any former decently-tenured player, and people should be happy with it.

[South Side Fireworks Man]

He's probably been a part of 5 press conferences in his life before. He's played in two-thousand some MLB games...he'll get accustomed to the press conferences... drop it

What is a little disconcerting about the conference call was that inKW's opening comments he stated that he didn't expect Robin to hit the ground running and be "another Tony LaRussa" right away but that the first couple of years would be a "growing process" for him. Also both KW and Ventura repeatedly stressed the importance of support from the other guys in the organization.

 

When asked about what kind of clubhouse rules he would implement he answered that he didn't know yet and he didn't ask KW about it yet. When asked if he had talked with Frank Thomas about possibly being the hitting coach he said he would trust the guys in the organization to put the right pieces in place. Overall, he didn't sound like he was yet comfortable with the thought that he was now the manager and didn't come across as a take charge type of guy.

 

That doesn't mean he's not going to turn out to be a good manager but the way he came across this afternoon was not too impressive. But at least he'll be better than Ozzie has been the past few years for sure.

[Milkman delivers]

Look...I'm not pissed about Robin Ventura in general...he may turn out to be a very good manager at some point down the road. But we're not in complete rebuild mode. I think what pisses me off is the blatant "cronyism" that this friggin organization has turned into...loyalty to a fault. This is almost like a bad remake of a Blues Brothers movie "we're gettin' the band back together"....or not to bring politics into this but Obama appointing his under qualified cronies to posts. Like a said...I'll give him a chance...but would it have killed Kenny "The Genius" Williams/JR to at least go thru the goddamn interview process and at least give the appearance of doing due diligence instead of some knee jerk hiring it seems the entire baseball world is scratching their head over.

 

Very nicely put. I couldn't have said it so nicely or as level-headed.

[gosox41]

As someone who works in sports, the loyalty that the Sox show is kind of heartening in some respects.

 

 

It may be. But what's more heartening is winning.

 

 

Bob

[Milkman delivers]

He was a spring training instructor for a couple of years. I've never met him, but supposedly he's impossible not to like. I never liked him as much as most as a player, but I'm kind of giddy about this.

 

With his nice guy attitude and player friendliness, I fear that the players won't have much of a problem ignoring or walking all over him once they're used to him.

[South Side Fireworks Man]

With his nice guy attitude and player friendliness, I fear that the players won't have much of a problem ignoring or walking all over him once they're used to him.

I hope he is much more assertive than he came across in that conference call anyway.

[Chicago White Sox]

How drunk are you? That's from when took the job of being Buddy Bell's assistant.

[Milkman delivers]

He could have said, 'Thanks but no thanks"

 

You act like Ventura needs money, he made over $60mil in his playing career. Dave Martinez needs the money, Ventura doesnt. Ventura could buy Ozzie guillen.

 

How could you possibly know something like that?

[Chicago White Sox]

I'm willing to give him a chance. Everyone here knows he's going to be the worst manager ever. But remember, a poll here showed that a majority of posters said they managed better than Oz, all Robin has to do is be as good as the average poster here and it's a major upgrade.

 

http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=81618

I despise every single one of your posts. You are by far the most arrogant and condescending person on this board.

[shakes]

I bet there are a few fans out there absolutely uninvolved with baseball that could also have just as good of a chance to be a good manager. I know people are going to fight it to the death, but we should have gone with a guy with some semblance of experience at coaching/managing.

This is where skeptisism turns into whining. I get where people are afraid of his lack of experience, but a fan could manage the team? That is talk radio meathead garbage, at its finest. Managers need the respect of the players and there is no fan that would get that. I am doubting this hire, but willing to give Robin a chance. To start claiming a fan could manage is really puting you into cartoon character pessimism.

 

[WCSox]

Dave Martinez will command a large salary.

 

No he won't. Dude has zippo managerial experience and wasn't anything close to a marquee player. He'll have close to zero leverage in negotiations and will take what he can get.

 

[Milkman delivers]

I despise every single one of your posts. You are by far the most arrogant and condescending person on this board.

 

+1

[iamshack]

What is a little disconcerting about the conference call was that inKW's opening comments he stated that he didn't expect Robin to hit the ground running and be "another Tony LaRussa" right away but that the first couple of years would be a "growing process" for him. Also both KW and Ventura repeatedly stressed the importance of support from the other guys in the organization.

 

When asked about what kind of clubhouse rules he would implement he answered that he didn't know yet and he didn't ask KW about it yet. When asked if he had talked with Frank Thomas about possibly being the hitting coach he said he would trust the guys in the organization to put the right pieces in place. Overall, he didn't sound like he was yet comfortable with the thought that he was now the manager and didn't come across as a take charge type of guy.

 

That doesn't mean he's not going to turn out to be a good manager but the way he came across this afternoon was not too impressive. But at least he'll be better than Ozzie has been the past few years for sure.

He just took the job today. Last week he probably wasn't considering it. Spring Training is 4 months away. He has never managed before. Let him put a plan together, with the help of the current infrastructure, that will set him up to succeed.

 

 

[Milkman delivers]

This is where skeptisism turns into whining. I get where people are afraid of his lack of experience, but a fan could manage the team? That is talk radio meathead garbage, at its finest. Managers need the respect of the players and there is no fan that would get that. I am doubting this hire, but willing to give Robin a chance. To start claiming a fan could manage is really puting you into cartoon character pessimism.

 

It was exaggeration for effect. I hope you read the entire thread up to that point.

[greg775]

Milkman,

 

This is why I dont waste time in this forum, where did I ever say that no experience would make Ventura good?

 

I merely stated that before everyone freaks out about no experience, that there have been successful coaches with no experience. That doesnt mean that no experience = good, it just means that no experience does not have to equal bad.

 

I dont know if you seriously cant understand the difference, or if you feel that if you play dumb Ill somehow trip up and make an absurd statement. Ill hope for the latter.

 

I thought I was the only person killing the traffic on this board.

I read this whole thread.

I'm willing to sit back and see how he does. I would have preferred Tito of course, then Alomar I guess as No. 2.

 

Did ESPN treat this as a nice story or did they show the obligatory clip of Nolan Ryan punching out Robin. That's where we open next year.

[iamshack]

With his nice guy attitude and player friendliness, I fear that the players won't have much of a problem ignoring or walking all over him once they're used to him.

Milk, I respect your incredible ability to be consistently and unwaveringly pessimistic, but now it seems like you're just going to grasp at anything you can here...

 

Your experience argument is a fair one, but other than that, none of us really know much about what kind of manager he's going to be.

 

Can we at least reserve SOME judgement until we see his team play for a few months?

[justBLAZE]

Cowley on Ventura... and how Cooper became Judas.

[Milkman delivers]

Milk, I respect your incredible ability to be consistently and unwaveringly pessimistic, but now it seems like you're just going to grasp at anything you can here...

 

Your experience argument is a fair one, but other than that, none of us really know much about what kind of manager he's going to be.

Can we at least reserve SOME judgement until we see his team play for a few months?

 

Sure, but people have brought up how much Ventura is liked by his peers several times. I think it's fair to suggest that his nice guy attitude could also be a detriment. Ozzie was also a nice guy to the players he liked. The one thing I like so far is that he already spoke about accountability. If he benches guys for lack of hustle and sticks to his word (very much unlike Ozzie), then I will start to change my mind. Until then, he gets no benefit of the doubt from me. This team has made a ton of wrong choices in the last few years. They now have to prove it before I'll buy into their hype for any player, coach, or manager.

[whitesoxfan99]

Cowley on Ventura... and how Cooper became Judas.

 

Could Cowley be any more of a joke?

[iamshack]

Cowley on Ventura... and how Cooper became Judas.

So now Joey is coming to the rescue to save face for Guillen.

 

So Cooper is a bad guy for asking for an extension, and telling Kenny about the circus act going on in the dugout?

 

Go f*** yourself Joe

[Milkman delivers]

Could Cowley be any more of a joke?

 

I wouldn't think so, but I can't put it past him.

 

So now Joey is coming to the rescue to save face for Guillen.

 

So Cooper is a bad guy for asking for an extension, and telling Kenny about the circus act going on in the dugout?

 

Go f*** yourself Joe

 

Let's not worry too much about Cowley. Nobody will give the guy an interview. He'll be out of a job soon enough.

[scenario]

So now Joey is coming to the rescue to save face for Guillen.

 

So Cooper is a bad guy for asking for an extension, and telling Kenny about the circus act going on in the dugout?

 

Go f*** yourself Joe

 

Amazingly weak and whiny column by Cowley.

 

Not even blogger quality.

 

Would be thrilled to see him take his talents to South Beach... and bring his fictional 'sources' with him.

 

 

[shakes]

It was exaggeration for effect. I hope you read the entire thread up to that point.

 

I have. Have you read some of the things you have written? I get it, it's a weird, and questionable hire, to say the least. But, the hyperbole is out of control. Reasons for doubt are evident, but if this team doesn't improve the product on the field, the manager will be the least of the problem. Robin has zero experience, but a lot of tools to be a good manager. We will have to wait and see, but I am not ready to write him off just yet.

Edited October 7, 2011 by shakes