The Ol' Ballfield

CH-CH-CH-CH-CHANGES!

Time to face the strange....

Buck Showalter, famous for being the best sports-related actor on Seinfeld (sorry Keith), was the latest in a string of managers to be relieved of their posts. Jim Hickey was also fired as Houston's pitching coach, but honestly, a pitching coach in Houston can't have much to do anyway.

"Well, Rocket, I think what's going on is there's a problem with--"
"Shut up."

Yesterday rookie Marlin manager Joe Girardi was fired after a season for which he could very well win manager of the year, presumably because he couldn't change time. Has that ever happened before? Maybe, but it's 7:52 right now, and I don't trust myself to get the research done before the Tigers-Yankees game, so you'll have to wait or find out yourselves. SO for those of you keeping score at home, the following managers have been fired or not re-upped:

1. Felipe Alou (San Francisco)
2. Frank Robinson (Washington)
3. Dusty Baker (Chicago Cubs)
4. Joe Girardi (Florida)
5. Buck Showalter (Texas)

Of these, I believe only Robinson has said that he is done with baseball. Here is some information/completely unsubstantiated rumor about offseason managerial moves:

1. Joe Girardi

Writers have been forecasting Girardi's move to Chicago since the first tiff with Jeffrey Loria transpired. Girardi worked wonders in Florida with a rag-tag bunch of league-minimum earners that, to be fair, included MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera and at least five or six ROTY candidates. The Cubs are a rag-tag bunch of... really overpaid role players, save for D-Lee, Carlos Zambrano, and three of Mark Prior's limbs. Girardi has been said to be able to jump-start such a team, and he may be able to supply the spark they need in Wrigley. Dusty's a baseball guy, but he didn't seem to have a lot of "spunk", nor did he give the impression of being a hard-ass of any kind. Cubs fans want Joe, but whether Joe wants the Cubs remains to be seen.

Willie Randolph was Joe Torre's hand-picked successor for years, turning down offer after offer to sit next to Torre on the bench and wait for him to retire. When the Mets came calling, Willie couldn't refuse and Girardi took that spot on the bench. Rumors say that Torre wanted Girardi to be his NEW successor, and told him to take the Florida job for a few years to get his credentials up. Well, now Girardi's out of a job after a great season, and Torre is old enough that retiring after a championship is not completely out of the question. You do the math.... Of course, there is another, TRUER YANKEE on that bench waiting to be a manager, and his name rhymes with Ron Shaddingly. Also, Joe Torre might want to manage in New York until he dies. Like I said, these are just ideas....

2. Ron Washington

Washington is the 3rd-base coach of the Oakland A's, and for some time has been getting press about becoming a manager. I don't know much about him, but expect him to take some interviews, if only to act as a minority candidate. Sad, but true.

3. Lou Piniella

Sweet Lou is one of the worst broadcasters I've ever heard, and word out of Tampa is that he is itchin' to get back to the bench. Sounds like a win-win: no more Lou in the booth, and more bases thrown into the outfield. But Lou has very specific tastes... he likes to run, and likes to have a couple big bats. The Cubs are fast, and have a couple bats, so they fit that formula. What Lou hate hate HATES, however, is having to teach the fundamentals (key word: mental) to more than one or two bench guys. (Lou in Tampa: "Can you believe this shit! We look like a bunch of fuckin' Russians that have never seen a fuckin' baseball before!") The Cubs have a lotta guys that need some head work. Put it simply, Lou would probably only go to the Cubs if he were very confident they could win. He very much wants to be back in New York, but those two jobs may be tied up for a while. Another place that might be a good fit for Lou, and might be losing a current manager? Philadelphia. Conjecture, but not unreasonable conjecture.

4. Bob Brenly

I was watching a Cubs game, and during an interview with Tommy Lasorda, Lasorda chided him for being in the booth and not with a team. Brenly did not seem opposed to the idea either, and the guy did win a World Series not ten years ago. Could be a Jim Leyland comeback situation in the works.


Gotta go watch baseball on TV. Kudos to Mark Kotsay for hitting an inside-the-park home run FOUR YEARS TO THE DAY after Ray Durham last hit a postseason inside-the-park job for the A's. Extra kudos to Jose Valentin for getting two assists with one throw to home. Anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, watch Sportscenter tonight. Now THAT'S comedy.

posted by Carnival @ 10/04/2006