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Monday, October 10, 2005 |
Dodgers' Name Fifth Managerial Candidate
It's Giants bench coach Ron Wotus. His last name sounds disturbingly like an acronym for Weirdo of the United States (as POTUS, President of ..., and SCOTUS, Supreme Court of ...), but the last time the Dodgers had a former Giant as a coach (hitting coach Jack Clark), they fired him.
Comments:
Hell, if the Dodgers keep Kent, Bradley, and Drew they should be looking for a psychologist, not a baseball coach.
# posted by 
: 10/10/2005 02:55:00 PM
: 10/10/2005 02:55:00 PM
it doesn't matter who manages the dodgers there not going anyware with the gm they have oakland has done a good job in having winning teams,but they come up short at playoff time i don't buy into money ball and i don't buy into what the yankees try to do in selling the farm,sure they have nothing but all stars on the roster but what did that get them? you need a good mix of players and and desire can't be measured but if anybody every watches darrin erstad you know what i mean he might look bad striking out against a tough lefthander but when he comes up in a big ab he usually comes thru and he might not be the tallest first baseman in baseball but there is none better,you can say the same thing about kennedy he makes the play did you see turn the dp in the ninth in game 5 against the yanks molina was the best clutch hitter on the team this year the bench got key hits when it mattered the most down the stretch so you see you don't need 25 barry bonds or derek jeter or alex r. you need a team that plays together
# posted by : 10/11/2005 04:32:00 PM
: 10/11/2005 04:32:00 PM
To be honest, the person really responsible for the huge Angels season is Bud Black and his work with the entire staff. Guys like Lackey and Rodriguez have developed under Black's tutelage into big game guys. Washburn's expanded his pitching game to not rely so much on baiting hitters to smack home runs off his straight pitches. And so on.
I'm a moneyball person myself, but I like to also look at different hitting mechanics and pitching itself. Oakland's organization relies too much on linear-style hitting methods. As do the Angels. What's happened to Erstad's swing is a mini-tragedy, and it shouldn't have happened if he was getting better instruction from Hatcher. Eventually, when true rotational hitting is taught universally at the high school level, you'll see an enormous glut of high OPS players. That in turn will make sabremetrics and sinker pitchers more important. This offspeed/changeup fad is just that; what's really going to stop the next wave of hitters is guys who throw tailing, heavy stuff. It's all about guys with awesome 2-seamers and tailing changeups. To Depo's credit, that's what he aimed for.
Scoscia's smallball is kinda appealing, because it reminds me of how baseball was played in the 80s. There's a heavy nostalgia elements there. I'm a big fan of Scoscia, because his players seem to be tightly knit and do the fundamental stuff well. But, again, what's made the Angels is the phenomenal improvement in their pitching. Again, I tip my hat to Bud Black, who's probably going to be the hottest managerial candidate come offseason.
I personally feel if the 2003 Dodgers pitchers had the healthy 2005 Dodgers hitters, they would have gone to the NLCS and possibly the World Series.
I'm a moneyball person myself, but I like to also look at different hitting mechanics and pitching itself. Oakland's organization relies too much on linear-style hitting methods. As do the Angels. What's happened to Erstad's swing is a mini-tragedy, and it shouldn't have happened if he was getting better instruction from Hatcher. Eventually, when true rotational hitting is taught universally at the high school level, you'll see an enormous glut of high OPS players. That in turn will make sabremetrics and sinker pitchers more important. This offspeed/changeup fad is just that; what's really going to stop the next wave of hitters is guys who throw tailing, heavy stuff. It's all about guys with awesome 2-seamers and tailing changeups. To Depo's credit, that's what he aimed for.
Scoscia's smallball is kinda appealing, because it reminds me of how baseball was played in the 80s. There's a heavy nostalgia elements there. I'm a big fan of Scoscia, because his players seem to be tightly knit and do the fundamental stuff well. But, again, what's made the Angels is the phenomenal improvement in their pitching. Again, I tip my hat to Bud Black, who's probably going to be the hottest managerial candidate come offseason.
I personally feel if the 2003 Dodgers pitchers had the healthy 2005 Dodgers hitters, they would have gone to the NLCS and possibly the World Series.
# posted by : 10/11/2005 09:23:00 PM
: 10/11/2005 09:23:00 PM
The 2003 Dodgers with even mediocre offense would have won the division. With decent (say, top five) hitting, they would have won a title.
2003 was also when I decided Tracy had to go. Still makes me sad that the Dodgers wasted just a unbelievable year of pitching and couldn't even win the division.
And it made Tracy look a lot better as a manager than he really was.
But I guess same could be said about Scoscia this year. Match 2005 Angels hitting with 2004 Angels pitching (pretty much the same staff, significantly different results), and Angels management has to explain what went wrong this year.
Did I just associate Scoscia with Tracy? ;)
And it made Tracy look a lot better as a manager than he really was.
But I guess same could be said about Scoscia this year. Match 2005 Angels hitting with 2004 Angels pitching (pretty much the same staff, significantly different results), and Angels management has to explain what went wrong this year.
Did I just associate Scoscia with Tracy? ;)
# posted by : 10/11/2005 10:17:00 PM
: 10/11/2005 10:17:00 PM
Literally? ;)
But seriously, I love Scoscia to death. I just hope that if Stoneman gives him higher OBP guys, his strategy will adapt.
But seriously, I love Scoscia to death. I just hope that if Stoneman gives him higher OBP guys, his strategy will adapt.
# posted by : 10/12/2005 12:27:00 PM
: 10/12/2005 12:27:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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