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Thursday, November 24, 2005 |
High Campy
Reading this Business Of Baseball interview with former Dodger GM Buzzie Bavasi, the following passage leaps out at me:
Campanella was with me through his entire career. I think I knew Campy better than anyone else. He was a manager's delight. I venture to say had he not been injured he would have been in line to manage the Dodgers. He would have been a good one. He knew his own limitations and would apply this practice to his players.By 1957, Roy Campanella's skills were obviously deteriorating, and of course in 1958 he got in the car accident that prevented him from ever playing again (and nearly took his life). It's unlikely he would have played past 1958 if the accident hadn't happened. So let's assume that he was taken seriously as a managerial candidate, though it's not at all clear that would be the case. Remember, this was the same Dodgers front office that would allow Roberto Clemente to go unprotected on the 40-man roster rather than calling him up to the big club because two of O'Malley's partners thought the team already had too many minorities.
But -- for now, forget that. Assume it took him about as long as it took Mike Scioscia to get through the minors and come up to get his shot at managing, eight years. Had he wanted to stay with the Dodgers, he would have had to wait another ten years, as Walter Alston didn't retire until 1976. At only ten years Alston's junior, he would have had a shorter career, but would we be discussing how much influence Tommy Lasorda has inside the organization anymore? Would Pedro Martinez still be pitching for the Dodgers, and Paul Konerko still be in the fold? Dodger fans dream of better days ahead; so can we dream of the better days that might have been.
Comments:
Tommy's been a crank recently, but I'm not ready to say his whole career has been a net negative for the Dodgers. Just too bad he didn't retire altogether when his heart troubles lead to his retirement from managing.
Certainly his post-managerial career is deeply flawed. His induction into the Hall of Fame has given him too many chances to ruin other things. As one observer said (and I wish I could find an attribution for this), Tommy did the least with the most of any manager in baseball. I'm not sure that's entirely true -- how many guys don't even have a single World Series win? -- but it captures the flavor of how I think his career needs to be reviewed: skeptically. His cheerleader role is a popular one, and it gets him a lot of -- too much -- slack.
If Campanella had not been hurt and the Dodgers wanted him to manage, there would have been ample opportunities to show Alston the door to bring in Campanella. Alston was never overwhelmingly beloved during his tenure. It's just one of those things when you look back at his career, it's amazing how successful he was. But like Willy Loman, he was liked, but not well-liked.
Fortunately, the HOF Veterans Committee viewed his record better than the fans in L.A.
If Alston was so beloved, why did he retire with about a week to go in the 1976 season? Why didn't he just finish out the season?
Fortunately, the HOF Veterans Committee viewed his record better than the fans in L.A.
If Alston was so beloved, why did he retire with about a week to go in the 1976 season? Why didn't he just finish out the season?
Bob T. beat me to it--which should be my blogging mantra, by the by--by remarking that Campy might've been made manager way before '76. Alston was in serious jeopardy of losing his job at least three times in his career and all three times he responded wiht a World Serious championship. My favorite bio of my favorite manager is from Bill James who portrayed Alston as a man who seemed perfectly suited to deal with the pressures of being a manager. "Awfully sane" is how James described him, IIRC. Good thing because as Bob said, he didn't have a chance to relax until after the third title, if then.
I don't have an answer to why Alston didn't finish 1976. I don't think it was health related; the guy took up dirtbiking that off-season.
I don't have an answer to why Alston didn't finish 1976. I don't think it was health related; the guy took up dirtbiking that off-season.
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