Firt Plce Houton Astos -- sounds good, no? But something seems to be missing, no? Missing just like the 'm' in the anager's na e. Tony Pena (my choice nearly two years back to take over) has wrung all that there is to wring out of KC, no? Yes! He has performed miracles with THAT group. Yes, Yes!!! Jimy Wiliams has his team in 1st but has not wrung out all there is to wring out of the oys of Sum er, no? Yes, Yes! I believe this team should have won at least one more game every two weeks with a better, more effective anager, 8 - 10 more games won. The Central WON. Of course Jimy has been hamstrung by that great Astro -- of yesteryear. The centerfielder/leadoff hitter. Bigg deserves all of the respect in the world, and a rocking chair. Or the MANAGER's CHAIR. Mr McLane, this is not Baylor (recruit CD as the new AD, BTW) this is the Astros. This is solvable for the team and your bottom line: Name Bigg player/manager (or just manager) effective 24 hours after the last pitch of this season (or today, if you'd like!). Rid us of the missing M and rid us of the missing link in the lineup.
you must be joking...miller has stunk...oswalt has been on the DL 3 times... and the astros are in first place in a division where arguably the best manager in baseball is controlling arguably the best pitching staff in baseball...
I do not like Williams, but it is amazing that they continue to be in first place. - Oswalt has won 6 games and been injured for over a month - Miller has been mediocre (at best) - They have used 12 starters - Arguably, their best starter has been journeyman Ron Villone - They only have one regular hitting over .300 (Hidalgo) and only one more (Kent) hitting over .290 - Kent missed about a month - Bagwell had a great April and has been mediocre since. He is hitting HRs again, but his average and production are down. He had 6 RBI the entire month of May (Kent had that many last night) - Hidalgo missed a few weeks - They have 0, zero, zilch, nada team speed Williams' main problem has been the overuse of Lidge, Dotel and Wagner. Most of the time it has been by need, but games like last night have been too frequent. There was no need for Lidge to be in the game in the 7th. Stone was rested and has been outstanding as of late (in his last 17 game, he has given up 0 runs 16 times). He should have been in (or let White pitch another inning) and have Lidge or Dotel ready if needed.
Please inform us as to what exactly Jimy could have done different to gain these extra wins. Grab a bat & hit, like Biggio asked Dirk to do? Put himself in the starting rotation? What exactly?
Substitution patterns, both in field and on mound. Sitting hot guys, playing cold ones. If Jim y is that good, then just how bad must these guys be?
i don't think that gets the job done. managers in baseball are overrated in terms of impact. it's not that his team is bad...it's that he's been fielding less than his best team for some time now. we have a ridiculous rotation right now...Jared Fernandez?? please! and we're in first place this late in the season. that's huge. if we win the division, will it still not be good enough, xiki?? by the way...i would point out that you were the one telling us this team was "bad" well before the season started. if i remember right, you told us they'd be battling Cincy for 4th place. by your own preseason definition, jimy should be manager of the year.
Joe Torre, Bobby Cox, Tony Pena et al are overrated in terms of impact? Yes, you remember right -- I was doom and gloom before the season. One of the reasons for the gloom, I'm sure I added, was the anager. This team has won slightly more than half its games and is still best of its group. I believe this motley crew of over the hills and never beens, and guys on the hill who cannot find the hill still should be a dozen games over 500 with Pena or Bigg or Dierk or ??? managing instead of the anager in place. BTW - what was up with dumping Zaun??????????????????????
Wit gets low grades, but the effort to keep the missing M's throughout the post was excellent. P.S. Are you missing Austin as much as I am?
A couple of things: - It opens a spot on the 40 man roster in case another move is forthcoming. - Zaun wasn't getting the job done offensively or defensively. By releasing him, he is free to sign on with another team immediately. It is a respectful move to a veteran to not leave him in limbo.
I thought the title was OK, but to keep missing the Ms was too much, IMO. Not missing Austin as much as I miss the people in Austin. I'm very excited about moving to Houston in 10 days!
I appreciate the critiques on the missing M and M's. What I would like to be issing is the an with issing M in his first na e.
yes...absolutely. 1. Joe Torre -- um. yeah...a trained chimp could have won World Series rings with the guys he had 2. Bobby Cox -- see Joe Torre, above. one of the best starting rotations in the history of the game. think Bobby Cox would make a difference for the Texas Rangers this year?? of course not...you have to have the talent. players win games...not managers. 3. Tony Pena -- come on! the royals are better BECAUSE OF TONY PENA??? that's so ridiculous. they're better because Jose Lima comes in and pitches like he used to...they're better because they're getting great years out of good young players. Most baseball minds will tell you that the difference between a good manager and a bad manager is about 3-4 wins over the course of a 162 game season.
Oh I don't know about that stuff. A manager can set the tone for a club, a certain mindset. Quick, name five Royals. Exactly. Tony Pena obviously is relating to and energizing those players in a way that didn't happen before.
Jose Lima Kevin Appier Raul Ibanez Carlos Beltran Desi Relaford Actually, I do feel that Pena should get a lot of credit as he has gotten more out of that team than many, and you can argue that the players are playing over their heads. However, there has to be a reason for that and it could be that Tony has inspired these guys to play that hard for him. It reminds me of the Angels of last year. No one really expected them to do anything, but they played over their heads and won the World Series. I'm not saying that KC will win the WS, but they, like the Angels of last season, are playing over their heads right now. The interesting thing to see will be the 2004 season to see if the Royals are really that good or are like the Angels of this season, a one season wonder.
