We all watched as the New York Mets whipping boy, my
opinion, Daniel Murphy hit what turned out to be the game winning home run off
the Los Angeles Dodgers starter Zack Greinke that sent the Dodgers home early
for the third straight season in awe. The Dodgers, the team with possibly the
two best starting pitchers in the National League and the team with the $300
million payroll, were headed home early with their manager Don Mattingly’s
behind placed firmly in the hot seat. Me personally, I think Mattingly is a
good manager and I think it would be a mistake to let him get out of Los
Angeles but after that Game 5 of the NLDS I’d be shocked if he didn’t get
fired.
I say this, and I know it will be an unpopular article once
again here on the blog, because the way that Game 5 was handled. When you have
the confidence and control in and from your team that a manager commands and
expects you don’t have one of your star players in Andre Ethier screaming at
you in the dugout in the third inning. Emotions run high, especially in an
elimination game, but you cannot let it spill out in the dugout for all to see.
You take Ethier in the tunnel, you let him cool down first, whatever you have to
do. The game of Major League Baseball is a sport and a child’s game but it’s
also a business and when the fans and paying customers see that the first
immediate thought that pops into many heads is that Mattingly has lost control
of his team.
Mattingly addressed the media and stood up for his player,
as a good manager should, stating that Ethier was just yelling because he was
frustrated with the play and the call from the umpire and that Ethier was not
mad at Mattingly specifically. Mattingly stated he was trying to calm Ethier
down as to keep him from being ejected, again in a game of this magnitude that
is what a good manager did, which are all reasons not to get rid of Donnie
Baseball. The Dodgers upper management can ignore all this if they choose to
though and instead focus on three straight trips to the playoffs and three
straight National League West Division titles along with three disappointing
and early exits from the National League playoffs.
The Los Angeles Dodgers haven’t been to the World Series
since 1988 but, again in my opinion, the last person to take the axe for $780
million in payroll spent over the last three seasons and little to show for it
is Don Mattingly.
I am not sure if this is a start of the get Mattingly for Manager and eat Joe's contract or not! But it wouldn't be such a bad idea to try him in place of Joe, I think Joe had his day...but, it is over. Not that I dislike Joe in any way, shape or form, I just think the idea of playing a rookie and setting a vet is something he has trouble with. Beltran should have been set much more than he was in the first half, but Joe put him out there day after day anyhow.
ReplyDeleteThere are many that think Joe isn't a good manager, he has his faults as does most managers and people, but a bad manager, NO!
Could Don Mattingly do a better job? Your guess is as good as mine.
More likely that Mattingly would be a hitting coach to replace Pentland. Just can't see the Yankees firing Girardi. One thing Hans always said, and he was right, is that the Yankees won't pay two GM's or managers unless they absolutely have to.
DeleteOf course, you and Ken are thinking in the real world of Hal's!
DeleteI was more or less in the fantasy world of "what could be"!
Sometimes, my little "What could be" turns out to be true but, in this case...not so much!
Weirder things have happened.
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