Showing posts with label Matt Williams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matt Williams. Show all posts

Friday, October 9, 2015

“We All Know We Can’t Fire Owners” & I Ask Why Not?


In case you have been living under a rock for the past couple of days the New York Yankees fell to the Houston Astros in somewhat embarrassing fashion in the American League Wild Card Playoff round on Tuesday night. I personally dreaded getting back on Twitter Wednesday morning, and that’s sad because I absolutely love Twitter, interacting with you guys and putting the social back into social media, because of the “fans” backlash and reactions to the game from the previous night. After about the 100th “Girardi shouldn’t have benched Ellsbury” tweet (although if he benched Young or Gardner and either went 0-4 the same tweet would have been made with a different name inserted into it) and after the 500th “Fire Girardi” tweet I put out an extremely tongue in cheek response basically asking why we don’t just fire the owner instead of the Yankees manager and GM? I got the above response and it got me to thinking, why couldn’t we fire the owner? I believe we could!

I’m not one of those fans advocating for the firing of Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman. Honestly I would prefer that one or both of them be elsewhere in 2015 only because I think the team needs a new look, a new direction and new leadership. Matt Williams was fired in Washington for losing his grip on the postseason, the NL East Division lead and the grip in the clubhouse and I’m merely curious why Girardi is getting a pass. If CC Sabathia could be seen visibly staggering he was so inebriated in the clubhouse after a game in Baltimore by the beat writers and reporters how did Joe not know? Again, I’m not advocating for his firing as much as I’m simply asking the question that many people are asking and don’t have the avenue to voice it but I’m getting too far off topic here.

Can you fire an owner? Yes and no, it obviously depends on the owner. Could you have fired George Steinbrenner? Absolutely not. Why? The Yankees were his hobby, his entertainment and probably his first and true love.  George ran the team into the ground multiple times during his tenure and operated in the red many seasons while investing his own money or the revenue he gathered from the YES Network back into the team simply to keep the lights on and the checks from bouncing. Hal Steinbrenner on the other hand, and I’m assuming because I don’t know him personally, is more about the bottom line and making money rather than truly winning at all costs. How do you make someone lose interest in a business venture? Hit them in the wallet.


Don’t want the Steinbrenner family owning the Yankees? Don’t want Girardi managing or Cashman “making the calls” on player personnel? Stop buying Yankees gear. Stop buying tickets. Cancel your YES Network subscription, although the Steinbrenner family sold most of their stake in the company already, and cancel your MLB TV subscriptions. Don’t pay to park, don’t pay to watch and don’t pay to eat there. That’s how you do it. If you’re not willing to do that, and again I’m not because I don’t necessarily want them gone as much as the next guy, then please stop complaining about it. I believe it was Gandhi who said “be the change you want to see in the world.” He was a smart man, do it!

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

IBWAA SELECTS SHOWALTER, WILLIAMS IN MANAGER OF THE YEAR VOTE

Los Angeles – The Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) announced the winners in its Manager of the Year category Tuesday, with Buck Showalter, of the Baltimore Orioles winning the American League award, and Matt Williams, of the Washington Nationals, being selected in the National League.
 
Election results are as follows:
 
AL Manager of the Year
 
1st Place:                  Buck Showalter, Baltimore Orioles
2
nd Place:                 
Mike Scioscia, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
3rd Place:                  Ned Yost, Kansas City Royals
 
NL Manager of the Year
 
1st Place:                  Matt Williams, Washington Nationals
2
nd Place:                 
Clint Hurdle, Pittsburgh Pirates
3rd Place:                  Bruce Bochy, San Francisco Giants
 
Showalter received 98 first-place votes and 605 points. Scioscia managed 17 first-place votes and 281 points, while being named on 103 ballots. Yost received 30 first-place votes, 261 points, and was named on 81 ballots.
 
Williams received 61 first-place votes and 414 points. Hurdle garnered 40 first-place votes and 330 points. Bochy received 23 first-place votes and 226 points.
 
Ballot tabulations by Brian Wittig & Associates, using the Borda Method.
 
Below is the remaining IBWAA Awards announcement schedule:
 
Cy Young, Wednesday, November 12, 2014, 11:00 a.m. PST.
MVP, Thursday, November 13, 2014, 11:00 a.m. PST.
 
The IBWAA was established July 4, 2009 to organize and promote the growing online baseball media, and to serve as a digital alternative to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Voting for full season awards takes place in September of each year, with selections being announced in November. The IBWAA also holds a Hall of Fame election in December of each year, with results being announced the following January.
 
In 2010, the IBWAA began voting in its own relief pitcher category, establishing the Rollie Fingers American League Relief Pitcher of the Year and the Hoyt Wilhelm National League Relief Pitcher of the Year Awards.
 
Among others, IBWAA members include Jim Bowden, Jim Caple, Mike Petriello, David Schoenfield, Mark A. Simon andDan Szymborski, ESPN.com; Kevin Baxter Los Angeles Times; Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports; Craig Calcaterra, NBC Sports Hardball Talk; Bill Chuck, GammonsDaily.com; Derrick Goold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; King Kaufman, Bleacher Report; Kevin Kennedy, Kostya Kennedy, Sports Illustrated; Jonah Keri, Grantland; Vlae Kershner, SFGate.com; Chuck Culpepper and Will Leitch, Sports on Earth; Jill Painter Lopez, FoxSportsWest.com, Bruce Markusen, Hardball Times; Ross Newhan; Dayn Perry and Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com; Mark Purdy, San Jose Mercury News; Eno Sarris and Wendy Thurm, FanGraphs; Tom Hoffarth and J.P. Hoornstra Los Angeles Daily News; Pedro Moura, Orange County Register; Neil Payne, FiveThirtyEight.com, Tracy Ringolsby, MLB.com, Ken Rosenthal, FoxSports.com, Dan Schlossberg, USA Today and Jesse Spector, Sporting News.
 
Association membership is open to any and all Internet baseball writers, with a yearly fee of $20, or $35 lifetime. Discounts for groups and scholarships are available. Members must be 18 years of age to apply.

For more information please visit 
www.ibwaa.com.

Contact:
 

Howard Cole
Founding Director, IBWAA
baseballsavvy@aol.com