Thursday, September 16, 2004
Coach Class
While Mets manager Art Howe's coaching ability has been called into question lately, the strength of his character has proven to be irrefutable. Mets general manager Jim Duquette made yet another blunder this week when news of his plans to fire Howe at season's end was leaked to the media. Howe refused to be strung along and demanded to be fired immediately if he was to be fired at all. Duquette obliged but gave Howe the option to stay on until the Mets' schedule puts them out of their collective misery for the 2004 campaign. Many men would have left the Mets right then and there. Knowing the team had lost faith in them and would be obligated to pay them their due $4.7 million either way, many a good man would have packed his things and taken a vacation or begun looking for his next job. And who could blame them if they did? Art Howe chose otherwise. With his team out of the playoff race and his job security weaker than that of Oakland's visitor's bullpen, Howe opted to stand by his team and finish the job he was hired to do.
As Howe told the Associated Press, he's "not a quitter."
As a Mets fan, I never liked the hiring of Howe. Obviously, I'm no ballplayer and have no personal knowledge of Howe's abilities. I just didn't see the logic in bringing a "player's coach" (i.e. a pushover) to a team that had issues with players giving each other haircuts during games and smoking the hippy lettuce in their time off. Those circumstances seemed to call for more of a disciplinarian than a new buddy. I don't blame Howe in any way for the Mets' struggles, but it just never seemed to be a good fit. However, his decision to stick this season out knowing he's already been fired was a stroke of rare integrity. Compare Howe's actions with those of NFL star receiver Keyshawn Johnson who decided he didn't want to play in Tampa Bay the following year and let it be known by putting his house up for sale--in the first month of the season. It's one thing to have talent, but another attribute entirely to be a man of principle. I salute Amicable Art and I hope he catches on with a team that will be better suited to his style.
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Speaking of Major League managing, it's time for Angels manager Mike Scioscia to earn his golden halo. After his team's second consecutive loss to last-place Seattle, Angel catcher Bengie Molina told the LA Times "A lot of us are thinking too much" which would explain how the team's on-again-off-again offense sputtered against Mariner starter Ryan Franklin who was 0-11 in his previous fifteen starts. The 2002 Angel team was an underdog, to put it mildly, from the first pitch of the season until the last out of the World Series. They were a team that had nothing to lose and everything to gain. However, with this year's Angel club bearing the fruits of the free agent market, they have been expected by many experts and fans to win the division if not the pennant or the World Series. Living up to these heavenly hopes is proving to be a decidedly more difficult task for the Angels than shocking the baseball world like they did just two years before. If the Angel players are indeed caught in their own heads and are not performing to the best of their abilities because of it, it's time for Coach Sciosh to step up and do something about it. He's saying all the right things in the papers about winning one game at a time and not watching the scoreboard, but his up-and-down team does not appear to be taking it to heart no matter how hard they try. I have every faith that the 2002 American League Manager of the Year will come up with something to get his team mentally prepared for the rising heat of this pennant race. The Angels' final 10 games are against Oakland and Texas and I believe in that stretch Scioscia will summon the postseaon mettle they earned in their title run in and will guide the way to a schedule carried deep into October. However, if the Angels falter and do not make it to this season's after party, I feel more of the blame should fall on Scioscia than on injuries. Don't get me wrong, I am not calling for the firing of the Angels' manager--not by a longshot. Win or lose, I think he's a tremendous coach and I absolutely want him in Anaheim for years to come. However, even a great manager is not successful in every single season. If the Angels continue to lose one-run games to 5th starters on last place teams because they're "thinking too much" and do, in fact, fall short this season, it will mark a failure for Mike Scioscia.
Beyond that, it may spark a broader debate. Is there two distinct breeds of good coaches/managers in sports? Is there one type who's gift is for turning walk-ons into winners and another who's suited to bringing real championships to dream teams? Angel Nation is counting on Scioscia to prove there is a third class of coach that can do both.
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As Howe told the Associated Press, he's "not a quitter."
As a Mets fan, I never liked the hiring of Howe. Obviously, I'm no ballplayer and have no personal knowledge of Howe's abilities. I just didn't see the logic in bringing a "player's coach" (i.e. a pushover) to a team that had issues with players giving each other haircuts during games and smoking the hippy lettuce in their time off. Those circumstances seemed to call for more of a disciplinarian than a new buddy. I don't blame Howe in any way for the Mets' struggles, but it just never seemed to be a good fit. However, his decision to stick this season out knowing he's already been fired was a stroke of rare integrity. Compare Howe's actions with those of NFL star receiver Keyshawn Johnson who decided he didn't want to play in Tampa Bay the following year and let it be known by putting his house up for sale--in the first month of the season. It's one thing to have talent, but another attribute entirely to be a man of principle. I salute Amicable Art and I hope he catches on with a team that will be better suited to his style.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Speaking of Major League managing, it's time for Angels manager Mike Scioscia to earn his golden halo. After his team's second consecutive loss to last-place Seattle, Angel catcher Bengie Molina told the LA Times "A lot of us are thinking too much" which would explain how the team's on-again-off-again offense sputtered against Mariner starter Ryan Franklin who was 0-11 in his previous fifteen starts. The 2002 Angel team was an underdog, to put it mildly, from the first pitch of the season until the last out of the World Series. They were a team that had nothing to lose and everything to gain. However, with this year's Angel club bearing the fruits of the free agent market, they have been expected by many experts and fans to win the division if not the pennant or the World Series. Living up to these heavenly hopes is proving to be a decidedly more difficult task for the Angels than shocking the baseball world like they did just two years before. If the Angel players are indeed caught in their own heads and are not performing to the best of their abilities because of it, it's time for Coach Sciosh to step up and do something about it. He's saying all the right things in the papers about winning one game at a time and not watching the scoreboard, but his up-and-down team does not appear to be taking it to heart no matter how hard they try. I have every faith that the 2002 American League Manager of the Year will come up with something to get his team mentally prepared for the rising heat of this pennant race. The Angels' final 10 games are against Oakland and Texas and I believe in that stretch Scioscia will summon the postseaon mettle they earned in their title run in and will guide the way to a schedule carried deep into October. However, if the Angels falter and do not make it to this season's after party, I feel more of the blame should fall on Scioscia than on injuries. Don't get me wrong, I am not calling for the firing of the Angels' manager--not by a longshot. Win or lose, I think he's a tremendous coach and I absolutely want him in Anaheim for years to come. However, even a great manager is not successful in every single season. If the Angels continue to lose one-run games to 5th starters on last place teams because they're "thinking too much" and do, in fact, fall short this season, it will mark a failure for Mike Scioscia.
Beyond that, it may spark a broader debate. Is there two distinct breeds of good coaches/managers in sports? Is there one type who's gift is for turning walk-ons into winners and another who's suited to bringing real championships to dream teams? Angel Nation is counting on Scioscia to prove there is a third class of coach that can do both.
# posted by j.h.k. @ 1:49 PM 
