Don't feel bad Donnie. Buck Showalter, Bruce Bochy, Terry Francona and Bobby Valentine couldn't win a fucking thing managing agon either. Dude can put up personal numbers but will suck the life out of a team.
lol at the bobby valentine reference one of the worst field managers ever, and a shameless self-promoter who always put himself ahead of his team talk about not being able to win and sucking the life out of his teams...
here's the thing and great story boo and thanks for sharing (fucken len sakara) I have no doubt that donnie is a good man and and good guy your story only reinforces that i won't even say he's (necessarily) a bad manager i just think he was the wrong person for this job they essentially handed him (with zero managing experience) a job he wasn't ready for BUT... is that HIS fault? What, was he supposed to turn down the job? of course not but he was doomed to be second guessed from the start every time something didn't go according to plan (or expectations), he was an easy target so when guggenheim took over the team, it was a forgone conclusion he would be dismissed only he wasn't no, instead they demoted the completely incompetent GM -- who btw had never backed or validated the manager and yet, through all the discourse, this same manager somehow -- somewhat surreptitiously -- led the team to three consecutive NL west titles something no other manager in this team's rich history had been able to do before i've often said the manager gets too much credit when the team wins and not enough blame when they lose and i've also made no secret of my disdain for mattingly's managing prowess so why is it I feel sorry for him and find myself asking "did we just make a mistake?" you know, that kind of mistake where you dump a fat (but nice) girl and she ends up becoming a supermodel idk, but I do know this... i wish donnie the best of luck, wherever he lands and i have no doubt he'll succeed why? because he now possesses not only that managing experience he lacked before, but a track record of success i still feel he was the wrong guy at the wrong time here, but i can't help but wonder if i under appreciated him regardless, thanks for the memories donnie and -- most importantly -- go dodgers!!!
This thread is our official managerial search thread right? Anyways, piecing together things it seems as if confirmed candidates are Bud Black, Bob Geren, Kapler, and Dave Roberts Unclear if some of those are for sure getting an interview or just have big speculation that they are. Others rumored to be in the mix are Dave Martinez, Wallach, and Roenicke
Hot shit...you can't say "shit" about Don Mattingly, but you can about Ron Washington. And no one is going to look foolish if the next guy isn't perfect...just be better than Mattingly.
Rosendouche Numerous people in industry have told me in past 24 hours that they will be surprised if anyone but Gabe Kapler is #Dodgers’ next manager.
There's a difference between being a puppet, and actually believing in the same model that the execs believe in. DBB didn't want to be a puppet..he's old school. Kapler believes in the model. There will be no Dipoto/Scioscia situation here..and the players will either get on board or walk the plank. That's the current Cardinal way that used to be the Dodger way.
It's a great story boo and no one here is saying or has said Donnie is a bad guy. He's just a shitty manager. Wrong guy for the job. He had to go.
The next guy nor anyone else in MLB is perfect. Anyone BETTER than Donnie is what's expected. Regardless of who it is. We're gonna talk shit about them too when bad things happen.
Actually until a blurb I saw in a site I hadn't considered Geren and he has ties to Farhan but his record doesn't excite me. I know he had a cost conscious GM/Owners so he didn't get alot of talent so you have to consider that in his record. He has something in common with Friedman in that he'll have come from a low budget situation to a high budget situation which may be a detriment.
Umm so learning to thrive low budget and then being permitted to spend on talent is bad how?? Ya lost me there boss..
I mean I get it and agree that catchers have a lot of knowledge, but non-catchers have done pretty well too. La Russa was a middle infielder, Farrell was a pitcher, Francona was a 1B/OF, Guillen was a SS obviously, Bobby Cox was a 3B, Cito Gaston was a CF, Lou Pinella was a LF, LaSorda was a pitcher, Whitey Herzog was an OF/1B, etc. Obviously some all-time greats never caught games. Guess what I'm saying is we're not gonna die without a former-catcher at manager.
One could argue that the FO has made more than a few personnel goofs this past year and that they weren't universally applauded for their jobs this year. Not saying it myself because it's too early but it's out there.