Every so often, I do a little charity work. Today, I’ll help the Dodgers find a manager.
“We are looking for a great leader, somebody who has won — who has won the last game of the season,” Colletti said. His goal, he added, would be “winning and building at the same time.”
Winning and building at the same time? Why didn’t anyone else figure that one out?
I assume by winning the last game of the season, he doesn’t mean winning on September 30th to end the season 70-92.
Winning Managers of the last 15 years
– Lou Piniella (’90) – free agent?
– Tom Kelly (’91) – retired
– Cito Gaston (’92, ’93) – forgetton
– Bobby Cox (’95) – still with ATL
– Joe Torre (’96, ’98, ’99, ’00) – still with NYY
– Jim Leyland (’97) – somehow with DET
– Bob Brenly (’01) – AVAILABLE!!!!
– Mike Scioscia (’02) – still with LAA
– Jack McKeon (’03) – retired
– Terry Francona (’04) – still with BOS
No one’s hiring Cito Gaston. I have no idea why, but it’s apparently not happening so let’s go with it. My guess is Colletti had Pinella in mind when he said that line (assuming he had anyone in line, and wasn’t thinking in house) because he got a lot press going into the off season and got out of the Tampa job so he could manage somewhere else as soon as this year if he wanted to.
Pinella won a championship 15 years ago, and hasn’t even been back to the World Series since then. He’s spent the last 13 years in the AL, 10 with a Seattle team he couldn’t ever get all the way, and 3 sucking dirt as a Devil Rays manager, which might have dulled him from being involved in actual major league baseball. Pinella’s not a guy who’s familiar with the NL, much less the NL West. The Dodgers need someone who’s had noted success in that division. They NEED Bob Brenly.
Who wouldn’t want a manager like that? All you need after that is to find a really tall pitcher and a really talkative computer dork pitcher, and you’ve got everything you need to get to the World Series.
I know, it’d be so tough losing him as a Cubs announcer, but I think we might be able to get along without him. Someone’s gotta still have Stone’s phone number.
Why Brenly has yet to get another shot is just amazing to me.
Good work.
Cito burned too many bridges to ever get another shot – he’s de facto blacklisted.
People tend to forget what a remarkable job he did in turning around the 89 Jays, and he also has the “all he did was fill out the lineup card” stigma working against him, which would hurt his chances for an NL job.