Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine Batter's Box Interactive Magazine
No real surprises in the Manager of the Year races, and no tight finishes either: Tony Pena's run with the Royals netted him the AL award, easily outdistancing second-place Ron Gardenhire, while Florida' s Jack McKeon made a lot of voters look smart with his World Series win, since they'd already voted him the NL award by a large margin over Dusty Baker. Carlos Tosca garnered a single second-place award, perhaps from a close family member, while someone devoted a third-place ballot to Alan Trammel, presumably on the belief that the Tigers would have lost 130 games with a different guy in charge. So far as I know, managers don't receive bonuses for winning this award as players do for the MVP or Cy. The only time you'll hear of this award after today is as the inevitable ironic observation after the manager is fired about 18 months from now.
Managing to Succeed | 15 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Pepper Moffatt - Wednesday, November 12 2003 @ 04:27 PM EST (#86214) #
http://economics.about.com
More interestingly: Lou Piniella got *4* 2nds and a third by finishing 63-99. I know it's an 8 game improvement, but *jeez*.

It shows you how weak the class in the AL is when Tampa can lose 99 games and the manager still gets more votes than Frank Robinson.
Craig B - Wednesday, November 12 2003 @ 04:29 PM EST (#86215) #
Carlos Tosca garnered a single second-place award, perhaps from a close family member

Boo! :) Jordan, you can't argue that the man has had success, and with a cast of talent that isn't exactly overwhelming. I think he's done a terrific job, even though his reliever usage pattern sends me right over the edge.

His .531 winning % as the skip has been superb. Of course, it's nowhere near the winning % of the best two managers in Jays history.

And that means... TRIVIA TIME!

Who are these two managers? (i.e. the two best managers in Blue Jays history, regarding winning percentage) No peeking at websites or record books!
Leigh - Wednesday, November 12 2003 @ 04:34 PM EST (#86216) #
Gaston and Cox?
Craig B - Wednesday, November 12 2003 @ 04:36 PM EST (#86217) #
Good try, nope.
_mathesond - Wednesday, November 12 2003 @ 04:38 PM EST (#86218) #
I'm thinking Gene Tenace, and maybe Mel Queen? I'm kinda figuring they're guys who filled in for a few games while a manager was suspended or fired with a week to go
Pepper Moffatt - Wednesday, November 12 2003 @ 04:38 PM EST (#86219) #
http://economics.about.com
Who are these two managers? (i.e. the two best managers in Blue Jays history, regarding winning percentage) No peeking at websites or record books!

It's probably a couple of guys who were interims or fill ins for a game or two. Mel Queen and John Gibbons are my guesses.
Craig B - Wednesday, November 12 2003 @ 04:39 PM EST (#86220) #
Mike, nope, but good try. Also, John Gibbons was never officially listed as manager in the record books.
Craig B - Wednesday, November 12 2003 @ 04:40 PM EST (#86221) #
Whoops! I missed mathesond's post.

Gene Tenace and Mel Queen are correct!
Craig B - Wednesday, November 12 2003 @ 04:41 PM EST (#86222) #
Incidentally... Tenace's record as skip... 19-14. Queen was 4-0.
Pepper Moffatt - Wednesday, November 12 2003 @ 04:42 PM EST (#86223) #
http://economics.about.com
Mike, nope, but good try. Also, John Gibbons was never officially listed as manager in the record books.

Ah. I didn't know that.

Isn't Gibbons like 3-0 managing over the last couple of years?

Mike
_mathesond - Wednesday, November 12 2003 @ 04:43 PM EST (#86224) #
I think Fregosi would be fairly high up too. Didn't he finish with plus-.500 records in each of his seasons?
_Ryan - Wednesday, November 12 2003 @ 04:54 PM EST (#86225) #
Incidentally... Tenace's record as skip... 19-14. Queen was 4-0.

Queen is actually 4-1. Baseball Reference missed his first game, which was a loss. That probably means they're crediting an extra loss to Cito's record (I haven't checked to make sure).

The Blue Jays media guide has the correct records.
Craig B - Wednesday, November 12 2003 @ 04:57 PM EST (#86226) #
Thanks Ryan. Retrosheet has the right info, I'll pass the oversight along to Sean.
Leigh - Wednesday, November 12 2003 @ 05:01 PM EST (#86227) #
Just leafing through through Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Lineups and realized that I was 1 for 2 in my previous guess (Cox and Gaston). I guess that I was glorifying Gaston because I forgot about the post 1993 years. Oh well. If the other guy would have told me that he was on the list, I would have thought that he was lying anyway.
_S.K. - Thursday, November 13 2003 @ 12:13 AM EST (#86228) #
I'm gonna assume the other answer is Tim Johnson... what do I win?
Managing to Succeed | 15 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.