Mick dateline='[url=tel:1699062786' Wrote: 1699062786[/url]']
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Giants dateline='[url=tel:1698940665' Wrote: 1698940665[/url]']
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Bochy can really run a team, when he has players. Congratulations to him, great manager.
No qualifier needed…
Bochy now ranks among the best baseball managers ever. Period.
Heck, ESPN posted an article suggesting he may be at the top of the list.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/3879...hy-manager
Beg to differ. I added the qualifier because 13 of Bochy's 26 seasons -- a full 50% -- were worse records than the worst full year ever managed by the guy who got fired. That's 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019.
Presumably those were seasons when free agents didn't work out, regulars had bad years, too many rookies, etc. You know, seasons during which Kapler never experienced those things.
Without looking anything up, I’m guessing Mack, Alston, McCarthy, Stengel and Torre all had some rough seasons, too. And yet they are all in the HOF and are considered among the greatest ever to manage a team. Bochy will join them in the Hall on the first ballot once he is eligible (and I kinda doubt his plaque will include any qualifiers).
IMO, he is unquestionably the best manager the game has seen since the dawn of the expansion era (1961).
Well, Stengel had the Mets, so you're probably right about that. But Stengel and Torre also managed the Yankees for 12 years apiece, which is when both won their World Series . McCarthy had them for 16 years, won all his WS Championships with them. McCarthy had three seasons with Ted Williams/DiMaggio/Pesky/Stephens/Doerr/Tebbetts' Red Sox. He got his start with the Cubs, who had Hack Wilson, Gabby Hartnett, Charlie Grimm, Guy Bush, Charlie Root, Grover Cleveland Alexander and others.
In 24 years, McCarthy never finished worse than .525, his last season. Alston finished worse than Kapler's worst season just three times in 23 years. Torre only finished worse than Kapler's worst year nine times, 31% of his career. Stengel finished worse than Kapler's worst season 12 times in his 25 years...all of them with sad sack teams, including the Dodgers, Bees/Braves, and the Mets. Most managers who coached the Yankees for a long time had similar results. Miller Huggins only had five seasons worse than Kapler's worst in his 17 years, 12 of which were with the Yankees.
Connie Mack coached for 53 years, and finished with a record worse than Kapler's worst year 25 times...but his first ten years, he finished with strong records.
John McGraw, who coached the Giants for 31 years and the Orioles for three years, only had three years that were worse than Kapler's worst.
And I don't think any HoF plaque contains any qualifiers. Cy Young's doesn't mention that he lost more games than all but 16 pitchers won. Connie Mack's doesn't mention that he had 25 losing seasons as a manager, just his five WS championships.
..and I’ll bet none of the HOF managers did anything closely comparable to pinch hitting Mathias for Crawford. :)
(heck, that action alone is worthy of a plaque mention for a guy who belongs in the Hall of Shame)