A great Beane-Macha moment I just remembered by Tim Kawakami

by broncobert on Oct 21, 2006 12:04 AM PDT

My jaw just dropped after reading this article and I had to post it for my first diary on AN. I don't know if this article has been posted before but wow it sure is very indicative of who was in charge.

http://mercextra.com/blogs/kawakami/2006/10/18/a-great-beane-macha-moment-i-just-remembered/#more-12 7

This pretty sums up what Billy thinks of his managers. What big name managers would ever think about coming to Oakland and experiencing that kind of treatment. I would assume that is why most predictions keep pointing to in house.

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Wow

Cra-z, dude.

by hunter on Oct 21, 2006 12:34 AM PDT reply actions

As much as I love Beane...

That is just a messed up thing to do to your employee.

by ryder1650 on Oct 21, 2006 12:37 AM PDT reply actions

doesn't really seem all that messed up to me

i left a comment in the article stating what i felt; i guess that i'll just copy and paste it here as well, since it states how i feel:
this doesn't seem like a classless act to me at all. Billy needed to sit, and the only choice for him to give the interview was in the empty manager's room. it seems rather classy to me that Billy would give an interview under such cercumstances. then in the middle of said interview the manager returns: at this point does it really make sense for Billy to halt all that he is doing to make space for Mach who's just looking to eat. when all Mach needs to do is give Billy a minute or two. it is Mach's office, but he does work for Billy - and the pecking order is clear.

"Apparently there's a rule that you have to be old enough to drive yourself to the induction ceremony. So obviously that's not gonna work."

by F171615 on Oct 21, 2006 12:45 AM PDT up reply actions

Your orange and blue Tidewater blinders

allow you to see the green but prevent you from being humiliated by Elway's 40 yard out pattern bullets from the far hash. Plus, Miss Manners has stated time and time again that flip-flops are okay, but eating in the weight room across the hall is an insult to beat writers without an appointment.

by southofcruiseamerica on Oct 21, 2006 1:20 AM PDT up reply actions

it's pretty well known

as one of the baseball traditions that the manager controls use of his own office. That doesn't mean that all do or should honor all baseball traditions or that some can't be changed for the better (after all, some were pretty neanderthal, such as never letting a woman in the lockerroom, which helped Dave Kingman feel justified in sending a rat to a woman reporter). But the one about having the manager control use of his office not only is very practical but shows at least some respect.

by OaklandSi on Oct 21, 2006 8:48 AM PDT up reply actions

very nice interview

"Apparently there's a rule that you have to be old enough to drive yourself to the induction ceremony. So obviously that's not gonna work."

by F171615 on Oct 21, 2006 2:01 AM PDT reply actions

was it just me

or was that article horribly written?

by fadedash on Oct 21, 2006 2:39 AM PDT reply actions

No, I'm afraid

you were horribly written too.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 8:18 AM PDT up reply actions

It's not really an article

just an informal little piece on his blog that he thought would be of some interest. And apparently, he was right, because I've seen it posted here at least three times. :)

Kettlecorn! Swishercorn!

by TurnTwo on Oct 21, 2006 8:44 AM PDT up reply actions

is it just me

or have I read this before?

There's no crying in baseball!

by gigglingone on Oct 21, 2006 9:07 AM PDT reply actions

it was posted before

but not as the point of a diary, which I think it deserves.

On AN I think we are in general way too quick to praise BB and slow to point out his flaws. This is a huge indicator of a dysfunctional organization.

the guidelines need to be in place where everyone gets treated with respect, and its clearly not evident here. After getting treated like this by his boss, it isn't any wonder that Macha treated the bottom of his roster in the same way. That is the standard set by the top man.
I'm not saying this excuses Macha, he should try to rise above it, which I think he did after being fired in how he handled himself.

by connie mack on Oct 21, 2006 10:21 AM PDT reply actions

If this story is true,

then Beane's a total asshole. I'm still glad he's our GM, but he needs to work on NEVER treating people that way. That's a classically abusive relationship.

by kvn on Oct 21, 2006 11:34 AM PDT reply actions

Jerk

I how the next manager has the back bone to stand up to King Billy. He certainly could use coaching on how he treats people.

by vandy on Oct 21, 2006 11:39 AM PDT reply actions

Beane

firther proof, were it needed, that really rich people whose sense of entitlement is only exceeded by their sense of self-absorption, are really what's choking this world to death.

What happened to human decorum, to respect among people, among co-workers? To do that to someone in a workplace, in front of the media no less, is just indescribably wrong.

The more I hear about this little Napoleonic f*cker, the more I want to kick him in the ass.

next A's manager: Diego Chavez *CHANGE DIEGO NOW!!!!*

by emperor nobody on Oct 21, 2006 1:24 PM PDT reply actions

napoleonic?

beane is way taller than napoleon and rashad.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Oct 21, 2006 1:47 PM PDT up reply actions

Though maybe not Napoleon

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 1:57 PM PDT up reply actions

i have no problem with

people considering beane unprofessional and/or an asshole, but napoleonic? he's not at all short, he doesn't appear to be compensating for something, and he wasn't at all confrontational or aggressive.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Oct 21, 2006 2:29 PM PDT up reply actions

Um, I think emperor nobody

was referring to the three-kinds-of-ice-cream sandwich? Hello-o-o!!!

-Cindi.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 2:46 PM PDT up reply actions

he is compensating

for the fact that he isn't the field manager of this team. He sounds like he treated Macha like Joe Pesci treated Spider in Goodfellas, except BB didn't shoot him. I'm beginning to think we're never going to win anything as long as he is here, just on karma alone.

Please tell me I'm wrong & overreacting and why. I was gonna buy a 40 game package and now I am not so sure. I don't root well for nasty people that treat others with abusive disdain.

He sounds like Steinbrenner with less wrinkles and better hair.

next A's manager: Diego Chavez *CHANGE DIEGO NOW!!!!*

by emperor nobody on Oct 22, 2006 2:21 AM PDT up reply actions

I think if I let my feelings about

some aspects of the business side of baseball (and some of the characters involved) get in the way I'd never go to a game again...though sometimes it's hard to ignore. I actually let it get to me after the baseball strike that basically cancelled the season. It took a couple of years (when I wasn't living near enough to a major league club) for me to get back into following it.

by OaklandSi on Oct 22, 2006 10:08 AM PDT up reply actions

so true

My feelings exactly. I, too, was not so quick to forgive and forget after the strike. It was a couple of seasons before I was ready to root for these guys again.

My record at A's games this year -- regular season: 13-8 / postseason: 1-1

by peanut gallery on Oct 23, 2006 2:33 PM PDT up reply actions

if we're not going to win based on karma

but beane is steinbrenner with better hair, why the hell has karma let steinbrenner win like 58 world championships?

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Oct 23, 2006 10:08 AM PDT up reply actions

also, i don't think you're quite grasping

the concept of compensating for something.
if beane is compensating for the fact that he isn't a field manager, what is preventing him from being a manager?

and to say someone is "nasty" is just ridiculous when it's based on a story that kawakami is reporting over a year after the fact.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Oct 23, 2006 10:25 AM PDT up reply actions

On the flip side, how interesting

that the alleged incident didn't stay in this writer mind...until suddenly he remembered it a few days after Macha was fired...at the exact time that people were trying to think of original things to write on the topic.

I mean, wouldn't Mr. Kawakami's time have been more productively served, while he was at it, remembering that thing his uncle made him do when he was 9?

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 1:27 PM PDT reply actions

I just remembered....

the time I saw Billy Beane berating Stomper, right in front of his kids!!! I think it was a repressed memory, or something. Oh, and did I mention Billy Beane's twisted penchant for kitten-shaking?

by kvn on Oct 21, 2006 2:07 PM PDT up reply actions

Shaken kitties. It's so sad. :-(

No wait, I'm thinking of shaken ketchup bottles. And it's really not that sad at all.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 2:20 PM PDT up reply actions

It is when the

last person to use the bottle forgot to put the cap back on.

by DMOAS on Oct 21, 2006 4:46 PM PDT up reply actions

Makes you wonder

what else this guy has conveniently forgotten. I doubt this is the whole story, it's just enough to make it sound interesting.

by DMOAS on Oct 21, 2006 4:49 PM PDT up reply actions

What he left out was that

Beane and Macha were doing the dress rehearsal of a scene in the play they were both starring in for charity.

Sure, Macha might have overreacted, but I also felt that Beane overacted.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 6:38 PM PDT up reply actions

well we all knew

Macha was a prima donna and Beane was a poser so really he wasn't giving us anything new.

by DMOAS on Oct 21, 2006 7:43 PM PDT up reply actions

Pre-Madonna?

That would be what, the '80s?

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Oct 21, 2006 7:51 PM PDT up reply actions