saint is A’s baseball. I miss your posts!

Letting Wash walk was one of several head scratchers…

didn’t work. FYI

since Geren was the one who initiated this negative change.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/jack-custs-new-approach-at-the-plate/#comments

It’s the players. Too many of them suck.

As to your link, it’s also true that Art Howe has the worst winning percentage of any A’s manager in the ‘90s. Or that Connie Mack has the worst winning percentage of any A’s manager of the first half of the 20th century.

Instructive note: Hank Bauer, who was worse than Geren with the A’s in more than 400 games, led the Orioles to a WS championship. Lucky for him he learned how to manage between 1962 and 1964.

1) You forgot that the A’s have been hit hard by the injury bug in the past few years.
2) Kansas City is only one game ahead of Oakland, hardly something that backs up your point.
3) Texas’ turnaround is more than just Ron Washington.
4) ((Interviewed…Wink…Wink)) is hardly a fact.

Please leave the politics out of it.

“If Ty Waller isn’t to Bob Geren as Cheney was to Bush”

I look forward to reading this blog without partisan (or perceived as partisan) comments one way or the other.

With Geren as our manager. Billy Martin said in his book, that they way to win games is to make the other manager make mistakes or overmanage. Geren continually falls prey th this. Perhaps he should get his head out of his notepad and watch the game. many people think the manager has little effect on a team. Look at Colorado, what a turaround after firing Clint Hurdle.
So lets say they fire Geren, who takes over? Another Steve Boros, Jackie Moore clone? I’m afraid thats what we would get. Personally I go outside of the organization and get a manager with some fire in his soul…Gene Tenace would be my first pick, Dave Stewart my second.

Ron Washington took the Texas job before the A’s made their decision/finished interviewing potential candidates.

That said so much to me – We all speculated that his interview for the A’s job was mere formality on the A’s part (i.e. Geren was the shoe-in), but it became reality to me when Wash took the Texas job as soon as it was offered.

I know his hometown is closer to Arlington than Oakland – but that he would leave the A’s after 13 years without waiting for the chance to be promoted within, spoke volumes to me at the time.

I never wanted to believe Geren was just Billy’s Yes-Man; but I also didn’t want to believe that Billy would hand the GM duties to Forst. After watching the trades in the off-season vs. the acquisitions since, and watching the infield make so many errors (mental as well as official), … I don’t know what to believe these days.

over the last 28 games Cabrera has 29 hits, 8 2Bs, 2HR and has only scored 3 Runs!?!?!

That cannot be true…Can it?

but at the same time I think what a good manager does do is to create a climate where players:

1. aren’t afraid to make mistakes

2. are afraid to put in less than maximal effort

The A’s look to me like a team of players that aren’t afraid of either, and that to me signals a problem with the manager.

My take on Geren, and on the main problem with Geren, is that he sets the bar of expectations way too low. This team is certainly full of players who are “getting their work in,” but only Braden, Suzuki, and Kennedy (and maybe a handful of others) come across as “do whatever it takes, play like there’s no tomorrow” players.

I think the lack of fire and the lack of spirit are consequences of this mind-set, and that the overall result is underachievement. Not to suggest that a better manager would be over .500 with this team, but that a better manager would be presiding over more spirit, intensity, urgency, and wins, than this current crew has shown. And tactically he gets schooled far too often for my taste.

heed thou his words, for there shall be no more powerful truths found upon these pages.

heed thou his words, Bob Geren wish to “Tip his hat”, to how much better the rest of the League plays against this team.

but how ‘bout the 9th inning last night if you’re looking for an example of poor managing and/or lack of effort?

There is no conceivable reason why Cabrera or a pinch-runner should not have attempted to steal a base with Papelbon on the mound. None. No excuse whatsoever. You’re down a run, with a man on first and two outs … you have one of the easiest pitchers in baseball to steal off of on the mound.

Either Cabrera simply zoned out and never thought about stealing a bag, or Geren gave him the red light. One or the other. Shitty effort, or shitty managing — which one is it? And if it’s the effort, then shame on Geren for not walking out to first base and yelling STEAL! at Cabrera.

Sure enough, Suzuki hits what should have been a game-tying single. Tell me how that isn’t unbelievably horrible baseball?

“Oh baby when you manage like this…you make a human get mad…”

It seems like often when something questionable happens in a game, and the TV camera is pointed at our manager, he is studying the lineup or note-taking card he carries around; he looks up and has that Geren version ot the deer in the headlights look. Not as good a facial expression as our last President of the U.S., but a very good confused, “what’s going to happen next” look, nevertheless.

But you can blame him for their lack of progress.

Someone’s got to take the heat for the fact that, of all the position players, only suzuki and kennedy are having decent years while everyone else has had a significant regression. I think Nico’s comments are really damning, because it’s pretty clear that suzuki and kennedy are getting by on internal motivation.

The pitchers, of course, are as a group progressing. But it could be that their talent is overcoming the lack of leadership. And you wonder how they, as well as suzuki and kennedy, would play under Terry Francona.

I’m not too persuaded by the complaints about in-game management. I’m not impressed by what I’ve seen, but too often you just don’t know what’s on management, what’s on the players, and what’s on the other team. I’d guess that, if Geren were a perfect tactician, the A’s might have won another 3 or 4 games TOPS. They’d still be in last place.)

However, player development at the big league level is clearly the responsibility of the manager. And on a young team like the A’s, nothing is more important than player development.

The A’s don’t have player development, they have player regression. And, IMO, for that reason alone Geren must either turn things around, or go.

but it’s not like he has a .300 hitter to replace him. Even if we switched mr. .195 with the .220 bat lower in the order, we’re still in last place.

the real concern is that both of those players are capable of hitting over .250 and aren’t.

well, maybe crosby’s ceiling is .240.

Bruce Jenkins’ column in today’s Chronicle. Not hard to see where he stands on the issue.

Geren- .458
Hillman- .451

The numbers are your’s.
I am definitely not backing Geren, just pointing this out.

and these managers motivate with different styles IMO:
Joe Madden
Mike Scioscia
Terry Francona
Ron Washington

I do not get to watch the A’s often (this weekend since they are in TB) but from what I have in AN and some observations I made when I do see them Geren seems to be just there collecting $$$. There is no DRIVE/HUSTLE/ENTHUSIASM in the players and certainly none in BG or the coaches.

Neither are the Oakland Athletics. In a sense, they’re made for each other.

So whoever is managing is going to have a hard time. That said the A’s are 10-18 in extra-inning or one run games. a good manager would find a way to win at least half the time.

 To compare to the rest of our division on those type of games: LA-16-12, TX-19-12, Seat-26-17.