Actually,nice article by Paul Sullivan about Renteria's "Walt Disney" style of managing.


Paul Sullivan
9:58 p.m. CDT, May 8, 2014

When the Cubs fired him three weeks after the 1991 season, manager Jim Essian released a statement to the Chicago media.

"It is with great sorrow that I learned I was being replaced as manager of the Chicago Cubs," it read. "One strength of the team was their work habits and attitude. They possessed a great desire to win. However, there is an inevitable gap between desire and ability."

History has a habit of repeating itself on the North Side, and that gap between desire and ability is once again self-evident.


The Cubs entered the finale of the City Series on Thursday night with the worst record in the National League (11-21), and with no realistic hope of a turnaround.

Manager Rick Renteria, the latest Cubs caretaker, must know that deep in his heart. Yet he continues to offer a sunny assessment of the team's future, and repeated the mantra over and over after Wednesday night's third straight loss to the White Sox.

"They need to continue to know we believe in them, that we trust in their abilities, that better days are ahead," he said. "And you have to believe that. If I didn't believe it, I wouldn't say it. They have to genuinely sense that we believe better days and ahead and these little blips …"

We have heard about "these little blips" from Cubs managers over the years, including Lee Elia's obscenity-filled rant that began with the premise they only were "mired in a little difficulty."

Renteria isn't going to blow his top like Elia, and reminded us Wednesday that "we're going to have some highs and have some lows (and) as far as trying to keep them upbeat, every day is a new day … and we got to start again tomorrow … and it'll be a new day, and we'll be ready to go play baseball."

The positive mental attitude approach to managing is nothing new, and it's no secret Renteria was brought in to counteract the tough love approach former manager Dale Sveum espoused.

But it's hard to remain chipper when the team is as bad as the Cubs have looked.

"I've been there," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "He has been in the game a long time, and he knows what he's doing."

Renteria's frustration showed Wednesday night when he was tossed from the game for his strong opinions on the fluid strike zone of plate umpire Tom Woodring. It was his third ejection of the year, and his players at least have taken notice.

"He has handled everything great so far," outfielder Nate Schierholtz said. "He has stood up for us, as he showed (Wednesday) night and a handful of times already. He expects a lot out of us and obviously we haven't played up to our potential.

"He still has confidence in his players and it's nice to have the backing of your manager, even if the first month doesn't go as well as expected."

The first three seasons of the Theo Epstein/Jed Hoyer regime have been alarmingly similar. First comes the bad start, fueled by an ineffective bullpen. Then comes the non-stop trade rumors for two months, followed by the trade deadline deals. And it all ends up with a weak finishing kick to end the season, with a roster full of kids and waiver claims.

Rinse, repeat. Rinse, repeat.

Hoyer said he's happy with the job Renteria has done creating the kind of environment they believe will help in the long run, and said many players are "playing much better than the last year."

But the Cubs entered Thursday with a .317 winning percentage (29-62) since last July 29

"We've given him a very young team, a very young bullpen that doesn't have a lot of experience, and he has managed that really well," Hoyer said. "I like the tone.

"The results, obviously, the wins and losses, are probably no different than it was with Dale. We're not where we're going to evaluate him based on the standings."

The Cubs also said they wouldn't evaluate Sveum on wins and losses, and then fired him allegedly for failing to create a positive environment.

Renteria doesn't have to worry about job security.

But he does have to worry about losing credibility with those who don't want to hear about "better days ahead" for the next two years.

psullivan@tribune.com

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

I'm fine with Carroll getting another couple of starts. I'd rather him than Noesi. Seirra was brutal last night.


Except for the first game, this was a pretty entertaining series. Glad the Sox won 3 of 4. Hopefully next year its over a weekend and/or a bit later in the season.

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I enjoyed Sullivan's article and last night on CSN's SPORTSTALK,a few other columnists/media guys from Chicago are starting to sound off about "Theo's plan".

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Renteria uses instant replay challenge to overturn his decision to manage Cubs


Cubs’ manager Ricky Renteria stretched MLB’s instant replay rules to the extreme in Wednesday evening’s 8-3 loss to the White Sox by using his coaching challenge to try and overturn his decision to manage the team. In the fifth inning, Renteria came out of the dugout to argue a ball-and-strike call, but suddenly changed his mind while confronting home plate umpire Tom Woodring.

“He asked if we could review the tape from his introductory press conference on December 5 to see if he actually said ‘yes’ to managing this ‘sad sack of single-A stiffs’,” said Woodring. “I had to eject him from the game immediately on principle, but I can empathize with a guy who has to decide between Chris Coghlan or Ryan Sweeney as his everyday left fielder.”

Executive V.P. of Baseball Operations Joe Torre said that this type of challenge was unprecedented in the short amount of time that instant replay has been in place, but is considering putting in an official provision if a similar challenge happens in the future.

“It’s called the ‘Jose Veras/John Baker Rule,’” said Torre. “Any manager who has a majority of his pitchers with an ERA over 10 or position players with batting averages under .100 can immediately use instant replay to repeal their decision to manage their respective team.”


http://www.theheckler.com/2014/05/08/re ... nage-cubs/

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FYI, The Heckler was born in the offices of Redacted , almost partnered with Brad, too much real estate crap to go all out with him.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

We still own the all time head to head record jimmy, and don't you forget it.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

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Always nice to hear the "WE" from one of Uncle Jerry's investors.

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Don't be so sensitive. It's embarrassing.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!