GREAT article about former Reds manager Bryan Price.

Complains about today's game. Good refreshing honesty from somebody that's not in the damn game and has nothin' to lose.

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/sport ... V0Mja1bQyo


SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Bryan Price should be in Philadelphia right now as the pitching coach of the Phillies.

Instead, he is at a restaurant in Scottsdale eating burgers with me.

There are baseball games on TV in the background, but Price has no interest.

He spent his entire life in baseball, pitching at the University of California and then another five years in the minors. He was a major-league pitching coach in Seattle, Arizona and Cincinnati before managing the Reds for four full seasons. He took time off, sorted through several job offers, before becoming the Phillies’ pitching coach.

He signed a three-year contract on Oct. 31, 2019.

One year later, he walked away from the game, leaving more than $1 million on the table.

Two months into his season, and happily unemployed, he has no regrets.

“I felt like I was starting to get edgy,’’ Price tells USA TODAY Sports. “I felt like I was starting to become calloused by the sport and not appreciate it to the degree I should.

“I think we're all hypocrites from time to time, but I didn't want to be a hypocrite to be taking money and not doing the best possible job. I just think that was self-serving. Truthfully, that’s not really the way I would want to leave baseball, giving less than 100%.

“When you feel something's wrong, or something you don't like, there's no reason to take money to do something that you're not enjoying or respecting the process or respecting the people making the decisions.’’

Price, then the Phillies' pitching coach, speaks to Zack Wheeler during a mound visit in 2020.
Price, then the Phillies' pitching coach, speaks to Zack Wheeler during a mound visit in 2020.
GREGORY FISHER, USA TODAY SPORTS
Simply, he realized last year during the pandemic-shortened season that he lost his passion for baseball, so he walked. It no longer was the same game he grew up loving.

The sentiments are echoed throughout many in the industry, but few are bold enough to come out and admit it.

“There's a lot of people in the coaching and scouting departments and front offices that are saying the right things,’’ Price says, “because they can't afford to stop receiving a paycheck and get the benefits. There’s an awful lot of people that are working and not on board with what’s going on.’’

Price can’t stand watching the way the game is being taught. He scoffs at these training centers that claim they’re about pitching development, when it’s only about building arm-strength. Hitters are being taught launch angles with funky swings instead of, you know, actually learning how to hit.

“I think we better take a really good hard look at this Trojan horse that opened itself and emptied into professional baseball,’’ Price, 59, says, “and really take account of what the game looks like. It’s hard to watch.

"I'm not just some old guy saying this or saying that everybody has to go back to 1975. But I do think we have to appreciate what the people want to see. It’s not necessarily the bat flips or pitchers screaming at hitters when they struck him out. That may have some value with some of this generation, but the broad picture is that we want action. When there’s no action, it's really easy to flip the channel.’’


And please, don’t get Price started on the micromanaging in today’s game.

“I long for the days where managers make out their own lineups and make their own decisions,’’ Price says. “I only think there's a handful of those guys that do that now. Now, the front office is telling you who's going to play, how you're going to use your bullpen and pre-define your moves as a manager.’’

Price, who chose the Phillies over job opportunities with the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres, says he loved working alongside manager Joe Girardi. He relished being back with Hall of Fame executive Pat Gillick after being together in Seattle. He had a wonderful relationship with the Phillies’ pitching staff.

“They are a first-class organization,’’ Price says, “and they embraced what I had to offer.’’

Yet, with his family not being with him during the 2020 season with the pandemic, and knowing he would be away from them most of this season, too, he couldn’t look himself in the mirror knowing he would be staying in the game only for a paycheck.

He called Gillick last October, and then Girardi, and abruptly resigned, knowing he likely will never wear a uniform again.

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Those who know Price aren’t surprised. He has always stood by his principles. When manager Bob Melvin was fired one month into the 2009 season by the Diamondbacks, Price quit, too, appalled by the decision. Price no longer was paid, and didn’t have another job, but his morals and loyalty meant more than money.

So, here we are more than a decade later, and the man who is widely regarded as one of the finest pitching coaches in the game, simply felt it was wrong accepting a salary when he no longer was in love with the game.

“I think the cool thing about the sport of baseball is that when most people get into it,’’ Price says, “they’re not doing it because of the money. You barely make it. But we do it because we love the sport so much, and have the passion to do it.

“Now everything is about velocity and launch angles and analytical type of play with shifts and no premium on defense anymore. That's unappealing for someone like me and my generation.

"I don't want to fight that fight. I'm too old to fight that fight. I can’t turn the game around by myself and get it back to some sense of watchability, and I thought I could.

“It’s just not as fun to be a part of.’’

And if something doesn’t change with the pitching philosophy, Price predicts, pitchers will have shorter careers.

“We’re very quick in the sport to turn pitchers with good arms into relievers,’’ Price says, “because we don't focus enough on them throwing secondary pitches. We like arm speed or a hard breaking ball, and we get away from teaching them how to pitch, how to add and subtract velocity, how to throw a changeup, maybe a variance on two different breaking balls, or how to learn to sink and cut their fastball.

"We go, 'OK, he has a 100-mph fastball, or a really good slider or split, and we’ll just focus on that pitch and we’ll just use him as often as we can when needed.’

“These guys are definitely going to have shorter life expectancy as big-league pitchers. You can't continue to have starters average four to five innings per start without crushing the bullpen. If you're a big-league relief pitcher now, and you're pitching in 70 or 80 games a year, and [warming up] in another 30 or 40 games, enjoy it while you’re there because it’s not going to last.’’


I think the best thing you could do as a young, first-time professional baseball employee would be to shut up and listen to what smarter people have to say.
Maybe one day he’ll be in a role where he can make a difference. Maybe teams will understand what experience means to an organization. If not, it was a wonderful ride, he’ll savor the relationships and memories, and let someone else worry about where the game is headed.

“I remember the pride you’d have working in player development for 15 or 16 years before they get their first chance to coach,’’ Price says. “Now, so many people get into the sport that get top positions that never really learned the craft.

“I think best thing you could do as a young, first-time professional baseball employee would be to shut up and listen to what smarter people have to say. Now, some of the people that have the loudest voices in this sport are the guys that have the least amount of experience.

“That’s just not right.’’

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