This post is dedicated to JORR.

What makes a good manager list. In no particular order.
• Great communication with his players and coaches (able to communicate the bad and the good. Not just a players coach or a hard ass type. Balance is key)
• Deal with the media. Must be able to handle the pressure of dealing with the media and keep his cool during the cold streaks and quickly get his team back on track.
• Deal with ownership. Have a similar vision or “plan” as GM, President and Owner.
• How they handle the bullpen and lineups. What they do with struggling hitters, pitchers exc.
• Get the most out of the talent they have. Is a veteran having his typical year or a rookie improving as planned. If not , then how does he handle each player.
• Do they play as a team or individuals.
• Handles the pressures of a long season.

Maddon does not get a check for all of these points, but he does get points for most of them. You will never get a perfect manager. He is the best in MLB at this time for this team.

3 pages. Over the span of a few months.

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Boers thinks Maddon is the best living manager. He has won fewer playoff series than Ozzie Guillen.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Media relations is unimportant to his job. It just makes it easier to for him to ride out the difficult periods.

Instilling a sense of mutual responsibility among players is important. Just as in the military, you may say you are fighting for your country when in reality, you are fighting for the guy next to you.

But the #1 important task of a good manager is writing the names of good players on the lineup card each day.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Depends what you consider media relations. Lovie Smith had no relations with the media and did just fine. Trestman tried to be everyone's best friend and failed. Players can lose respect for you if you handle the media the wrong way. Maddon handles the media like a nascar driver handles the open road.

Is that meant as a positive analogy?

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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!

That's all well and good, but what I'm saying is you have no method of determining which guy is good at those things and which guy isn't. For example, "How they handle the bullpen." That seems to be a popular answer, but nobody can tell me how to judge whether a guy is handling it well or not. What does Maddon do differently with his bullpen than Ricky "Raw Deal" Renteria?

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I disagree with losing the players through media relations. They see the man every day. They judge based on those interactions. I'm not even sure managers lose players by criticizing them in the media. A guy like Ozzie did the regularly and players still seemed to like him

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

How about whether the manager's players get better or worse under his leadership? Have any of the Cubs' beloved prospects shown any improvement since coming up to the big leagues? Why has Castro become one of the worst players in baseball under Maddon?

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....being buddies with the owner.

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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.’”

2005 White Sox start the season with D.Hermanson as CL and when he injured his back Ozzie put in rookie B.Jenks. D.Baker would not have done that in 2003. The Whitesox had Shingo Takatsu who had 19 saves the year before sitting on the bench along with several others, but Ozzie rolled the dice with the rookie and it payed off big.

Ozzie also used the media to take pressure OFF of his team by deflecting the headlines on him. Ozzie was a great manager and I don't think they win it with a regular joe as manager. Fun is winning and winning is fun. Sounds alot like, Don't let the pressure of the moment outweigh the pleasure.

Great managers understand how to handle a team based on the players on that team and the situation that surrounds the team. Could Renteria have been a good manager?, sure he could have been. But why take the risk hoping he becomes what you already know you have in Maddon.

Rizzo,Bryant seem to be doing pretty good. Was not so long ago that we said Rizzo was not going to be an All Star type player. None of the rookies have done anything abnormal for a rookie. Joc Pederson, B.Harper both had struggled in their rookie years, like most young players. Did you expect them to hit 300 and hit 30hr? M.Trout is a once a decade type player. They don't grow them in AAA. You had Griffey in the 90's and Mcguire in the mid 80's. In 3-5 Years someone else will come up and light MLB on fire. If you are hoping every prospect is like that then you are in for some disappointments.

Castro, well I said the beginning of the year that who ever told him to open his stance should be fired. Looks like I was correct. If he goes back to a close stance, he should be fine next year. He is not and never will be a home run hitter.

Did Guillen forget how to be good in 2011 and 2012?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Honestly, yes. He lost his edge. He became bigger then the team and that is always dangerous. Some people can not handle success. Ozzie was one of those people. He was like T.Montana in Scarface.

But that's exactly my point. Certain guys work in certain situations. It's not about one being "better" than another. And you don't know which situation a guy is going to work in until you're in the middle of it. And then you can't even be sure it has anything to do with the manager. Maybe your career .280 shortstop just has a chronically sore shoulder. Or maybe magic shows and animals are wearing him out.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

a good pitching coach

dave righetti
dave duncan
don cooper
roger craig
et al

None of this post is dedicated to JORR.

I think Guillen is a very under appreciated skipper. He pushed all the right buttons in 05 and kept his guys loose . If he was managing this years Sox team ..I think they are a couple games over .500 right now .

Guys who were handed a can't miss roster like Charlie Manual or Joe Torre don't impress me much..I'd rather have a Guillen or Girardi or Bochy .

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Bruce Bochy laughs his ass off at this assertion.

Every other year over the last five years.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.