Why this card is awesome: Because it's funny for me to look at the back of this card and not see lots of young players who would become stars later. Starting right around 1988, the Expos became masterful and drafting and developing young talent. In 1989, for example, they got at-bats from Larry Walker and Marquis Grissom. In 1990 they added Delino DeSheilds and Moises Alou.
I also had no idea until writing this post that Rodgers previously managed the Brewers, including the beginning of the 1982 season, when they eventually went to the World Series.
Cool stat: Buck Rodgers wasn't a very good hitter in his playing days. In 1964, for example, he had one of the 10 worst OBP that season for a player with at least 500 AB.
It's interesting how, among managers in all sports who were former players, so few of them were great as players. I heard a theory that this is because great players, when they become managers, get frustrated at why their players cannot produce better, failing to recognize that most players are not as good as they once were. Supposedly, this is what killed Ted Williams as a manager. Throughout sports, there are many examples of star players becoming lousy coaches or managers: Williams, Larry Bird, and Isaiah Thomas come to mind. There are numerous examples of very good players who became good managers (Doc Rivers, Joe Torre, and Buddy Bell come to mind) but I can't think of a single star player who became a great manager.)
6 comments:
I can name one single star who became a great manager: EMILIO ESTEVEZ!!!!!!....quack! quack! quack!....
Mike Scoscia, but he was a really good role player for the Dodgers.....drawing a blank as well
Some academics recently tried to test the relationship between being a good player and a good coach in the NBA: see here. They found that Isiah notwithstanding, better players tend to be better coaches. I wonder (as does the author of the linked post) if you'd find the same thing in baseball, though.
Frankie Frisch won the '34 Series with the Gas House Gang, but lifetime W/L was .514. Rogers Horsby won the '26 Series with the Cards and the pennant in '32 with the Cubs, but had a lifetime W/L of .463. Lou Boudreau won the '46 Series, but had a lifetime .487 record. All of them were player-managers.
Yogi won 2 pennants ('64 and '73). Frank Robinson never finished higher than 2nd. Tony Perez didn't last long.
I would have to say the HOF'er with the best managerial record overall (WS wins in '64 and '67, pennant in '68) would be Red Schoendienst.
What criteria would qualify someone as a great player AND a great manager? For player-managers in the HOF, would any have been elected on both bodies of work standing alone? In other words, John McGraw is in the HOF largely because of his managing accomplishments, though what his playing stats were impressive too. But would he be in the HOF based on his playing days alone? I don't think there are any HOF managers who would pass this test.
Connie Mack, Casey Stengle, weren't exactly great players, but they managed well.
a few examples
Sorry for the late comment, but how about baskeball great, Bill Russell? As a coach he won 2 NBA Championships and had an overall winning percentage of .540.
Bart
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