Preparation H presents: Find Us a Manager (Group H)

[Edgy MD]

You call your dog, and he comes to you. Then you realize, "Wait a minute, this is Sandy Alderson's dog."

And you come around to what you keep coming around to: you're still Sandy Alderson.

And you still have a manager to find. Folks don't realize the enormity of this job. The pressure of being a GM on the rocks.

Then you realize, wait a minute, some people do. Jim F. Duquette knows!

You call the sometime Mets broadcaster. "Jim probably deserves a bigger role," you think to yourself, "but his availability is erratic. Maybe he belongs in your front office and not your broadcast booth at all. In fact, maybe this is a test."

That little reverie has distracted you long enough to miss the fact that Jim has already said hello twice. He's about to hang up, when you yell, "JIM!"

"Spock?" he kids. You don't get his joke. He explains that it's something about the T'Pau episode. Whatever. Jim's a weirdo. But he's a smart baseball man.

"Jim, what do you know about hiring managers?"

"I know a little about that, Sandy," he retorts.

"Well, I've got to find an experienced guy. The Wilpons insist that I hire a guy with MLB experience. Like you had to hire Howe."

"Uh, that one's on Phillips' ledger, Sandy."

"Were you consulted?"

"A little, but ... "

"Well, I'm consulting you now." You're starting to suprise yourself at how snappish you are. "I'm sorry," you offer. "Do you think you can whip together a list of 17 experienced MLB managers?"

"Sandy," he replies, "I will get you a list of the best available, yet experienced, 17 managers in all of baseball."

Good old Jim, you think. Such a company man, then you remember.

"Oh, and Jim? This list? It can't include Manny Acta, Felipe Alou, Joe Altobelli, Joey Amalfitano, Brad Ausmus, Buddy Bell, Terry Bevington, Tim Bogar, Bob Boone, Dave Bristol, Daren Brown, Dave Clark, Terry Collins, Cecil Cooper, Don Cooper, Pat Corrales, Chuck Cottier, Bobby Cox, Roger Craig, Mike Cubbage, Lee Elia, Jim Essian, John Felske, Mike Ferraro, Jim Frey, Matt Galante, Dave Garcia, Ron Gardenhire, Billy Gardner, Phil Garner, Cito Gaston, Bob Geren, Kirk Gibson, Fredi Gonzalez, Johnny Goryl, Alex Grammas, Chip Hale, Mike Hargrove, Toby Harrah, Bud Harrelson, John Hart, Tommy Helms, Trey Hillman, Glenn Hoffman, Frank Howard, Billy Hunter, Brandon Hyde, Davey Johnson, Tim Johnson, Kevin Kennedy, Don Kessinger, Bruce Kimm, Ray Knight, Marcel Lachemann, Rene Lachemann, Tony La Russa, Gene Lamont, Hal Lanier, Tom Lasorda, Tom Lawless, Jim Lefebvre, Jim Leyland, Nick Leyva, Grady Little, Davey Lopes, Frank Lucchesi, Ken Macha, Pete Mackanin, Charlie Manuel, Jim Marshall, Buck Martinez, Lee Mazzilli, Dave Miley, John McLaren, Jack McKeon, Hal McRae, Stump Merrill, Ray Miller, John Mizerock, Joe Morgan, Tony Muser, Jerry Narron, Larry Parrish, Tony Perez, Sam Perlozzo, Bill Plummer, Bo Porter, Luis Pujols, Mike Quade, Willie Randolph, Greg Riddoch, Jim Riggleman, Frank Robinson, Edwin Rodriguez, Larry Rothschild, Tom Runnells, Bill Russell, Norm Sherry, Jim Snyder, Moose Stubing, Dale Sveum, Jeff Torborg, Carlos Tosca, Dick Tracewski, Alan Trammell, Tom Trebelhorn, Gary Varsho, Robin Ventura, Bill Virdon, John Vukovich, Don Wakamatsu, John Wathan, Eric Wedge, Walt Weiss, Jimy Williams, Matt Williams, Maury Wills, Bobby Winkles, or Ron Washington."

Jim stops for a moment. You hear him thinking. "Who the fuck is Johnny Goryl?"

You laugh, because that's funny. Jim's a weirdo. "I'm counting on you, Jim. The team is counting on you." Jim's a team player. Almost to a fault. That sort of thing matters to him.

And Jim meets you in your office in an hour, hand delivering his list. You even brought your dog in with you. Such a good dog. "I figured you might want to talk about some of these guys," Jim says. "I did some cursory research."

You stare down at the names before you. Doc Edwards? You reach for the bottle bottom drawer. Time to go to work.

Which four of these guys gets called in for an interview?

	Mgr	Age	Team(s)	Yrs	From	To	W	L	W-L%	Ties	G > .500	G	W Post	L Post	W-L% Post	Best Fin	Wrst Fin	Av Rk	Plyof App	WS won	Penn Won	ASG	Mets Connection
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/c/c84cf0b5_manager.jpg[/fimg]	Dan Jennings	57	MIA	1	2015	2015	55	69	.444	0	-14	124	0	0		3	3	3.0	0	0	0	0
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/8/844135d6_manager.jpg[/fimg]	Ryne Sandberg	58	PHI	3	2013	2015	119	159	.428	0	-40	278	0	0		4	5	4.8	0	0	0	0
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/b/b8a4d899_davis.jpg[/fimg]	Sandy Alomar, Jr.	51	CLE	1	2012	2012	3	3	.500	0	0	6	0	0		4	4	4.0	0	0	0	0	Mets player, 2007; Mets catching instructor, 2008-2009.
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/4/46a871db_davis.jpg[/fimg]	Bobby Valentine	67	TEX, NYM, BOS	16	1985	2012	1186	1165	.504	0	21	2351	13	11	.542	2	7	3.7	2	0	1	1	Mets player, 1977-1978; Mets third-base coach, 1983-1985; Mets manager, 1996-2002.
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/a/a96a6c2a_davis.jpg[/fimg]	Jerry Manuel	64	CHW, NYM	9	1998	2010	704	684	.507	2	20	1390	0	3	.000	1	4	2.5	1	0	0	0	Mets first base coach, 2005; Mets outfield coach, 2005-2006; Mets bench coach, 2006-2008; Mets manager, 2008-2010.
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/9/98fdcbea_manager.jpg[/fimg]	Dave Trembley	66	BAL	4	2007	2010	187	283	.398	0	-96	470	0	0		4	5	4.8	0	0	0	0	From upstate (WAY upstate) in Carthage, NY, and went to SUNY-Brockport.
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/5/5686861e_davis.jpg[/fimg]	Tony Peña	60	KCR	4	2002	2005	198	285	.410	0	-87	483	0	0		3	5	4.1	0	0	0	0	Son played in Mets minor league system, 2007-2013.
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/0/046ca632_davis.jpg[/fimg]	Al Pedrique	57	ARI	1	2004	2004	22	61	.265	0	-39	83	0	0		5	5	5.0	0	0	0	0	Mets minor league player, 1978-1987; Mets player, 1987.
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/4/48d9be84_davis.jpg[/fimg]	Jerry Royster	65	MIL	1	2002	2002	53	94	.361	0	-41	147	0	0		6	6	6.0	0	0	0	0
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/5/501b92d0_davis.jpg[/fimg]	Joe Kerrigan	64	BOS	1	2001	2001	17	26	.395	0	-9	43	0	0		2	2	2.0	0	0	0	0
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/e/e5a4dc76_manager.jpg[/fimg]	John McNamara	85	OAK, SDP, CIN, CAL, BOS, CLE, CAL	19	1969	1996	1160	1233	.485	2	-73	2395	7	10	.412	1	7	3.7	2	0	1	1	Played for the New York Giants.
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/1/11556fbd_davis.jpg[/fimg]	Buck Rodgers	79	MIL, MON, CAL	13	1980	1994	784	774	.503	1	10	1559	2	3	.400	1	7	3.6	1	0	0	0
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/a/aef40710_davis.jpg[/fimg]	Doug Rader	73	TEX, CHW, CAL	7	1983	1991	388	417	.482	1	-29	806	0	0		3	7	4.8	0	0	0	0
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/5/5e27f789_davis.jpg[/fimg]	Doc Edwards	81	CLE	3	1987	1989	173	207	.455	0	-34	380	0	0		6	7	6.2	0	0	0	0	Mets bench coach, 1990-91.
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/8/859d0ec7_davis.jpg[/fimg]	Jackie Moore	79	OAK	3	1984	1986	163	190	.462	0	-27	353	0	0		3	5	4.3	0	0	0	0
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/8/862451d8_davis.jpg[/fimg]	Del Crandall	88	MIL, SEA	6	1972	1984	364	469	.437	0	-105	833	0	0		5	7	5.4	0	0	0	0
[fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/5/5d67846b_davis.jpg[/fimg]	Bob Skinner	86	PHA, SDP	3	1968	1977	93	123	.431	0	-30	216	0	0		5	7	6.0	0	0	0	0

[Benjamin Grimm]

Boy, some of these names really bring me back.

[Edgy MD]

Old managers are fun!

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: Old managers are fun!

You should have put them all in Group G, for Geritol.
I wouldn't bring in Buck Rogers unless he brought Wilma Deering with him. (Like no other coach in the world)

Later

[Guest Mets Willets Point]

enormity (ĭ-nôrˈmĭ-tē)►
n. The quality of passing all moral bounds; excessive wickedness or outrageousness.
n. A monstrous offense or evil; an outrage.

Being a GM is like being Trump, I guess.

[MFS62]

Mets Willets Point wrote: enormity (ĭ-nôrˈmĭ-tē)► n. The quality of passing all moral bounds; excessive wickedness or outrageousness. n. A monstrous offense or evil; an outrage. Being a GM is like being Trump, I guess.

Yes. But he'd be terrible in our rock and roll threads. He thinks Purple Rain means the hookers were drinking grape juice.
Later

[Edgy MD]

Less concerned about Sandy's internal usage and more concerned about that three-way tie for fourth among Manuel, Peña, and Pedrique.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

You mean RBI Baseball All-Star Al Pedrique? Who can say no?

Me. Pena, Almost, Valentine, McNamara.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Took Alomar, Jr., love Bobby but it'll never happen and didn't want
to create yet another tie in the space of three minutes.