Frayed Knot

Vic Sage wrote: Plus Callaway gets bonus points for not being Manny Acta. And supposedly Acta was the favorite of Jeff's so maybe this can be seen as a sign that he's not running as roughshod over things as some of the worst fears suspect.

To be the manager, not manager AND de facto pitching coach.

Mex17 wrote: I think that you can count out any pitching coach that you have heard of to get the job. Callaway's fist move is not going to bring in a guy for his old job who might try to override him as the manager of the team. If you want to speculate for pitching coach, it's probably better to start digging around the Indian's official website to see who they have as minor league pitching coaches/coordinators. My guess is that Callaway will try to poach one of them away. I think just the opposite. To start with, if Callaway is going to be too insecure with a proven ML pitching coach at his side then he probably shouldn't have been hired. His roots may be as a pitching coach but that's not his job description anymore so if he's going treat it as a power struggle he's in trouble before he begins. I also don't think this is going to be his call. This is likely a GM hire (hopefully with some input from the new guy) and I think GMs will tend towards surrounding inexperienced managers with more experienced assistants. As a first-time skipper, Callaway's not simply going to go through his old list of buddies in his old org and pluck out who he wants.

My first reaction -- I brought his name up the other day -- was Maddux. This is the first I'm hearing about Righetti being let go so he becomes an obvious choice to consider as well.

metirish wrote: Looking forward to seeing is he can handle NYC.....ugh, fucking Beat writers are so into themselves.. I've always been under the impression that the NYC angle is overblown when it comes to players and, yeah, a lot of the times it's brought up it's for the purpose of pumping up the ego of those saying it (fans as well as writers). But the field manager needs to be the spokesman for the team on a daily basis and going from a pitching coach in Cleveland to the big chair in New York is a YUGE difference. It's not the only part of the job but it's big part of it and how he handles it over the long haul will go a long way towards how he'll be viewed overall.

This matchup, no matter who wins, guarantees that MLB will have their 12th* different champion in the last 20 years and also makes it 21 different finalists in that same time as the Dodgers jump onto that list (Houston, 2005, already was on). The 1997 WS winner and loser who'll fall off that list -- Miami & Cleveland -- as that year no longer qualifies as the most recent 20, have both won and made the World Series respectively since then so their status doesn't change. Just three organizations have failed to at least reach an LCS in that time period [Washington, Milwaukee, Cincinnati] The NFL, meanwhile, has had 11 different champs over that same time and 19 different SB participants, plus have had nine franchises who have failed to reach a conference title game. Can't wait to be told again about how the salary cap is necessary to ensure parity. * CHC, KCR, PHI, CHW, MIA, LAA, ARZ, SFG x3, BOS x3, NYY x4, StL x2 + LAD/HOU

[fimg=400:ii0kpoly]http://harfordhappenings.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/cab-calloway-havre-de-grace.jpg[/fimg:ii0kpoly] For a nickname we'll call him Minnie the Moocher

Two teams take advantage of the playoff lull to hire first-time managers, one expected, the other a bit of a surprise. And I guess the Boston hire makes the answer to Willet's question in this thread [10/21, 1:41 PM] -- 'Yes' TEAM MANAGERCONTRACTSTATUSANGELSMike Scioscia2018 ASTROSAJ Hinch???ATHLETICS Bob Melvin 2019Signed ext for 2019 on 9/28/17BLUE JAYS John Gibbons 2019 + 2020 OptionBRAVESBrian Snitker 2017 + 2018 OptionOption for 2018 picked up on 10/5/17 BREWERS Craig Counsel 2020CARDINALS--- Mike Matheny 2020CUBS Joe Maddon 2019DBACKSTorey Luvello 2019DODGERS Dave Roberts 2018 + 2019 OptionGIANTSBruce Bochy 2019INDIANS Terry Francona2020MARINERS Scott Servais2018MARLINSDon Mattingly 2019METS Terry Collins 2017=#0000FF]Hired Mickey Callaway on a 3-year deal - Oct '17 NATIONALSDusty Baker2017Will Not Return for 2018ORIOLES Buck Showalter---2018PADRES Andy Green 2021Signed Extension Aug ‘17 PHILLIES Pete MacKanin 2018 + 2019 Option ---Signed ext in May '17 -- Will not return in 2018PIRATES Clint Hurdle 2021Signed 4 year extension - Sept ‘17 RANGERS Jeff Banister 2018 + 2019 Option RAYS Kevin Cash 2019 RED SOX John Ferrell 2018=#0000FF]Hired Alex Cora on a 3-year contract - Oct '17REDS Bryan Price 20182018 Option exercised - Sept ‘17 ROCKIES Bud Black 2019 + 2020 Option ROYALS Ned Yost 2018 TIGERS Brad Ausmus 2017Ron Gardenhire hired - Oct '17 TWINS Paul Molitor 2017WHITE SOX Rick Renteria 2019 YANKEES Joe Girardi 2017

Well count me as surprised, but then again I had no concept of Mickey Callaway until this past week. Have zero memory of him as a player (or a playa) either. Michael Christopher Callaway; 42 y/o from Memphis, Tennessee and the University of Mississippi 16th round draft pick out of HS by the Giants and later 7th round by Tampa Bay out of college in 1996 40 games as a ML'er -- 20 as a starter/20 in relief -- totaling 130 IP spread over parts of 5 seasons with TBR, ANA, and TEX with a fairly unsightly career ERA & WHIP Also pitched 3 seasons in Korea and was dogging it out in an independent league in Laredo, Texas as recently as 2008 They've got a two day window until the WS starts up again so I guess we'll hear something official on Monday. oe: (per mlb.com) -- Mickey Callaway will become the Mets' new manager, according to multiple reports on Sunday. A three-year deal is expected to be finalized on Sunday and could be announced on Monday.

I would have been very Gardy leery. I can't remember specifics now, but I recall questioning a bunch of his moves during the annual ritual sacrifice to pinstripes the Twins would pull each year. Also, the Twins have a not so great track record getting nothing out of players who go on to be good or even great elsewhere. I mean, sure, everyone does that, but they seem to do it because they try to mold their guys into old-school type opposite field singles hitters. They did that with Papi Ortiz for crissakes before flat-out releasing him at age 26 coming off a 826 OPS season. They wanted Carlos Gomez to slap the ball on the ground too during the one year they had him and he wound up blossoming right after those restraints came off. Recently they gave up on 1st round draft pick Aaron Hicks (traded for a .140-hitting backup catcher) who by the end of the year was the starting CF for the Yanquis. And, again, all orgs miss players here and there. It's just that Minnesota seems to do so specifically by trying to put round pegs in square holes and then blaming the pegs when it doesn't work. Now maybe that's more organizational than it is on Garderhire specifically, but he was an organization man for a long time, something they talked about as being consistent throughout the whole Tom Kelly/Garderhire time frames, so I wonder how set in his ways he is, especially as he talked in his Detroit press conference about needing to be introduced to the analytics department.

Edgy MD wrote: I wonder what one team in the central time zone and another in the west is going to do to the schedule for us Eastern Seaboarders. Nothing. The game time sked is locked in no matter which teams wind up in it.

Frayed Knot wrote: Ooooh, I think it's about to beer in my house. Hey, the forecast turned out to be accurate.

Astros have now won just two pennants in their history, and yet become the first team to win pennants in both leagues.

Frayed Knot wrote: Do us a solid BB Gods, you fucked up our summer so how 'bout throwing us a decent autumn. Just this one game, that's all I ask. Thank you BB Gods!!

Ooooh, I think it's about to beer in my house.

Ceetar wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: Sounds like I had no idea of the lifespan of contact lenses. I guess I always assumed they lasted much longer. they make like, permanent ones that last a while and various others. I think the dailys are actually more expensive because they're meant to be disposable and you need like.. a lot of them. That's what I assumed. It never occurred to me that going through dozens of them a year, much less a new pair daily, would be a cost effective thing. But I've never dealt with them so obviously I'm clueless here.

When this series is over, does Yuli Gurriel have to return his haircut to whichever boy band he borrowed it from?

I'd certainly keep McCullers in there for the 8th - especially since they (perhaps unnecessarily) used Giles for a lengthy inning last night.

And FINALLY the 'Stros cash in on some RiSPys and jack it up to a 4-0 lead. Lots 'o baseball left though. Lance McCullers in to start the 6th

Do us a solid BB Gods, you fucked up our summer so how 'bout throwing us a decent autumn. Just this one game, that's all I ask.

Game 7 - 8:00, FS1 - Sabathia vs Charlie Morton That was the same matchup as in Game 3, one which didn't go well for the boys from Texas with Morton getting pulled in the 4th To be fair to Morton though, he wasn't all THAT bad. He got dinged in the 2nd by that 235 ft Todd Frazier HR and then when his relief corps was called in to get him out of 2-out trouble in the 4th, he (Will Harris) instead allowed 4 runs in his first 4 pitches (Wild Pitch + 3R HR) to effectively end the game. What would be real nice would be if Sabathia were to turn back into the 330 lb frog we all know is lurking inside him somewhere rather than this version of him who's suddenly having, at age 37, his best season in six years and has allowed just 3 runs in 16 post-season innings. Maybe the Astros should just bunt a lot. I mean, sure, Sabathia and the Yanx will file a formal complaint with the commissioner charging Houston under the anti-fat shaming act, but it'll be worth it in the long run.

Teams also aren't [u:3kor9xf3]required[/u:3kor9xf3] to make their guys who are under contract available to other orgs looking to hire although it's common practice to do so if there's a promotion involved and I'd say that in general, yes, a bench coach would be considered at least a half a step up from 3rd base coach. How this affects their thoughts on Acta specifically (or vice versa) I have no idea.

Sounds like I had no idea of the lifespan of contact lenses. I guess I always assumed they lasted much longer.

Back to McEwing for a sec, of course no one should want an entire team of 'Super Joes'. It was a stupid concept then and is just as dumb now. But I'd also hate to discount him as a manager simply based on the idea that too many media & fans once over-rated his value as a player. Look, I/we have no idea what kind of a skipper he'd be, but nor do we on Cora even though we seem to be a lot more favorable towards hiring him. Cora's playing career was about twice as long as McEwing's but both were otherwise pretty similar part-time utility guys with similar stats and both have since done the bench coach route but not the minor league managing process. Get beyond that and we're down to relying on what the "buzz" is on each and what leaks about how the interviews went.

Seems odd to me that that could be a better/cheaper option than regular contacts which I assumed lasted for months? years? I mean I assume these disposable types would be cheaper per set than more permanent ones, but in aggregate?