Comments on: The Wash Cycle: Looking at the Moves Made by Rangers Manager Ron Washington

By: Boomer

Boomer — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:37:58 +0000

Here’s my favorite quote about the art of managing; I think it was from Casey:

“Look you’ve got 25 guys on the team; 10 are going to love you; 10 will hate your guts; and 5 will be undecided……Your job as the Manager is to keep the undecided away from the 10 that hate you!”

By: Weekend In Review

Weekend In Review — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:39:39 +0000

[...] The Rangers’ long, wet weekend finally came to an end with a disheartening 5-0 loss at the hands of Felix Hernandez last night. And after spending more time waiting out rain delays than actually playing baseball, the M’s departed Arlington having taken two of three from Texas and pushing the Rangers from two back to four back in the wild card standings. The inclement weather not only meant the Rangers had to get creative with rescheduling and rearrange the rotation, but it also left us with plenty of time to contemplate Ron Washington’s decision making. [...]

By: Craig Wall

Craig Wall — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:31:47 +0000

Evan

Great article in the substance and I agree.

I just cannot understand why a professional writer such as yourself cannot do simple grammar and spell-checking. It’s beyond juvenile for an otherwise great writer.

By: Win's Dad

Win's Dad — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:28:40 +0000

EVAN: Agreed on the importance of in-game strategy, and agreed that Ron Washington’s three editions of the Rangers have played hard for the manager. Agreed this is an important quality and is not to be dismissed lightly. BUT;

Fact: RW selected his pitching coach during the first two years as manager. The team’s ERA was dead last in the Majors last season. This year, Nolan Ryan picked the pitching coach, and the team’s ERA is fourth in the A. L. Not only did RW not select Mike Maddux, but he complained in an ESPN.com article about not being allowed to pick the pitching coach he wanted instead of Maddux.
Fact: The defense was awful last season leading the Majors in errors committed. Art Howe was the infield coach last year. Nolan Ryan insisted that Howe be fired, and RW complained in the same ESPN.com article about having to fire Howe. Ryan hired Dave Anderson as infield coach this year, and we’ve seen the results. The Rangers have allowed just 30 unearned runs.
RESULT: RW is getting a lot of credit this year for things he didn’t do.

By: Josey Wales

Josey Wales — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:26:24 +0000

So what were Evan’s thoughts about Wash as a manager in 2007-2008?

His failures in those years make me wonder how consistent he will be in the future.

By: Bennie

Bennie — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:06:47 +0000

Evan whose fault was it last year when the fielding was much worse?

By: David in Cleburne

David in Cleburne — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:02:43 +0000

As Evan said, all Wash has to do is point at the scoreboard.

Every single time I think for a second, “Oh, here we go. They won’t rebound from this” they do. This, as all sports, is a results oriented business. What’s not to like about the results so far? In-game decisions or not, how does 19 over .500 look on the resume? In other words, Scoreboard.

By: Evan Grant

Evan Grant — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:41:24 +0000

@leftybp: Just happen to think that Washington’s value over the course of the season far outweighs any perceived weaknesses in game-situation strategy. It’s hard for me to find fault with the work of a manager whose team is 19 games over .500, who is a better-than-.500 manager for his career and whose team has improved year-over-year. There’s a lot of credit to go around and I’m not suggesting Ron Washington deserves credit for the Rangers’ record. I’m simply saying I believe the guy has done a good job of managing.

@Bennie: It’s not just about playing hard. It’s about playing with focus. This team has been a far better fielding team than at any point in the last decade. There have been some important position switches, sure, but I think they are also more focused. I hold up Ian Kinsler’s improvement as a second baseman as one example. I think for the most part all players play hard. It’s playing hard with focus and efficiency that counts. And I’ve seen progress in those areas from year to year.

By: Bennie

Bennie — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:01:19 +0000

Evan, which of these players do you think would not play just as hard for another manager? Maybe these guys play hard because they are professionals. How hard did Bradley play last August before he decided to make a run at the batting title? How hard did Padilla play during those games over the last 3 years where he looked like he was begging to come out?

So you think that how a manager deals with the media is more important than his in-game decisions? That is a bit self-centered. Why do foks in the media always think they are so important? More important than in game decision making. Now that’s funny.

So Evan, which players do you think would not play just as hard for their mext manager?

By: badspellr

badspellr — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:00:49 +0000

Wash should be the unanimous choice for AL Manager of the Year.