These grades are taking longer than I thought, so here's the manager. I'm hoping to grade Kenny tomorrow, but you never know. My job has kept me very busy.
When I was a small child, I had four favorite White Sox: Ozzie Guillen, Robin Ventura, Harold Baines and the late Ivan Calderon. One of these players is still playing and two are on the coaching staff of my favorite team.
Ozzie Guillen was not a smart player. Despite his total lack of power, the Ozzeroo had a whopping.287 career OBP. Despite being a full time player for almost 13 seasons, his highest walk total was 26. Even though he had glaring flaws, the Ozzeroo didn't make himself a better player despite them.
I understand that the 80s were a different era. Whitey Herzog won a World Series with a team of speedy slap-hitters (Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee, Vince "Firecracker" Coleman, etc.) who could play good defense and bunt for hits. The team was made for the manager and it had success.
The White Sox of today are not this team. There is only one player with any semblance of speed on the roster (Willie Harris) and he play full-time(Miguel Olivo was speedy enough, but he has been traded to Seattle). More importantly, too much research has been done to show that outs are not to be wasted and things like bunting are just a waste of a precious resource. You only get 27 outs, after all.
The Sox are second the American League in sacrifice bunts. I guess I would be fine with this if the Sox had Willie McGee, Ozzie Smith and Vince Coleman penciled in the lineup at centerfield, shortstop and left field, but those guys aren't there. Ozzie writes in Aaron Rowand, Jose Valentin and Carlos Lee in those spots everyday.
The Sox are third in the AL in extra-base hits. The Sox are third in the league in home runs and third in slugging. The Sox are sixth in the league in OBP, though and sixth in runs scored. Why is this?
I think it has something to do with all that damned bunting. I find it odd that the team ranked thirteenth in the AL in bunting is the team ranked third in runs scored (Boston) and the team ranked twelfth in bunting is ranked second in runs scored (Texas).
Ozzie, in the off chance you actually read this, please, stop bunting. Let the men hit. Clearly, every player in the lineup can hit a home run (other than whomever is catching). What is the point of giving away outs?
The same thing happens with stolen bases. Ozzie was a career 60% base stealer, which is lower than breaking even (researched to be about 70% or so). He's got the Sox doing the same things, stealing at 67% clip. This isn't terrible, but with this team, stealing bases just doesn't make sense. He doesn't have Ichiro!, Juan Pierre or Carlos Beltran. He has Frank Thomas, Carlos Lee and Paul Konerko (who has been described as having "sundial-like speed").
That said, I don't think Ozzie has been a horrible manager. His handling of pitchers has been excellent, in my opinion. Unlike his counterpart on the North Side, Ozzie has five pitchers with little history of arm trouble (Shoney being the only one) and Ozzie stretches them to health limits. All five are over the injury nexus, for the most part, so all five can be stretched. That said, Esteban Loaiza takes the most abuse, going over 110 pitches nine times. Loaiza is also the oldest and has proved to be the healthiest of Sox pitchers.
Unlike Dusty Baker, Ozzie doesn't have anyone that needs to be protected like Kerry Wood or Mark Prior. Each of the Sox pitchers has been in the majors for more than three years and, as I said, none have had arm trouble. In fact, the Sox, for the past few years, have had very good luck with pitching injuries. Almost none of the Sox pitchers have gotten injured, and I think that's a credit to Don Cooper and Herm Schneider.
Sometimes, Ozzie leaves pitchers in too long, hence Loaiza's large amount of starts extending past 110 pitches. Ozzie has done the same thing with Garland, who's had six long starts. Garland has shown he throws a lot of pitches and I think Ozzie would be remiss if he didn't start pulling Jon earlier. But, for the most part, he handles the staff very well.
His handling of the bullpen is also excellent. While he rides his two best relievers a fair amount (Takatsu and Marte), his lesser parts (Adkins, Politte, Cotts and Jackson) are all getting regular work. This keeps them fresh, yet he hasn't overworked them.
The bench, more importantly, is where Ozzie excels. I have to say, I'm really impressed by this, after watching Dusty on the North Side. Unlike many managers, Ozzie does not have an aversion to young or inexperienced players and he always seems to keep his players fresh. When Uribe got hot, Ozzie found places for him, subbing him at third, second and short. When Willie Harris needed work, he saw time in center and second. Offense was rarely subbed for defense (or else Aaron Rowand wouldn't be around) and Ozzie consistently gets one-dimensional guys like Ross Gload ABs. The thing is, though, that he doesn't waste too many on guys like Timo Perez. While Perez needs to stay fresh, Rowand started hitting, the job was his.
My only qualm was that he sat Frank Thomas in National League parks, but it is minor and only affected a few games.
I think I'm most impressed by Ozzie's constant affirmation not to bring up some of the team's prospects, because he doesn't want them rotting on the bench. I think part of that has to do with the synergy between Ozzie and Kenny Williams.
Much has been said about Ozzie's "fire" and "passion" and I think part of that is true. The papers in Chicago (and nationally) have taken it a bit far, due to the fact that he's Latin and the stereotype is easy to keep going (black men=lazy, Latin men=passionate). Maybe I'm just a Jerry Manuel apologist, but I didn't think he was a laid-back as everyone thought. He did get thrown out of games a lot.
Nevertheless, Ozzie seems to get along with his players. He hasn't alienated Frank Thomas that much (which Manuel seemed to love to do), but I think that largely has to do with the fact that the team is winning. Ozzie works the media well(in my opinion, the most important part of modern managing) and is popular among fans.
When I was a small child, I had four favorite White Sox: Ozzie Guillen, Robin Ventura, Harold Baines and the late Ivan Calderon. One of these players is still playing and two are on the coaching staff of my favorite team.
Ozzie Guillen was not a smart player. Despite his total lack of power, the Ozzeroo had a whopping.287 career OBP. Despite being a full time player for almost 13 seasons, his highest walk total was 26. Even though he had glaring flaws, the Ozzeroo didn't make himself a better player despite them.
I understand that the 80s were a different era. Whitey Herzog won a World Series with a team of speedy slap-hitters (Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee, Vince "Firecracker" Coleman, etc.) who could play good defense and bunt for hits. The team was made for the manager and it had success.
The White Sox of today are not this team. There is only one player with any semblance of speed on the roster (Willie Harris) and he play full-time(Miguel Olivo was speedy enough, but he has been traded to Seattle). More importantly, too much research has been done to show that outs are not to be wasted and things like bunting are just a waste of a precious resource. You only get 27 outs, after all.
The Sox are second the American League in sacrifice bunts. I guess I would be fine with this if the Sox had Willie McGee, Ozzie Smith and Vince Coleman penciled in the lineup at centerfield, shortstop and left field, but those guys aren't there. Ozzie writes in Aaron Rowand, Jose Valentin and Carlos Lee in those spots everyday.
The Sox are third in the AL in extra-base hits. The Sox are third in the league in home runs and third in slugging. The Sox are sixth in the league in OBP, though and sixth in runs scored. Why is this?
I think it has something to do with all that damned bunting. I find it odd that the team ranked thirteenth in the AL in bunting is the team ranked third in runs scored (Boston) and the team ranked twelfth in bunting is ranked second in runs scored (Texas).
Ozzie, in the off chance you actually read this, please, stop bunting. Let the men hit. Clearly, every player in the lineup can hit a home run (other than whomever is catching). What is the point of giving away outs?
The same thing happens with stolen bases. Ozzie was a career 60% base stealer, which is lower than breaking even (researched to be about 70% or so). He's got the Sox doing the same things, stealing at 67% clip. This isn't terrible, but with this team, stealing bases just doesn't make sense. He doesn't have Ichiro!, Juan Pierre or Carlos Beltran. He has Frank Thomas, Carlos Lee and Paul Konerko (who has been described as having "sundial-like speed").
That said, I don't think Ozzie has been a horrible manager. His handling of pitchers has been excellent, in my opinion. Unlike his counterpart on the North Side, Ozzie has five pitchers with little history of arm trouble (Shoney being the only one) and Ozzie stretches them to health limits. All five are over the injury nexus, for the most part, so all five can be stretched. That said, Esteban Loaiza takes the most abuse, going over 110 pitches nine times. Loaiza is also the oldest and has proved to be the healthiest of Sox pitchers.
Unlike Dusty Baker, Ozzie doesn't have anyone that needs to be protected like Kerry Wood or Mark Prior. Each of the Sox pitchers has been in the majors for more than three years and, as I said, none have had arm trouble. In fact, the Sox, for the past few years, have had very good luck with pitching injuries. Almost none of the Sox pitchers have gotten injured, and I think that's a credit to Don Cooper and Herm Schneider.
Sometimes, Ozzie leaves pitchers in too long, hence Loaiza's large amount of starts extending past 110 pitches. Ozzie has done the same thing with Garland, who's had six long starts. Garland has shown he throws a lot of pitches and I think Ozzie would be remiss if he didn't start pulling Jon earlier. But, for the most part, he handles the staff very well.
His handling of the bullpen is also excellent. While he rides his two best relievers a fair amount (Takatsu and Marte), his lesser parts (Adkins, Politte, Cotts and Jackson) are all getting regular work. This keeps them fresh, yet he hasn't overworked them.
The bench, more importantly, is where Ozzie excels. I have to say, I'm really impressed by this, after watching Dusty on the North Side. Unlike many managers, Ozzie does not have an aversion to young or inexperienced players and he always seems to keep his players fresh. When Uribe got hot, Ozzie found places for him, subbing him at third, second and short. When Willie Harris needed work, he saw time in center and second. Offense was rarely subbed for defense (or else Aaron Rowand wouldn't be around) and Ozzie consistently gets one-dimensional guys like Ross Gload ABs. The thing is, though, that he doesn't waste too many on guys like Timo Perez. While Perez needs to stay fresh, Rowand started hitting, the job was his.
My only qualm was that he sat Frank Thomas in National League parks, but it is minor and only affected a few games.
I think I'm most impressed by Ozzie's constant affirmation not to bring up some of the team's prospects, because he doesn't want them rotting on the bench. I think part of that has to do with the synergy between Ozzie and Kenny Williams.
Much has been said about Ozzie's "fire" and "passion" and I think part of that is true. The papers in Chicago (and nationally) have taken it a bit far, due to the fact that he's Latin and the stereotype is easy to keep going (black men=lazy, Latin men=passionate). Maybe I'm just a Jerry Manuel apologist, but I didn't think he was a laid-back as everyone thought. He did get thrown out of games a lot.
Nevertheless, Ozzie seems to get along with his players. He hasn't alienated Frank Thomas that much (which Manuel seemed to love to do), but I think that largely has to do with the fact that the team is winning. Ozzie works the media well(in my opinion, the most important part of modern managing) and is popular among fans.
2 Comments:
I don't know if it's just my computer at work, but I can never see your blogs in their entirety (on the main page) if they're longer than a certain length. This one cuts off at "Ozzie was a career 60%" - you have to click on the "previous posts" link to see the rest of it. This is annoying. You should fix it. My job bores me, can you tell?
You never gave Ozzie a grade.
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