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Should Jerry Manual Have Been Fired?
Posted by Kevin 2003
As my compatriot has pointed out, the White Sox have fired Jerry Manual. This is hardly unexpected. The question is, is it deserved?

Despite Tom’s joke, I am not happy to see Manual fired. Manual is truly a class act who knew as much about Gandhi as he did about baseball. He was restrained without being passionless, and decent without being a push over. And, when you get right down to it, it was Loaiza who lost his mechanics for a stretch in the middle of September, and it was Thomas and Lee whose bats deserted them during the two Minnesota series. Despite that, I still think Manual should have been fired.

I only saw about ten or so Sox games this year, and I did not like what I saw. In almost every game, Manual made what I thought were poor decisions regarding the pitching staff. He would leave pitchers in too long, and, worse, he would have no one in the bullpen warming up. By the time someone was ready, a minor crises had devolved into two one, one in, and no out. Other times, he would bring in struggling relievers in tight situations, or pull pitchers who had absolutely been on fire in order to get a lefty/righty matchup.
More importantly, I saw the second game of the last Minnesota series. The team did not look like it played with any sense of passion or urgency. If they had won that game, they would have been a half game out of first, in position to take the lead the next day. Instead, they lost, and the season was effectively over. That was not the first time I had seen that attitude during the season. Was that Manual’s fault? Not entirely, of course. These are grown men at the height of their careers. They should be able to motivate themselves.

On the other hand, it is indisputable that managers do set a tone. That game was an example of a problem that had plagued the Sox all year long. For whatever reason, the White Sox never played at a consistently high level for Jerry Manual. This is not to say that he could not succeed somewhere else. It is just that the mix of personalities on this team never produced an attitude that matched their physical talent. In that situation, the ownership has to try something. When the manager doesn’t have a track record of success (and Manual didn’t, not really. Yes, the Sox finished with a winning record in each of his seasons, but they never won so much as a playoff game.), then changing the manager makes more sense than tearing the team apart.

I really do hope Manual gets another chance to manage. Once he gets more consistent with his pitching staff decisions, he has the potential to be a great, great manager for the right team. Unfortunately for everyone involved, that team just wasn’t the Sox.

freakzilla11

This is the 'baseball guy' that Willie was supposed to rely on for advice in the games.

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BigMouthBillyBass

So what you're saying is that Jerry Manuel is Willie Randolph with a slight pulse.

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So, you're telling me that when you bring the Mets' bullpen into the game, Met fans shriek, they turn red, and they die? That is the most metal thing I have ever heard.

Big Denny

And he knows about Gandhi.

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"I'll say it again in the land of the free ,use your freedom of choice".

DEVO

NickPapagiorgio

Jerry Manuel is essentially the same manager as Willie which is why if they do fire Randolph, replacing him with Manuel makes little to no difference in my book.

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Big Denny

In a sense it does. I mean, if they want Randolph out and don't do it, and then by some miracle the Mets squeek into the playoffs, even if they get eliminated in the first round, it makes it harder to let him go.

OTOH, no matter how well Manuel does, they can always tell him he was simply an interim manager and begin the interviewing process in the off season.

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"I'll say it again in the land of the free ,use your freedom of choice".

DEVO

NickPapagiorgio

True, but let's say in some sort of miracle situation they fire Randolph and the team goes on a tear and squeaks into the playoff as a WC or division champ, however unlikely. Do you honestly think they wouldn't almost be forced to hire Manuel?

Despite my dislike of having Jerry Manuel at the helm, I realize it is a necessary evil at this point. I want Randolph gone and while I sometimes (who I am kidding, most of the time) come off as delusional I realize their hands will be kind of tied with who they can pick mid-season to replace him. Most outside candidates are not available right now and quite frankly most would not want to take the job at this particular time. The one who would, Carter, would be a bad fit in my mind and pretty much shot himself in the foot with his idiotic comments a few weeks ago. Other in house guys like Oberkfell are an option, but again, I am not sure why he would want to take over midseason. A lot of guys only get one chance to manage in the big leagues and taking over for this disaster would not be a good first impression to make. That said, Oberkfell doesn't really have anyone beating down his door to give him a job.

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Big Denny

Are you kidding? When you get your shot, you take it. As for why Oberkfell would want to take over a disaster, isn't this always the situation when a new manager gets his shot? Aside from the occasional managerial retirement, most guys get their shot because the previous guy, and the team, were a disaster.

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"I'll say it again in the land of the free ,use your freedom of choice".

DEVO

NickPapagiorgio

I guess I can see why Oberkfell would want to take the job but if you truly think he is the manager of the future, which in all honesty I don't think they believe, you want to put him in the situation where he can have the most success and taking over this team in the middle of the season is not that place. And yes, most managers take over after another guy was fired but my point is that it is to start a season. There is a big difference between starting a season fresh where you have all the offseason and spring training to get to know your players and instill whatever type of culture you want in the clubhouse and the alternative of having this disaster dumped on your lap midstream.

Whoever takes over, is likely someone that is here for the rest of the year and then is gone barring a miraculous turn of events. Which is why despite how much I would hate Manuel as the skipper I am willing to live with it.

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FrankStylV7

They may be the same "managerial-type", but Manuel has a very obvious ethnic advantage....

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"The place where optimism most flourishes is the lunatic asylum." -

Havelock Ellis

Big Denny

Someone mentioned that on WFAN and the host said that Manuel was black not hispanic. I don't know how true that is.

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"I'll say it again in the land of the free ,use your freedom of choice".

DEVO

metman

About as true as Steve Sommers being Puerto Rican

Manuel inspires no confidence and would probably light a wet fire cracker, at best, under the collective asses of this 25 headed dick suck-a-tron machine.

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SHUT Your FESTERING GOB...You TIT!

metman

Holy crap that didn't get edited!

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SHUT Your FESTERING GOB...You TIT!

Masters of Superiority

After Delgado's reversed HR call at Yankee stadium, I watched in disbelief as Manuel shouted at the umpires "no YOU get out!!," showing more moxy in that thirty second scream-fest -- which got him the boot -- than Willie has shown in close to four years.

He may not be the long-term answer, but at least he (probably) knows how to double-switch, and might actually get pissed enough to argue with umpires now and then, showing a bit of, ohhh...CONCERN about the outcome of a game?

And Willie could manage 140 years, and never win "Manager of the Year," which at least Manuel has done once.

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"Here's the pitch, slow and straight...
All I have to do is swing and I'm a hero...
But I'm a zero..."

-- Weezer, "Perfect Situation"... and the 2008 Mets

BigMouthBillyBass

Great. So the Mets will continue to practice passive resistance.

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So, you're telling me that when you bring the Mets' bullpen into the game, Met fans shriek, they turn red, and they die? That is the most metal thing I have ever heard.