Fire Scioscia?

[Stradling]

Again, who cares whether he wins that award or not? It's meaningless in the context of the team.

Well, shitty teams don't get manager of the year awards. Oh and just so were clear, everything is meaningless in the context of the regular season when you lose in the playoffs.

[Inside Pitch]

Do you honestly believe Scioscia is doing a good job of preparing his teams for the playoffs?   

 

Do you honestly believe a manager is responsible for OFers taking bad routes, bobbling a ball, or losing a ball in the lights?    You could totally make the argument that playing Hamilton was just stupid, but can you genuinely argue that starting Trout and Calhoun was a mistake?   Those three plays cost all led to runs, had those plays been made everything is different.

 

I'm not trying to be a prick, I'm just curious how those things are a lack of preparation, particularly given the two batting coaches, the eye in the sky, the stats guy, and the advance scout..  That's a lot of people responsible for preparing the players -- did they all fail?

[mp170.6]

Well I honestly believe that what happened five years ago has no impact on what happened in this playoffs. You were one of the ones that argued he shouldn't be playing his starters the last weekend, because it wasn't up to him to help the A's secure a playoff spot. You were afraid of injuries to key players, as was I. You prepare your players by letting them know what is coming up and give them information about their opponent. Do you really think Scioscia needs to tell Albert or Freese how to prepare for the post season? No, they have been their before and they didn't really perform any better than any of the other playoff virgins. The team slumped at the wrong time. Here is a question for you. Do you think Mike coached any different after the ten game winning streak when they lost two in a row to the Astros? Or do you think it is just one of those things that happens during the course of a 162 game season? I assume it is the latter. I just think the team went into an offensive slump and no amount of preparedness from your manager is really going to cure that. Slumps happen, even in the post season. I wonder how many Tigers fans are calling for the firing of Ausmus.

 

Let me ask this a different way.  How do you reconcile Scioscia's regular season win percentage during the Moreno era (0.560) with his postseason win record over the same period (0.313)?  Do you think that's just bad luck or something? 

 

You must be thinking of someone else with the second and third sentence.  I think I asked what their plan was, but I never advocated helping the A's or was I worried about injuries.  I can't answer your question about the ten game win streak because I missed almost all of those games busy with work.

[mp170.6]

Well, shitty teams don't get manager of the year awards. Oh and just so were clear, everything is meaningless in the context of the regular season when you lose in the playoffs.

 

Manager of the Year awards have the same problem as Hall of Fame admission.  There's no firm criteria and the voting is left to baseball writers who may or may not have a bias. 

[mp170.6]

Do you honestly believe a manager is responsible for OFers taking bad routes, bobbling a ball, or losing a ball in the lights?    You could totally make the argument that playing Hamilton was just stupid, but can you genuinely argue that starting Trout and Calhoun was a mistake?   Those three plays cost all led to runs, had those plays been made everything is different.

 

I'm not trying to be a prick, I'm just curious how those things are a lack of preparation, particularly given the two batting coaches, the eye in the sky, the stats guy, and the advance scout..  That's a lot of people responsible for preparing the players -- did they all fail?

 

Absolutely not.  I think the manager is responsible for collective failures though.  There's no reason for all of the hitters to go cold, or for most of the pitching staff to struggle concurrently.  Not against a team like the Royals. 

 

In terms of preparing a team, I think it's largely psychological besides offering them the pertinent scouting data.  Some of the players really are primadonnas and need people to hold their hands all the way to the end. 

[Stradling]

Let me ask this a different way. How do you reconcile Scioscia's regular season win percentage during the Moreno era (0.560) with his postseason win record over the same period (0.313)? Do you think that's just bad luck or something?

You must be thinking of someone else with the second and third sentence. I think I asked what their plan was, but I never advocated helping the A's or was I worried about injuries. I can't answer your question about the ten game win streak because I missed almost all of those games busy with work.

My opinion about his performance in the playoffs is that the team wasn't really constructed for the post season. We had guys like Brian Fuentes closing for us, because we didn't have anyone better. This year, with Richards, we were constructed for the playoffs. Three really good starters and a lights out bullpen, along with veteran hitters and the hitters that were veterans were both (Trout and Calhoun) really good. I feel like 2009 team underperformed and should have beat the Yankees, but again they had a suspect bullpen. That is my opinion, for what it's worth.

[Inside Pitch]

Let me ask this a different way.  How do you reconcile Scioscia's regular season win percentage during the Moreno era (0.560) with his postseason win record over the same period (0.313)?  Do you think that's just bad luck or something? 

 

 

 

Has changing managers altered the A's performance in the post-season vs their in season performance?  

 

Other than the year we had Teix, did you ever really believe the Angels had the best team in the playoffs?  I get that the Angels were the favorites going into this series but objectively speaking.   The Royals entered the series with the better rotation, the better bullpen, the better defense.   The one edge the Angels had failed to show up.

 

Other than not playing Hamilton (which is a legit argument), how does any manager overcome the offense crapping out?

[mp170.6]

My opinion about his performance in the playoffs is that the team wasn't really constructed for the post season. We had guys like Brian Fuentes closing for us, because we didn't have anyone better. This year, with Richards, we were constructed for the playoffs. Three really good starters and a lights out bullpen, along with veteran hitters and the hitters that were veterans were both (Trout and Calhoun) really good. I feel like 2009 team underperformed and should have beat the Yankees, but again they had a suspect bullpen. That is my opinion, for what it's worth.

 

Those figures I quoted were for all years during the Moreno era, 2004-2014. 

[Troll Daddy]

I would fire Dipoto before I'd fire Scioscia.

[Stradling]

Those figures I quoted were for all years during the Moreno era, 2004-2014.

So, you literally want me to search my memory banks to tell you why we lost to the Red Sox twice, the Yankees once and the White Sox once? I already explained why we lost to the Yankees, Fuentes and the bullpen. The White Sox, well, their starting pitching dominated the entire post season. The Red Sox won the world series in 04. When we lost to them in '08, I felt like we had the better team, but it just didn't happen. I remember part of that would be GA getting pink eye and Reggie Willits hitting clean up very early in the last game of that series. That's all I got for you. I am sure I am missing other facts, but I am doing this off of memory, things that happened 5-10 years ago.

[Ohtaniland]

Scioscia and Dipoto have both said that they get together to make some decisions. They happened to make a bad decision playing Hamilton, not that it mattered last night.

 

If the Dodgers win the World Series this season I will join the fire Scioscia and Dipoto bandwagon. Especially if Greinke pitches lights out!

[Stradling]

I would fire Dipoto before I'd fire Scioscia.

I really like Scioscia, but there is no way I let Dipoto go before Scioscia.

[Stradling]

If the Dodgers win the World Series this season I will join the fire Scioscia and Dipoto bandwagon. Especially if Greinke pitches lights out!

Why? That is about as relevant as saying, if the Clippers win the NBA championship I will be on the fire Scioscia and Dipoto bandwagon.

[mp170.6]

Has changing managers altered the A's performance in the post-season vs their in season performance?  

 

Other than the year we had Teix, did you ever really believe the Angels had the best team in the playoffs?  I get that the Angels were the favorites going into this series but objectively speaking.   The Royals entered the series with the better rotation, the better bullpen, the better defense.   The one edge the Angels had failed to show up.

 

Other than not playing Hamilton (which is a legit argument), how does any manager overcome the offense crapping out?

 

What do the A's (or any other team) have to do with Scioscia's poor postseason record?

 

Lots of managers overcome obstacles to help their team advance in the postseason.  You act like it's an impossible feat but it's not.  I think at the least, the Angels should have gone to 5 games against the Royals in the ALDS.

[mp170.6]

So, you literally want me to search my memory banks to tell you why we lost to the Red Sox twice, the Yankees once and the White Sox once? I already explained why we lost to the Yankees, Fuentes and the bullpen. The White Sox, well, their starting pitching dominated the entire post season. The Red Sox won the world series in 04. When we lost to them in '08, I felt like we had the better team, but it just didn't happen. I remember part of that would be GA getting pink eye and Reggie Willits hitting clean up very early in the last game of that series. That's all I got for you. I am sure I am missing other facts, but I am doing this off of memory, things that happened 5-10 years ago.

 

I was only trying to show how big of a discrepancy there is between the regular season and the playoffs. 

[Inside Pitch]

Absolutely not.  I think the manager is responsible for collective failures though.  There's no reason for all of the hitters to go cold, or for most of the pitching staff to struggle concurrently.  Not against a team like the Royals. 

 

In terms of preparing a team, I think it's largely psychological besides offering them the pertinent scouting data.  Some of the players really are primadonnas and need people to hold their hands all the way to the end. 

 

The Royals offense is basically the Angels offense for most of their 2004-2009 glory years run, the overall numbers may not be pretty but they steal bases and pressure the defense -- think that team speed has any effect on the OF misplays?

 

Not sure how to fix the guys needing to be babysat more.   Some people believe MS coddles players too much, not sure someone who would walk around kissing their boo-boos is the answer.  I'm probably missing some guys but other than Torre, I can't really think of guys who were really good at soothing egos.   LaRussa was anything but warm and fuzzy and while some might want to bring up Maddon, it's hard to argue a team with a bunch of no names and the sort has had to deal with many primadonnas.  Was Maddon's handling of BJ Upton viewed as a plus or a minus?   That's an honest question, all I remember is that he sat him a couple times when he failed to run hard. 

[Stradling]

I was only trying to show how big of a discrepancy there is between the regular season and the playoffs.

So you don't think there are teams that are suited better for the playoffs? Or teams that are good regular season teams, but their roster isn't all that great for the post season? Imagine if the Angels had five Jered Weavers we would win a ton of regular season games. But then when you get to the playoffs how does Weaver compare to most teams top flight offenses or Ace pitchers.

[mp170.6]

So you don't think there are teams that are suited better for the playoffs? Or teams that are good regular season teams, but their roster isn't all that great for the post season? Imagine if the Angels had five Jered Weavers we would win a ton of regular season games. But then when you get to the playoffs how does Weaver compare to most teams top flight offenses or Ace pitchers.

 

You or Inside Pitch said that, not me.  I never put much thought into which teams are better suited for the playoffs. 

 

That's a cop out anyway, because a team capable of winning 98 games and scoring the most regular season runs in MLB should have no problem scoring runs against the Royals. 

[Stradling]

You or Inside Pitch said that, not me. I never put much thought into which teams are better suited for the playoffs.

That's a cop out anyway, because a team capable of winning 98 games and scoring the most regular season runs in MLB should have no problem scoring runs against the Royals.

This is getting nowhere. If you don't think some teams are better suited for the regular season than others, I don't know what to tell you. This season the weakness of the team going into the post-season was starting pitching. This team struggled with hitting. That is on hitters, not on the manager. But you don't believe that, you believe the manager is to blame for Trout, Albert, Howie et all sucking offensively.

[Inside Pitch]

You or Inside Pitch said that, not me. I never put much thought into which teams are better suited for the playoffs.

That's a cop out anyway, because a team capable of winning 98 games and scoring the most regular season runs in MLB should have no problem scoring runs against the Royals.

Wasn't me.

I'd blame the manager if I didn't believe they were beaten by a team that was essentially a mirror image of what the Angels used to be. Three defensive miscues that all led to runs and an offense that was cold for most of the second half went cold again in the post-season.

When it's all said and done I get why people are pointing fingers at MS, it's just one of those times I don't really blame the manager. That bunt call with Calhoun though... WTF??!!!

Edited October 7, 2014 by Inside Pitch

[mp170.6]

This is getting nowhere. If you don't think some teams are better suited for the regular season than others, I don't know what to tell you. This season the weakness of the team going into the post-season was starting pitching. This team struggled with hitting. That is on hitters, not on the manager. But you don't believe that, you believe the manager is to blame for Trout, Albert, Howie et all sucking offensively.

 

Alright then, answer this question.  Which team was better suited to score runs against the Royals in the playoffs? 

[Stradling]

Alright then, answer this question. Which team was better suited to score runs against the Royals in the playoffs?

The team that wasn't slumping and didn't hit it anywhere near CF where Cain could go Superman on every low line drive or ball that should go off the wall.

[mp170.6]

Wasn't me.

I'd blame the manager if I didn't believe they were beaten by a team that was essentially a mirror image of what the Angels used to be. Three defensive miscues that all led to runs and an offense that was cold for most of the second half went cold again in the post-season.

 

Oh okay, I couldn't remember who said that.

 

I really don't understand your logic though.  To be honest, it shouldn't matter who the opponent was, or whether they were a mirror image of anything.  The Angels proved they had the best offense this season, so to play this poorly against the Royals is embarrassing. 

[mp170.6]

The team that wasn't slumping and didn't hit it anywhere near CF where Cain could go Superman on every low line drive or ball that should go off the wall.

 

You're grasping at straws, I'm afraid. 

[Stradling]

Then be embarrassed, I choose not to be and understand that weird things happen in baseball and the best team doesn't always win. If the best team always won we would have 3 other championships. I believe they had the best team in 82, 86 and 09. This team, regardless of the record, they did not have the best team. With Richards, they could have been the best. Which still wouldn't matter if the hitters don't hit.