Scott Miller: What might have been

[Inside Pitch]

Excellent read -- sorry if it's already been posted.    

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2858435-joe-maddons-long-strange-road-to-becoming-the-angels-manager?share=twitter

Man Tony Tavares really was an asshat.

[Docwaukee]

From Bavasi:

"Look, fate is what it is. Brad [Ausmus, who was fired as manager last month] was not there, Mr. Moreno [Angels owner Arte] was gonna choose the manager, and Billy [Eppler, current GM] could not have done better. Joe will have no agenda except to make them better, help Billy do his job better, ask Billy to help Joe do his job better. It'll be a collaboration. Once Brad was gone, I was a little worried for Billy. With Joe, he's got nothing to worry about. Swear to God. I'll stake my life on it."

 

[T.G.]

Thanks for sharing, IP.  Good read indeed.

[Blarg]

You know, Bavasi Jr. didn't get the respect he deserved for what he tried to do for the Angels during the belt tightening of Jackie Autry's reign. Bavasi went about drafting talent and waiting for it all to come to a head and become a real home grown team. He had a long term plan that was interupted by that idiot Tavares, who was completely out of his element trying to run a baseball team. 

The luncheon sounds exactly like a Tavares decision making process. Ignore all of the benifits and focus simply on one inconsequental factor. I used to work with an extremely talented graphic artist that had tremors when he wasn't intently focused on his work. His hands would shake when he was eating but holding a graphics pen he could draw a perfect straight line freehand. Anderson was perfectly focused at that time and would have been the right mentor. Tavares was a complete dumbass.

And that is the Angels worst enemy over the decades. One guy making a tragic mistake that sends a ripple through the organization. Bavasi's father that let Ryan walk, Tavares meddling and picking Collins because he looked mangerial in a Disney way, then tries to throw away the entire roster of young players that Bavasi had groomed because his manager pick was a fuck up.

If it were not for Stoneman drawing the line the Angels never would have come near a World Series. Fast forward and we have Reagins that wasn't ready for the job and made free agency and trade mistakes, none franchise wrecking but mind numbing. Then Dipoto that was a wrecking ball to the entire infrastructure. Just about everything he did has required five years to repair.

Back to the original subject. Losing the opportunity to use Anderson as a mentor changed the franchise's ability to an earlier success but then again there was still Tavares inserting his influence that would have probably negated any gains. Maddon would have been left with nothing to work with after Tony went tiger and ate his young players in his own Collin's like fit of rage if there wasn't instant success. 

Joe said he believes that everything in it's own time. Well, that time period would probably not have worked well for him with the division at the top of the ladder. But now Joe has a GM with the stability of Stoneman to play the long game, holding fast on things that matter like the minor leagues and the forward thinking of Bavasi Jr., knowing he has to put the right personell in place on a budget while also keeping up with the times.

This should work for both Joe and Billy. Two guys that, at the very heart of it, are baseball geeks.

[winhalos]

I saw another article on MLBTR about Tavares not hiring Anderson, since he had trouble bringing a spoon to his mouth. Anderson was 62 at the time

I'm 62 and suffer from Kinetic tremors, brought on my peripheral neuropathy. it sucks at times and is embarrassing, but I get through it. I was a part time cartoonist at one time, but the tremors will not allow be to draw like I did at one time. Not sure how tremors would affect ones ability to manage a baseball team though.

 

[Jay]

45 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

From Bavasi:

"Look, fate is what it is. Brad [Ausmus, who was fired as manager last month] was not there, Mr. Moreno [Angels owner Arte] was gonna choose the manager, and Billy [Eppler, current GM] could not have done better. Joe will have no agenda except to make them better, help Billy do his job better, ask Billy to help Joe do his job better. It'll be a collaboration. Once Brad was gone, I was a little worried for Billy. With Joe, he's got nothing to worry about. Swear to God. I'll stake my life on it."

 

For Billy's sake I hope Arte agrees that "he could not have done better."

 

[red321]

46 minutes ago, winhalos said:

I saw another article on MLBTR about Tavares not hiring Anderson, since he had trouble bringing a spoon to his mouth. Anderson was 62 at the time

I'm 62 and suffer from Kinetic tremors, brought on my peripheral neuropathy. it sucks at times and is embarrassing, but I get through it. I was a part time cartoonist at one time, but the tremors will not allow be to draw like I did at one time. Not sure how tremors would affect ones ability to manage a baseball team thou.

 

sending signs would probably be a bitch

[Taylor]

Great article!

Quote

The Angels were in the market for a new manager in 1996 after blowing a large AL West lead down the stretch in 1995 and following that up with a clunker of a '96 season. Bavasi, then the GM, had identified a young, personable, quirky and whip-smart coach as future managerial material.

But he didn't think Maddon, then 42, was quite seasoned enough.

Good news for you old guys. 42 is now considered young!

[Amazing Larry]

1 hour ago, red321 said:

sending signs would probably be a bitch

I laughed. Reason 42,654,248 I'm going to hell.

[Angelsjunky]

12 minutes ago, Taylor said:

Great article!

Good news for you old guys. 42 is now considered young!

You'll get there, you little shit.

 

[T.G.]

2 hours ago, Taylor said:

Great article!

Good news for you old guys. 42 is now considered young!

Eat meat and die.

[mpcincal]

A friend of mine tweeted me the link to this story, and it was a good read. (No surprise, though, Scott Miller is one of the best baseball writers out there).

As with many of you on this board, my biggest takeaway is the reminder that Tavares was a complete moron. It's no coincidence the Angels' fortune immediately went on the upswing after he stepped down.

Of course, this story also reminds us of the Collins hiring. One story I remember reading (don't remember who wrote it) soon after the hiring was the Angels also interviewing Jim Leyland. Leyland had left the Pirates and was the most sought-after manager that offseason. The Angels scheduled an interview with him although everybody knew he would probably go to the Marlins, and if he didn't, he wasn't going to go to the West Coast. However, I guess the Angels had to show everyone they at least talked to him. In the story, it said that Leyland spent the whole interview singing the praises of Collins and telling management why they should hire him. So, we also apparently have Leyland to thank for that little period of Angels history.

[Billy_Ball]

[Brandon]

9 hours ago, red321 said:

sending signs would probably be a bitch

Thanks for dropping this inbetween the dad jokes

[stormngt]

It's funny.  I remembered when there was a speculation that sparky Anderson maybe hired as manager.  I even remember the story that Leyland recommended Collins.

[Billy_Ball]

I remember Sparky doing a lot of Angels TV broadcasts with Steve Physioc and Jerry Reuss in 1996.

[Jay]

5 hours ago, Billy_Ball said:

I remember Sparky doing a lot of Angels TV broadcasts with Steve Physioc and Jerry Reuss in 1996.

Sparky always sounded like he was half in the bag.

We used to call him, "Shparky"