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Matheny
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Posted: 10/4/2012 8:23 AM
Matheny
How'd he do in his first year? I think he was great. Look at what he faced: - Loss of one of baseball's greatest performers.
- Devastating injuries: Carpenter, Garcia, Beltran, Berkman, et al
- Won only 2 fewer games than last year's regular season total
I hope he stays until he's 90. 11 world championships and counting!
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Posted: 10/4/2012 9:51 AM
RE: Matheny
Its not over till its over. I reserve judgement for now.
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Posted: 10/4/2012 10:17 AM
Re: Matheny
Matheny had to deal with injuries to key players. I think he did a good job.
Cardinals finished in 2nd place, 9 games behind the Central Division 1st place team.
I'm sure he was more comfortable in his role in September versus April. Mike will be
an even better manager in 2013, as I believe experience counts. In addition, I believe the Cardinals 25 man roster will be more talented in April 2013 than it is today.
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Posted: 10/4/2012 10:32 AM
Re: Matheny
I thought Matheny was solid out there all season. One game win or lose against Atlanta isn't going to change that. It is very hard to repeat, much less repeat after a miracle championship run.
The way the team finished is impressive. They had the look of the 2011 Cardinals over the last three weeks. 11-4 down the stretch shows a lot.
Could it have been better. Certainly the number of close game and extra inning losses may have cost him a few sleepless nights. And the failure to produce with runners in scoring position in too many games.
His running game was probably a little too agressive for the talent level, but it is probably an indicator of what future Cardinal teams will look like.
He probably ran Marte and Browning out there too much after they lost their effectiveness but he stuck with Cruz and Robinson and they have contributed.
And gave Lynn another chance when he could have justifiably gone with Kelly.
He showed a lot of guts putting Rosenthal and Freeman in tight situations and came out ahead.
I think he will become a very good manager. Not many do as well as he did in their first season, particularly considering that he was playing without a healthy team most of the season.
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Posted: 10/4/2012 10:42 AM
Re: Matheny
Well my Mother taught me that if you have nothing nice to say then say nothing at all...........
GO CARDS!
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Posted: 10/4/2012 12:29 PM
Re: Matheny
What devastating injury happened to Beltran other than being old?
I'll give him some credit and say he did well dealing with all of the injuries. Matt Carpenter helped a bit and was a surprise. I don't think Mo did him any favors by not going out and grabbing a lefty for the pen or a righty mInf bat and I still think he's got issues managing a bullpen. I'd give hiI'm a C+
I want to see how he deals with the youth movement for the bullpen and infield slots. He may not brees as lucky as to grab a Mujica next season.
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Posted: 10/4/2012 2:11 PM
Re: Matheny
He did a solid job in his first year at the helm, with no prior minor league managing experience.
Matheny is an intelligent guy that knows the game and knows people. He seems effective at motivating and dealing with high-ego personalities.
Did not get to see enough games to put an opinion in on his game strategy tendencies, but he seems more willing to give players a chance, whereas Tony had more of a pre-ordained mindset on what players could or could not do that limited his willingness to play certain guys.
It will be interesting to see how Matheny does over the next few years at the helm.
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- BobReed
- Memphis Redbird
- 930 posts this site
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Posted: 10/6/2012 2:30 AM
Re: Matheny
Do not ever (unless, maybe when the pitcher is up), bunt a man from second to third base. He's already in scoring position, stupid. You cannot hit into a double-play, moron. You actively undermine the chance for a big inning, doofus.
I have no idea why otherwise intelligent people would ever consider this a practical "strategy."
In this, Matheny is a LaRussaesque dork.
But. But, in the most important thing a manager can do, Matheny was nothing short of spectacular. Do not overwork your starters -- Mike did a job so terrific, so exemplary, so beyond reproach, that if it weren't for Davey Johnson, he'd be #1 on my ballot for Senior Circuit manager of the year.
This team shoulda won 93 games, mebbe more. Yeah, he overtaxed Furcal & Beltran. The former was a mistake, the latter understandable. Hard to sit a guy on target for MVP halfway through the season....
Grade: B+ or A-
Stop with the bunting fetish, and you might be the best manager in baseball, Mike.
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Posted: 10/6/2012 12:09 PM
RE: Matheny
i give him a B, maybe B-. a number of weird instances, not to mention the horrible success rate in 1 run games, and extra inning games.
a call he made last night went unnoticed but could have been huge. using the piggy back starter for 2 pitches and 1 out really could have cooked our bacon had the braves figured out a way to tie it up.
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Posted: 10/9/2012 12:49 PM
Re: Matheny
Solid B or B+ from me.
Quick rundown off the top of my head:
-First year
-Loss of Pujols
-Roster that was counting on a lot on some older players (Beltran, Furcal, Berkman)
-Ended up using a lot of young players, especially pitchers
-Replacing a HOFer
-Losing Duncan
-Bullpen needed plenty of tweaks
-Lots of injuries to key players
-Made playoffs
He does make some decisions that make me scratch my head but TLR drove me nuts.
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Posted: 10/9/2012 1:00 PM
Re: Matheny
B to B+ here too
listen, we all learn on the job to a certain extent. i think he's done some things really right and made some mistakes.
with all the injuries, all the young players...
i mean seriously, can you think of any other manager that you'd want handling guys like rosenthal, miller, lynn, etc.? being a former REALLY solid catcher has helped our staff all the way around in my opinion.
i reserve the right to raise my grade depending on how deep we go in the playoffs.
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Posted: 10/9/2012 1:36 PM
RE: Matheny
I think he did less with more, two fewer wins with a better team. But that would be expected as compared to the experienced and capable TLR last year.
The team's inconsistency, and inability to reach down for an extra gear when needed is a concern. I note that they showed no extra life in response to Carp coming back and getting on the mound. 3 rather lifeless performances. That sort of thing might be attributable to weak or inffective leadership. That in turn may be on MM or it may be a clubhouse issue. But whichever, no progress was made in correcting it throughout the year.
The record in one run games and inability to cash in on the huge run differential early in the season suggests a problem somewhere. It seems just as reasonable to fault Matheny there as it does to credit him with the team making the post-season. (I credit Bud Selig and am grateful the Dodgers aren't very clutch either)
I am trying to give him a C+, but my wife is sitting here insisting on a B. But that is just because she thinks he's cute. So I will go with a B-.
I, too, reserve the right to modify my opinion based on what happens in the playoffs. If they can come through in the clutch under pressure like last year, I will credit Matheny. If they come apart like a cheap suit he will get the blame.
Last edited 10/9/2012 1:37 PM by blingboy
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Posted: 10/9/2012 3:18 PM
Re: Matheny
C
This is a compliment because a month ago I was giving him an F.
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Posted: 10/9/2012 5:59 PM
Re: Matheny
crdswmn wrote: C
This is a compliment because a month ago I was giving him an F. As I understand it from some other comments you have made, your beef is about his in-game decisions. Correct? I pretty much expected him to suck in that area, especially not having a bench coach with high level experience. I'm sort of giving him a pass on that area. One year only. Truthfully, I'm more concerned with the team's performance under his leadership. |
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Posted: 10/9/2012 6:14 PM
Re: Matheny
My biggest concern is the record in one run games, 21-26. We need to win the close ones, everyone does though, right? RISP left on is a concern as well, maybe that vfalls more on Big Mac.
B+, if we make the NLCS A-
You all know what happens if we make the WS.
No negative waves man!
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Posted: 10/9/2012 6:29 PM
Re: Matheny
blingboy wrote:
crdswmn wrote: C
This is a compliment because a month ago I was giving him an F.
As I understand it from some other comments you have made, your beef is about his in-game decisions. Correct? I pretty much expected him to suck in that area, especially not having a bench coach with high level experience. I'm sort of giving him a pass on that area. One year only. Truthfully, I'm more concerned with the team's performance under his leadership. Yes, because I can see the in game decisions and their result. Ideas such as leadership are speculative and I just can't judge on that without more information. |
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Posted: 10/9/2012 6:48 PM
Re: Matheny
From the way the young guys have produced, and from the way the team as performed thus far this year I'll give him a B. His in game decisions are what keeps him from getting a higher grade. But like the general trend on the board seems to be, the farther into the playoffs we go, the higher he gets ranked. |
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Posted: 10/10/2012 2:38 PM
Re: Matheny
Hurdleheel wrote: My biggest concern is the record in one run games, 21-26. We need to win the close ones, everyone does though, right? RISP left on is a concern as well, maybe that vfalls more on Big Mac.
B+, if we make the NLCS A-
You all know what happens if we make the WS. His use of the bullpen in game one of the division series might be an insight into why we lost so many close ones, although we also were not that good at hitting w RISP. Hopefully with more experience, he'll get better in games where managing has a lot of impact on the outcome. |
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Posted: 10/10/2012 3:45 PM
Re: Matheny
I thought he shpould have left Boggs in there. He was fired up after getting the out, and IMO it was a mistake to remove him at that point of the game.
No negative waves man!
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Posted: 10/10/2012 5:34 PM
Re: Matheny
Too early for me to offer an opinion I could strongly defend. His style is different from TLR's, the one to which I'm most accustomed. However, I'm (usually) bottom-line oriented, so for the moment......A-.
Individual decisions can be controversial--however he's yet to go to the bullpen for a reliever to give the batter an IBB and then give him the hook. I feel he may have overused Beltran and Furcal; but his players still seem to buy into him and the playoffs were our objective which is where we are.
EDIT: redundancy
Last edited 10/10/2012 11:23 PM by MagnoliaCardFan
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