On Tracy and McClendon

by Charlie Wilmoth on Jan 17, 2006 7:19 PM EST in News

Here's a blogger named Mattyfred (of whom I'd never heard until five minutes ago) with an interesting point about Jim Tracy and Lloyd McClendon.

What's most surprising about the Tracy/McClendon comparisons going down in the Pittsburgh media isn't just that a number of players disagreed so much with McClendon's methods that they called him out in the media, nor that no one in the mainstream media ever reported it until now, at least not that I'm aware.

No, what's most surprising is the reaction Jim Tracy is receiving in response to the things he's reportedly doing in minicamp. Stopping drills to give instruction, keeping a tight schedule, remembering players' names, and so on - these things should not be beyond the abilities of a Little League coach. The fact that these things are suddenly newsworthy isn't evidence that he's a good manager. It's evidence that he's a manager.

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The funniest part is that we were told over and over that the team needed McClendon because he got the most out of his players.

I think to a degree this sort of thing results from a lack of perspective in Pittsburgh. I honestly don't think many people who follow the Pirates have a sense of what a real major league team is like. It's akin to Pirate fans getting excited about a guy who has a chance to hit 20 HRs, when real teams are looking for middle-of-the-order hitters to hit 30-40 HRs. Standards and expectations are very low. Ironically, Mac's seeming apathy, as described by Mattyfred, is mirrored by many in the fan base. Very few people seemed to see any significance Mac's constant whining about the payroll, maybe in part because we've had so little exposure to real major league managers.

Another factor is that the Pirates have been a doormat since before the internet became widespread, so they've escaped some of the closer scrutiny that the competitive teams have been subject to. They're simply not interesting enough to warrant any attention outside Pittsburgh, which leaves Pirate fans to carp among, and at, themselves without getting much outside perspective.

by WTM on Jan 17, 2006 8:23 PM EST reply actions

I call it Kevin Young syndrome

Many Pirate fans were convinced Kevin Young was a very good player. When he declined, the Pirates made moves to improve his production with Randall Simon, Daryle Ward et al rather than improving the overall production to match the Sexsons and Pujols they compete against.

Improving what you have only makes sense if what you have was good to begin with. If you upgrade from terrible to bad, you still stink.

by Greg Schuler on Jan 18, 2006 7:50 AM EST up reply actions

Not tolerating the least /= getting the most

(That /= means "does not equal")Interesting point Wilbur. I think it may have been perception. If Lloyd yelled, that is a raw indication that he's not satisfied with the level that was output by whoever he was yelling at.

Lazily, one might think that means he was getting the most, but it's really only an indication of dissatisfaction with a lower level. Dejan, or Meyer or whoever might just look at the yelling and say, "boy, he doesn't stand for poor performance," and extrapolate that into getting something more from the player.

And to follow up on another thread about Lloyd's yelling; yelling without the instruction is just yelling, and you'll eventually get tuned out, especially by veterans.

azibuck

by azibuck on Jan 18, 2006 12:48 PM EST up reply actions

Hey, thanks for the link!

I've lurked around here a lot, but never posted (mostly I spend my time at Viva el Birdos). Thanks a lot for the link and I'm glad you found the post interesting. Like I said in the post, I hope that if anything, Jim Tracy's hiring is a harbinger of a new, more "Major League" direction for the Pirates. Pittsburgh fans deserve no less.

matty fred is a web log.

by matty fred @ Bucs Dugout on Jan 17, 2006 8:43 PM EST reply actions

Geeez

You're not going to name names?!?!?!?!?!

by steve_z on Jan 19, 2006 10:05 PM EST reply actions

Don't know . . .

. . . what's being referenced above, but Mac had a physical altercation with Santiago after Benito told him he didn't know what he was doing. That was the reason for Santiago's very odd departure.

I don't find it surprising that this sort of stuff had no effect on Mac's tenure. The Pirates under DL strike me as a sort of club for bad executives and managers. I've seen that sort of thing in some places I've worked--the really incompetent managerial types protect each other, even in the face of seriously egregious problems. Results are irrelevant. You just have to look at Ed Creech. After doing a bad job in LA, he took over the scouting for a team with a farm system that was roughly in the game's top third. It's probably in the bottom third now, despite uniformly high draft picks, but I'll bet Creech will be there as long as DL is.

The only thing that got Mac fired in the end was the need for a PR move in the wake of a dismal season. Only a threat to McClatchy's and Nutting's wallets can produce any movement on this team.

by WTM on Jan 20, 2006 9:23 AM EST up reply actions

More than one?

Mac had a physical altercation with Santiago after Benito told him he didn't know what he was doing. That was the reason for Santiago's very odd departure.

Heh, there's that veteran presence stuff!

by steve_z on Jan 20, 2006 2:16 PM EST up reply actions

We call them "mutual enablers"

I've seen it where I work too. Usually it's in the form of excuse-making for each other, or playing the blame game, where a manager will blame a low-level employee or perhaps another department, and the co-incompetent will back them up because of loyalty, stupidity, or their own culture of buck-passing.

azibuck

by azibuck on Jan 20, 2006 9:49 AM EST reply actions