New trends in the dugout

Mike Redmond served a
minor-league apprenticeship
before landing a big-league
managerial job.

When Mike Redmond landed the managerial job in Miami last month, he talked about the career advice he'd gotten from Jim Leyland, his first big-league skipper and now manager of the Tigers: Take a minor league job and learn the nuances of managing in the bushes. Redmond did so: Two seasons in the Toronto system managing in Class A.

Even Ryne Sandberg and Mike Schmidt, Hall of Fame players who harbor(ed) managerial ambitions, had to go to the minors first. Schmidt quit after a few weeks (he could make more money on the autograph circuit and didn't want to manage enough to put up with the minor league life); Sandberg is in the bigs as a coach now and reputedly the manager-in-waiting in Philadelphia.

There are a lot more minor league managers than major league managers, of course, and only a few get to ride the buses to one of the big-time jobs, as Redmond did. The odds are agin 'em.

And the odds are getting worse. Major league teams are increasingly hiring managers who haven't managed, or even coached, on any professional level.

Walt Weiss will be
the sixth manager
in Rockies history.

The most recent such move came late Wednesday, when the Colorado Rockies selected Walt Weiss, a former major league shortstop who had been coaching in high school.

Others of this ilk: Mike Matheny, who led the Cardinals to the seventh game of the NLCS in his first season managing anywhere; and Robin Ventura, who kept the White Sox in the playoff hunt.

Inexperienced and successful: Not a promising development for the dues-paying minor leaguers.

What's more, the Rockies had as one of their leading alternatives to Weiss the still-active Jason Giambi, and the White Sox were seriously considering making Paul Konerko player-manager before tabbing Ventura.

These selection were unusual. Most managers take the Redmond route of a minor league apprenticeship; others are at least coaches in the majors for a while, learning the job from a more experienced manager (Ozzie Guillen from Jack McKeon, for example).

What Weiss, Matheny and Ventura have had in lieu of experience coping with the issues of running a minor league team: Impressive major league playing resumes. Weiss was AL Rookie of the Year in 1988; Matheny caught in the majors for 13 years; Ventura was probably the greatest third baseman in White Sox history.

The single most important thing a manager has is the respect of his players. The pedigree of World Series rings and All-Star games is a good start. (The respect can dissolve quickly, however.)

All this has a certain amount of at least theoretical interest to Twins fans. Paul Molitor has never managed in the minor leagues and was last a full-time coach in 2001 under Tom Kelly. But he may be the manager-in-waiting. Matheny,Ventura and Weiss indicate that Molitor wouldn't be a unique selection.

Notes, quotes and comment

Quick, without looking it up: Which current Twins player is an Olympic medalist?

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Robin Ventura is having a good first season as manager.

The Chicago White Sox left Target Field on Wednesday having won the series — and in first place in the American League Central.

Not a bad season so far for a team whose general manager at one point during the winter used the word "rebuilding" to describe its status and his approach.

There is credit to be spread around, and some of it should go to Robin Ventura, the truly rookie manager of the Pale Hose.

Ventura's selection to succeed Ozzie Guillen raised eyebrows because he had not managed a team on any level. Nor had he been a coach. A successful player, absolutely— Ventura may be the best third baseman in franchise history — but making such a man the dugout boss without an intervening training period has long been regarded as a discredited approach.

I'm not aware of any specific change in on-field strategy or tactics between Guillen and Ventura. There is, however, an obvious difference in public persona. Ventura projects a aura of quiet professionalism. There is nothing quiet about Guillen.

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Manny Acta and the Cleveland Indians have seen
enough of Derek Lowe.

While the White Sox doggedly remain atop the standings, the Cleveland Indians are rapidly fading. And on Wednesday they designated Derek Lowe and his 5.52 ERA for assignment.

Lowe is 39, and this may well be the end of his road; his strikeout rate this year is almost half his career norm, and his walk rate is nearly a career high.

Not many pitchers have led the league (in different seasons) in wins, saves and losses. Lowe has.

Lowe also holds this distinction: In 2004, he was the winning pitcher for the Red Sox in all three postseason series — Game Three of the division series against the Angels, Game Seven of the ALCS against the Yankees, Game Four of the World Series against St. Louis.

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Answer to the Olympian question above: Brian Duensing, who pitched for Team USA in the Beijing Games in 2008. The Americans won the bronze medal in those games, the last with baseball or softball in the mix.

Ventura, Konerko and managing

If these cartoons are any indication, there's considerable skepticism about the selection of Robin Ventura as manager of the Chicago White Sox.

First, from Scott Stantis of the Chicago Tribune:

Then, this from Carl Skanberg of the "Smells Like Mascot" blog, linked to from the sidebar:

I can't help but wonder what the reaction would have been had the Paul Konerko as player-manager brainstorm gone anywhere.

There hasn't been a player-manager since Pete Rose in the mid-1980s. There was time — in the 1930s, during the Depression — when the majority of managers were players as well. It was a cost-savings thing, basically — and that probably was a reason for Kenny Williams to consider Konerko, to save on the salary of a manager.

Robin Ventura, manager

Robin Ventura spent most of his career with
the White Sox, but also played for the Mets,
the Yankees (above, in 2003) and Dodgers.

You can't accuse Kenny Williams, the general manager of the Chicago White Sox, of hiring retread managers. By tabbing Robin Ventura — probably the greatest third baseman in the franchise's 111-year history — to follow Ozzie Guillen as the dugout boss, Williams has hired a man who not only hasn't managed or coached in the majors, he hasn't managed in the minors either.

Trying to guess what kind of strategic manager Ventura is going to be is a fool's game. We do know that he'll have Don Cooper as his pitching coach, and he'd doubtless be wise to allow Cooper a great deal of autonomy in running the staff. 

The most important attribute for a manager is his credibility with the players. It's been seven years since Ventura last played, so his players are likely to know something of his exploits. That's instant credibility.

Keeping that credibility ... Ventura's dealings with players have been as a peer, not as their boss. He hasn't had to look a player in the eye and kick the man's hopes in the teeth, hasn't had to tell him he's getting demoted, hasn't had to tell him he's out of a job. He hasn't had to find the perfect balance between encouraging a struggling player and criticizing him. 

That's the real issue with hiring a completely inexperienced manager -- not whether he knows when to issue an intentional walk or his preference for power or defense at second base, but his ability to deal with egos and emotions over the course of a long season.