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November 02, 2011

Tony La Russa career highlights

You’ve probably already heard the news. Fresh off claiming his third world title, St. Louis manager Tony La Russa has decided to call it a career after five decades and 5,000-plus games as a dugout general.

In honor of his Hall of Fame career, let’s do something I’ve done for others this year upon their retirement, death, or Hall of Fame induction. Basically, whatever events can make us look back on their lives.

This captures the best games and greatest moments, as well as oddest events. Also listed are some of the most impressive moments by his best players—so expect to read the words "Pujols" and "McGwire" a few times.

Its not meant to cover everything—that would take too long—just the most important parts.

Below, for your perusal, is a look back at some of the highlights of his career, both as player and manager.

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Posted by: Chris Jaffe

October 27, 2011

Farrell situation a win-win for the Blue Jays

With much talk in the last three days regarding the possibility of John Farrell moving from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Boston Red Sox, the issue of Farrell's situation with the Jays seems to have slanted altogether.

If I recall, it was only a matter of weeks ago that there was a sect of Blue Jays fans and pundits that didn't seem to care much for Farrell's status with the team, even going as far as suggesting that the Jays should hire the recently unemployed Terry Francona to manage the team and in turn demote Farrell to pitching coach.

Now that there are rumors of the inverse occurring and Farrell perhaps moving over to the Red Sox, these same people are up in arms, ruing the potential loss of one of the game's bright young managers. The Blue Jays announced forcefully that they will not let an employee under contract to break it for a lateral move to another team. Farrell just completed the first year of a three-year contract.

Well, which is it? Does it really matter if Farrell takes off to the Sox? My inclination is to say no, absolutely not.
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Posted by: Chris Lund

October 06, 2011

The Other Tito Francona

By now, every fan of the game knows about Terry Francona’s departure from the Red Sox. But do fans outside of Red Sox Nation know much about his father, who was a pretty fair ballplayer in his day?

The younger Francona, whose given name is Terry Jon Francona, is often referred to as “Tito.” That’s because his father played under the same name, and that sometimes can be a source of confusion. The original Tito Francona, whose given name was John Patsy Francona, played with a passel of teams during the 1950s and '60s.

When I was growing up with the game, the original Tito Francona was part of a different source of confusion for me; I used to mix him up with Tito Fuentes, the second baseman for the Giants who later played for the Padres, Tigers, and A’s.

The two players looked nothing alike—Francona was a white Italian American while Fuentes was a dark-skinned Latino—and they played nothing alike. Francona was a left-handed hitting outfielder/first baseman with power, while Fuentes was a singles-hitting middle infielder with speed. But when you’re all of six or seven years old, it’s hard to keep all of the Titos straight.

After missing out on two potential seasons because of military service, the elder Francona broke in with the Orioles in 1956, when he hit a modest .258 with only nine home runs but still managed to finish in a second-place tie for the American League Rookie of the Year award. He then bounced around with the White Sox and Tigers before coming into his own with the Indians in 1959.

Now 25 years of age, Tito found his power stroke and his hitting stroke. Platooning with Jimmy Piersallin the outfield and Vic Power at first base, he belted a career high 20 home runs, hit a scathing .363, and finished fifth in the league MVP race. (He would have won the batting title, but he didn't have enough plate appearances to qualify.)

Predictions of stardom came from the Cleveland media and fan base, but like many such forecasts, they did not come to pass. The following season, Francona did lead the AL with 36 doubles and nearly matched his home run and RBI totals from ‘59, but his OPS fell off significantly, from .980 to .832. His power gradually dropped over the next three seasons, prompting the Indians to sell him to the Cardinals.

From there, he played out his career as a journeyman, bouncing from the Phillies to the Braves to the A’s to the Brewers. He mostly served as a pinch-hitter and supersub, though he did produce one more season of glory in 1969, which he split between Atlanta and Oakland. After being sold to the A’s in late August, Francona batted .341 with a .541 slugging percentage while wearing the green and gold of Oakland.

For his career, Francona put up respectable totals: 125 home runs, a .272 batting average, and a .343 on-base percentage. As a player, he has drawn comparisons to outfielders from later generations, like Jay Johnstone and Kevin Bass, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Unfortunately, that body of work has become mostly forgotten, in large part because Francona did not enjoy the kind of postseason success that his son would have as a manager with the Red Sox. Playing mostly on second-division clubs throughout his 15-year career, the elder Francona never made the postseason.

Francona’s son figures to make more headlines this winter as he receives consideration for job openings in Chicago and possibly St. Louis. In the meantime, the first Tito Francona will remain in the shadows. From what I hear of the elder Francona, he is a very modest man, so I don’t think that the continued obscurity will bother him in the slightest.
Posted by: Bruce Markusen

July 12, 2011

Dick Williams’ career highlights

Dick Williams died last week at age 82. Many have already covered Williams life in various places, including our Bruce Markusen. I want to spend some time going over his career highlights as big league manager with the Red Sox, A’s, Angels, Expos, Padres and Mariners. I did similar things for Harmon Killebrew, Paul Splitorff, and Jim Northrup and feel the Hall of Fame skipper deserves similar treatment. (If not for SABR, this would’ve been done days ago.)

The following helps highlight memorable games he took part in and interesting incidents he was on hand for.
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Posted by: Chris Jaffe

July 09, 2011

What made Dick Williams great

The late Dick Williams was long deserving of the Hall of Fame. When he was finally elected in 2008, I felt that justice had been done.

In taking three different franchises to World Series berths, and winning two world titles along the way, Williams’ resume featured the appropriate Cooperstown credentials.

As a minor league player, Williams was strongly influenced by his Texas League manager, Bobby Bragan. Williams wisely noticed Bragan’s strengths as a manager: The ability to teach and instill discipline.

These attributes would become essential parts of the Williams dossier once he turned in his glove and bat for the managerial reins.

As a manager, Williams became a fiery, militaristic kind of leader. He patterned his “tough-guy” managerial style after that of two men, one from baseball and the other from football: Branch Rickey and Vince Lombardi.

Williams stressed the importance of fundamentals and basic execution, demanded absolute hustle from his players at all times, and challenged them to play for more than themselves and the lure of a contract.

Williams’ work with the Oakland A’s has always fascinated me. In a mere three seasons on the job in Oakland, Williams transformed the A’s from a talented young team with potential into a talented veteran team that executed the fundamentals, ran balls out and played hard, and developed a killer instinct that translated into winning games.

More specifically, Williams engineered the following maneuvers in leading the A’s to three division titles, two pennants, and two world championships.

*Immediate moves: Shortly after being named manager by Charlie Finley, Williams announced that he would retain Sal Bando as the team captain. He liked Bando’s leadership skills and saw no reason to strip away any of the responsibilities that made Bando respected in the Oakland clubhouse.

In addition, Williams affirmed that Reggie Jackson would be an everyday player, and would not be benched against left-handers. In two fell swoops, Williams bolstered the confidence of two of his most important everyday players.

*Early crisis: The 1971 A’s lost four of their first six games under Williams, but the players acted as if they were in first place. While on the team bus at the Milwaukee airport, one of the players decided to play a practical joke by stealing a battery-operated megaphone from the team airplane. Williams was not amused.

“Gentlemen,” Williams addressed his players, “some of you think you can be (bleeps). Well, I can be the biggest (bleep) of them all.” Williams then threatened to ban alcohol from all team flights for the balance of the season. Ouch.

Williams then turned his attention to the stolen megaphone. “The plane can’t leave without the megaphone, and we won’t leave until the plane does.”

Williams wasn’t done. “If any of you want to telephone Charlie Finley to complain,” Williams said, “I have three phone numbers where he can be reached.” Williams was challenging his players to go over his head. None of the players did. The reign of Dick Williams had officially begun.

The A’s responded by winning their next five games and 12 of their next 13. Under the guidance of Williams, the A’s were now off and running.

*Rollie Fingers’ transition: It was Williams, not Finley, who made the decision to move Fingers from the starting rotation to the bullpen. Fingers tended to get nervous before starts, sometimes so worked up that he was gassed by the opening pitch. “I just couldn’t handle a starting job,” Fingers conceded in later years. “If Dick Williams hadn’t moved me to the bullpen in 1971, I would have been out of baseball a long time ago.”

Instead of setting for a career as a mediocre starter—or something less—Fingers became one of the game’s three best firemen during the 1970s, along with Goose Gossage and Sparky Lyle.

*The unveiling of Gene Tenace: Based mostly on a hunch, Williams started Tenace at catcher over the defensively superior Dave Duncan in Game One of the 1972 World Series. Tenace hit two home runs in the first game, sending the A’s to an early victory. Tenace would finish the Series with four home runs, earning MVP honors in Oakland‘s tough seven-game win over the favored “Big Red Machine.”

*Handling a pitching staff: Williams was a master of mixing and matching arms in his bullpen. He expertly used left-handers Darold Knowles and Paul Lindblad, and right-handers Bob Locker and Rollie Fingers, in creating favorable matchups in the late innings. In Game Two of the 1972 World Series, he smartly used Vida Blue in relief, calling on his onetime No. 2 starter to record the final seven outs of a critical victory over the Reds.

*Adjusting a lineup: With the A’s in need of a center fielder after the trade of Rick Monday to the Cubs, Williams showed confidence in the abilities of the unproven Billy North. He smartly gave North plenty of leash in becoming the A’s’ starter in center field.

Later on, Williams moved North to the leadoff spot, replacing Bert "Campy" Campaneris, a cogent move given North’s superior on-base skills. By switching North and Campaneris at the top of the lineup, Williams maximized Oakland’s run-scoring abilities.

These were just some of the moves that Williams made during his three-year run in Oakland. And he had to do it all under the thumb of Finley, who could be anything from unreasonable to tyrannical. Somehow, Williams maintained order, handling massive egos and major controversies, while leading the A’s to the most successful run in Oakland franchise history.

Dick Williams was a great manager. There should be no doubt about that.

Posted by: Bruce Markusen


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