GaryMrMets
08-04-2004, 05:34 PM
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/9308489.htm
Posted on Tue, Aug. 03, 2004
Rich Hofmann | They'll show who's boss
BRASS DOESN'T WANT PLAYERS TO FIRE BOWA
By Rich Hofmann
hofmanr@phillynews.com
Doctors bury their mistakes, architects plant vines to cover theirs, and baseball general managers wait for an off day on the West Coast. (Something about the bones bleaching better in the California sun, or something.) That's the history, anyway. For a baseball manager on the brink, a day off during a coast trip is something to be endured, not enjoyed.
Still, by all public accounts, Larry Bowa appears to have survived his.
The next danger day is Friday. If the Phillies are ghastly in their three games in the new stadium by San Diego's Gaslamp District, Bowa could go then. The next danger day after that is Monday, if the road trip is a total and unredeemable disaster, if the National League East race is lost, or nearly so.
And know this: If the Phils do something like lose five of their next six and the skates aren't on Bowa by then, they never will be.
But they probably will be.
No one will cry if Bowa gets fired and no one should - after all, he would hardly shed a tear for anyone else in the same position. Because, if they give him the week and things haven't turned around, Dave Montgomery and Ed Wade will be able to look at each other with straight faces and say they gave him a fair shot. Because, if the thing continues to downspiral, Montgomery and Wade will be able to make the case that Bowa got fired because of the losing, not the whining in his clubhouse.
The distinction is subtle but important. Maybe this comes as a result of being around too many football coaches over the years, but coaches in that sport are allowed to have their jerk moments. More than allowed, it's seen as part of the job description, as a desirable trait, as something understood by everyone in the dressing room. Baseball should not be any different. Egos should not be any more fragile. To run a guy out of his job because he can't control his facial expressions all the time when the team is losing is ludicrous, even in this age.
Wade stood up for Bowa through the whole Scott Rolen whineathon, and he stood up for Bowa during last season's more incendiary moments - firing pinch-hitter Tyler Houston instead (and turning him into a newspaper columnist, heaven help us). Just last week, Wade said the renewed complaints about a negative atmosphere coming from the clubhouse did not impress him.
The organization hired a high-maintenance manager when it hired Bowa, and everyone knew it, and it has played out just that way. The theory was that the ups-and-downs on the roller coaster would result in championships, not merely nausea. That was the idea and it has been 4 years now. So give Wade this: He hasn't made the deadline deals that were necessary, but he has given Bowa his support through all of the flak.
While nobody has said it out loud, this has been the unspoken message all along: that it has to be about the wins and losses - and, more specifically, the losses. It seems obvious now that that's what these next six games for the Phillies are about.
Everyone knew the expectations were higher this year. Whether or not you agreed with those expectations, though, nobody foresaw a Phillies team that would be only one game over .500 in the first week of August. You can kill Wade about his terminal caution at the trade deadline, and you can point to fundamental (and longstanding) problems with the team's lineup, but none of that can explain 53-52.
Wretched starting pitching throughout most of the season's first half, compounded by injuries, put the heat on everybody way too early. That much seems obvious. That the manager probably has less to do with the starting pitching than anything he touches around the club is also obvious, but irrelevant. This is just about W's and L's now.
One L in meltdown.
Two L's in hell.
Three L's in collapsible.
So, we wait. In a few days, if this keeps up, they can fire Bowa and hire the designated fanny-patter and see if that makes a difference. They can bring in a nice guy, with all of the pennant-race pressure removed, with all of the expectations dialed down, and see what happens.
But, be forewarned: All managerial applicants must include a videotape of their facial expressions during dugout situations, just in case.
And, well, this: If Bowa does get fired, and all of the pressure is released, they'd better play somewhere north of .550 baseball for the shiny, happy new guy. Because if they don't, well, what would have been the point after all?
Posted on Tue, Aug. 03, 2004
Rich Hofmann | They'll show who's boss
BRASS DOESN'T WANT PLAYERS TO FIRE BOWA
By Rich Hofmann
hofmanr@phillynews.com
Doctors bury their mistakes, architects plant vines to cover theirs, and baseball general managers wait for an off day on the West Coast. (Something about the bones bleaching better in the California sun, or something.) That's the history, anyway. For a baseball manager on the brink, a day off during a coast trip is something to be endured, not enjoyed.
Still, by all public accounts, Larry Bowa appears to have survived his.
The next danger day is Friday. If the Phillies are ghastly in their three games in the new stadium by San Diego's Gaslamp District, Bowa could go then. The next danger day after that is Monday, if the road trip is a total and unredeemable disaster, if the National League East race is lost, or nearly so.
And know this: If the Phils do something like lose five of their next six and the skates aren't on Bowa by then, they never will be.
But they probably will be.
No one will cry if Bowa gets fired and no one should - after all, he would hardly shed a tear for anyone else in the same position. Because, if they give him the week and things haven't turned around, Dave Montgomery and Ed Wade will be able to look at each other with straight faces and say they gave him a fair shot. Because, if the thing continues to downspiral, Montgomery and Wade will be able to make the case that Bowa got fired because of the losing, not the whining in his clubhouse.
The distinction is subtle but important. Maybe this comes as a result of being around too many football coaches over the years, but coaches in that sport are allowed to have their jerk moments. More than allowed, it's seen as part of the job description, as a desirable trait, as something understood by everyone in the dressing room. Baseball should not be any different. Egos should not be any more fragile. To run a guy out of his job because he can't control his facial expressions all the time when the team is losing is ludicrous, even in this age.
Wade stood up for Bowa through the whole Scott Rolen whineathon, and he stood up for Bowa during last season's more incendiary moments - firing pinch-hitter Tyler Houston instead (and turning him into a newspaper columnist, heaven help us). Just last week, Wade said the renewed complaints about a negative atmosphere coming from the clubhouse did not impress him.
The organization hired a high-maintenance manager when it hired Bowa, and everyone knew it, and it has played out just that way. The theory was that the ups-and-downs on the roller coaster would result in championships, not merely nausea. That was the idea and it has been 4 years now. So give Wade this: He hasn't made the deadline deals that were necessary, but he has given Bowa his support through all of the flak.
While nobody has said it out loud, this has been the unspoken message all along: that it has to be about the wins and losses - and, more specifically, the losses. It seems obvious now that that's what these next six games for the Phillies are about.
Everyone knew the expectations were higher this year. Whether or not you agreed with those expectations, though, nobody foresaw a Phillies team that would be only one game over .500 in the first week of August. You can kill Wade about his terminal caution at the trade deadline, and you can point to fundamental (and longstanding) problems with the team's lineup, but none of that can explain 53-52.
Wretched starting pitching throughout most of the season's first half, compounded by injuries, put the heat on everybody way too early. That much seems obvious. That the manager probably has less to do with the starting pitching than anything he touches around the club is also obvious, but irrelevant. This is just about W's and L's now.
One L in meltdown.
Two L's in hell.
Three L's in collapsible.
So, we wait. In a few days, if this keeps up, they can fire Bowa and hire the designated fanny-patter and see if that makes a difference. They can bring in a nice guy, with all of the pennant-race pressure removed, with all of the expectations dialed down, and see what happens.
But, be forewarned: All managerial applicants must include a videotape of their facial expressions during dugout situations, just in case.
And, well, this: If Bowa does get fired, and all of the pressure is released, they'd better play somewhere north of .550 baseball for the shiny, happy new guy. Because if they don't, well, what would have been the point after all?