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I was shocked during the game last night. Lloyd McClendon looked like a different man. Miles happier and more relaxed. The "about to retch or cry" facial expression was gone and in its place was content, relaxed assessment.
Could have had something to do with it, that Mather called McClendon "fine" for next year --- > and that could be right. Could be much more than just an admirable propping up of a beleaguered coach. When Gillick came in, he inherited Piniella and had nothing to say about it. The precedent is important because that situation, and this, both include Howard Lincoln and his administration.
Not that I'm in favor of McClendon coming back, or not in favor of it. But McClendon's facial expression was not the most glowing RIP epitaph of Jack Zduriencik.
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Reading Geoff Baker today, you get the idea that he really dislikes Jack Z. That's not the case. What is the case, is that Geoff Baker will write what he believes, without compromise. What would you rather, listen to beat reporters who give you the Mariners' press release on Area 51 because they would never risk their "access"? In fact, as we're talking here, you get to wondering whether Baker was actually "promoted" to covering regional politics. Or whether his reassignment was out of necessity, as the Mariners reacted to him in more and more hostile fashion. I dunno.
Anyway, Bill James has a powerful phrase that I like ... if you "unpack" Geoff Baker's column you get this:
- Jack Zduriencik was an unpleasant dictator.
- And not in a Vince Lombardi style; rather, in a disjointed, unfair, ineffective style.
- A few examples: Chone Figgins, Don Wakamatsu, and "several dozen" fired employees.
Baker's column pulls no punches, as Grizzly put it, because Baker has put his finger on the critical issue and he's going to press it. ... okay, good on him. Clear argumentation is the best kind, or so we've heard from Mojician.
In Dr. D's opinion, Geoffy's article was one yard shy of a Super Bowl win. That is the yard which points out, "unpleasant dictator" is grossly outdated in today's MLB game. 90% of baseball GM's are likeable, affable people. They're people who can walk onto the set of ESPN and get along famously with everyone there, get everybody there smiling within 90 seconds. Zduriencik is the opposite of this. That the Mariners would indulge this anachronism is the proof of their dysfunction.
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Take the incident where Lincoln, Armstrong, and Zduriencik bawled out Eric Wedge (of all people), late in one capsized season, demanding extra fielding practice for tired and injured players.
Do you think that, if the Seahawks are 5-7 going into Week Fourteen, Paul Allen is going to call down and demand that Pete Carroll run one extra hour's worth of tackling drills on Thursday? WHY OR WHY NOT?
Do you think that Pat Gillick would have ever done this to Lou Piniella or Tony La Russa or Mike Scioscia? WHY OR WHY NOT?
Do you think that Paul Allen is going to pointedly "teach" Pete Carroll how to "demand excellence" and then take Percy Harvin's side when Harvin stages a national-TV mutiny on the sidelines of a game? WHY OR WHY NOT?
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Pete Carroll does not install "expectation of excellence" on Thursday afternoon during Week 14. Neither do Scioscia or Showalter or Matheny or Phil Jackson. The very idea of calling down for extra drills late in the year, to install "expectation of excellence," is truly preposterous. Or, you could say "dysfunctional." (Eric Wedge DID say "dysfunctional." His saying this was remarkable.)
What you need is to identify the field manager who knows how to do this systemically. < --- dictionary lookup "TRITE." He knows how to do it systemically, and he has the personality to make it stick systemically; he has that delicate touch that we call "leadership."
SSI doubts that Lloyd McClendon has this attribute; 70% of his players (it seems like) just now had years that were in their 10th percentiles. That's a manager's biggest job, to cause UP years for his players, however he wants to do that!
Carroll writes, in Win Forever, that the most basic key (when hoping for UP years from players) is self-confidence. "If self-confidence is so important," he corrected one of his coaches, "why would we ever do anything to jeopardize a player's self-confidence?" See Walker, Taijuan and Ramirez, Erasmo. Dr. D is not cheery on Lloyd McClendon's gift for inspiration, but ... Mike Hargrove did lousy in Cleveland until Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome showed up.
Zduriencik's gone and Kevin Mather says he wants a different personality for the org. Well, that's two good things. Two super good things.
Cheers,
Jeff
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PS Dr. D is really warming to the idea of Kim Ng. :- )
