Rollin'...

Bobby is big on team.  He's big on little things.  He's big on team composition, correctly defined and executed roles and he's very big on Bobby Valentine.  

LOLOLOL!  :- )

As far as correctly defined and executed roles, we all saw where that could take you in NPB-MLB showdowns.

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As far as the winning, that comes at a price.  There are things you have to give up, if you want to win.  In sports, winning almost always comes at the price of putting up with egomaniacs.

Not that Valentine is quite there, but .... don't go thinking that, if you want to win, you get to pick a long series of "comfortable" managers like Bob Melvin and Mike Hargrove and Don Wakamatsu.*

Again, not that we don't expect Don to win.

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Supposing for a second, supposing for the sake of argument, that SSI was right -- and that the Mariners have been hiring post-Lou managers precisely because they have "softer," pleasanter personalities...

Pleasanter than what?  No, not pleasanter than the maitre'd at Ruth's Chris.  Pleasanter than Lou Piniella, Earl Weaver, George Karl, and Mike Ditka.

Don't you take the good with the bad here?  Aren't Lou Piniella's rough edges part of the makeup that enable him to control major league ballplayers under his command?

As one scout once put it, "Do you think Lou Piniella gives a rat's patootie whether his players like him?"

He didn't care whether his players, or Howard Lincoln, liked him.  Howard then hired several managers who did care whether Howard liked them, and who also cared whether their players liked them.

Bobby V considers it self-evident that if you don't like him, your brain is broken someplace important, and it's your problem.  That's cool with Dr. D.

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Maybe Valentine is burned out the way Hargrove was, but they're such totally different personalities that any comparison between them is on the "both are members of the human race" variety.

:- )

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Valentine is a man who understands both Japanese and American baseball, and who understands pressure.  He's not gonna curl up in a ball and blow away at the prospect of a tough job.  If you're telling Bobby that you have resources and young players in place, and a plan, but you need a guy to take the bull by the horns and wrangle it for you, I can see him finding that very appealing.

He has the energy and enthusiasm for that job.  Maybe he prefers the Mets, and they prefer him.  But if not...I'm intrigued by the possibilities.

~G

This is a lot of what SSI is grasping for -- the idea of a man imposing his will onto chaos.

We know that you amigos get tired of the tourney-chess application, but that's exactly what happens under fire.  The board becomes a maelstrom.  It becomes chaos, and every random event that is whirling around has the same intention:  your death.

There's a certain feel, a certain vibe, to riding that wave, and in any sport, rare's the dude who knows the feeling.

Lou Piniella, obviously, imposes order onto chaos.  Don Wakamatsu, obviously, did not.

SSI believes that Bobby Valentine is a genuine order-imposer.  It says here that the Mariners need one.

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By the way, there are many jobs that require you to check your touchy-feelies at the door.  One time I was being trained in sales, and I hit the wrong tone with a client. 

My trainer was rough on me.  "Is it okay if I sell you this?," he mocked.  "Do you accept me as a person?"

Having enough self-confidence not to care about that, is key to a lot of jobs.  The next great M's manager won't care much whether Howard Lincoln likes him.

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Jack Zduriencik is constantly asked about leaders in the clubhouse.  Boy, didn't Junior lead!  Isn't Mike Sweeney great for this club.

Jack patiently, firmly, corrects you.  The leader in the clubhouse is the manager.

This specific ballclub has young players and it has inmates (like Figgins) who think they run the asylum.  Order is a lot more important for this manager, than is in-game strategy.

Cheerio,

Dr D