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Thread: Best Red Sox Manager---Ever?

  1. #16
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    Which is exactly what Cora has done. He has taken a wierd mixture of talented ball players and made them into a team. He is far more trusted than any of the other good managers the Sox have had. Everyone in baseball-land watched Betts take strike one every AB thinking 'get on base' His average dropped 50 points over night and Farrell nor any of his so-called coaches said boo. He has stuck with JBJ when a lot of people (including me) wanted him benched or traded==whatever. He has givne honest advice (and encouagement to Devers that has helped the kid keep his confidence when he heads for 3rd base. He has obviouslygiven this kid the green light when others wanted him "shorten that stroke".

    Alex Cora doesn;'t know baseball. He knows people.

  2. #17
    Deity moonslav59's Avatar
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    Alex Cora doesn't know baseball. He knows people.

    He knows both.

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    He quite clearly knows his baseball.

    He comes across as a very intelligent fella.

  4. #19
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    I'd be hard pressed to pick the 'best ever' because of the multitude of variables. But I must admit I have enormous respect for hard-driving, sharp-tongued Dick Williams as a manger, not just for what he achieved with the 67 Sox, but also for his overall success as a manager. He led teams to three American League pennants, one National League pennant, and two World Series triumphs. He is one of seven managers to win pennants in both major leagues, and joined Bill McKechnie in becoming only the second manager to lead three franchises to the Series. He and Lou Piniella are the only managers in history to lead four teams to seasons of 90 or more wins.

    And to go a bit off topic for a minute, if you want to discuss 'worst Sox manger', hands down Pinky Higgins immediately comes to mind. Along with many other failings, he'll always be remembered as to how he brought up to the team rookie Don Buddin who the previous year had won the MVP in the minors, and mismanaged him to the point of ruining a potential brilliant career.

  5. #20
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    I'm high on Cora too, but agree it's way too early, especially when this particular team is, I believe, the highest paid in MLB this year.

    The thing is, things changed after John Henry took over and did two key things: opened up the pocketbook and got good GM's (for the most part). I think there is no question Francona benefited from the John Henry era. So did Farrell for awhile. Those two won three WS after an 86 year lapse, but they had a lot of help.

    I don't know Joe Morgan at all, but he sounds pretty darn good.

    Cora has basically the same guys as last year except they are healthier and have added JD, and they look like a different team. Maybe he is the best, but we won't know for about six months or several years.

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    We don't know about Cora yet, nor do we know about Hanley or any other surprising hot starter. But if Cora has an edge over recent managers, my guess is that it's because he has the trust of the players (esp the Latino ones) and has an old-fashioned hands-on, direct way of managing. He's got energy and so do his players, because his independent spirit is given to them too. guessing of course

  7. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Maxbialystock View Post
    I'm high on Cora too, but agree it's way too early, especially when this particular team is, I believe, the highest paid in MLB this year.

    The thing is, things changed after John Henry took over and did two key things: opened up the pocketbook and got good GM's (for the most part). I think there is no question Francona benefited from the John Henry era. So did Farrell for awhile. Those two won three WS after an 86 year lapse, but they had a lot of help.

    I don't know Joe Morgan at all, but he sounds pretty darn good.

    Cora has basically the same guys as last year except they are healthier and have added JD, and they look like a different team. Maybe he is the best, but we won't know for about six months or several years.
    Joe was a crusty, tough nosed New Englander. Here's a pretty good write up on him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Morgan_(manager)
    The Yankees could go 0-162 and it wouldn't be enough

  8. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by fxkatt View Post
    We don't know about Cora yet, nor do we know about Hanley or any other surprising hot starter. But if Cora has an edge over recent managers, my guess is that it's because he has the trust of the players (esp the Latino ones) and has an old-fashioned hands-on, direct way of managing. He's got energy and so do his players, because his independent spirit is given to them too. guessing of course
    Yes, exactly. Andin a very short time

  9. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by dustcover View Post
    I'd be hard pressed to pick the 'best ever' because of the multitude of variables. But I must admit I have enormous respect for hard-driving, sharp-tongued Dick Williams as a manger, not just for what he achieved with the 67 Sox, but also for his overall success as a manager. He led teams to three American League pennants, one National League pennant, and two World Series triumphs. He is one of seven managers to win pennants in both major leagues, and joined Bill McKechnie in becoming only the second manager to lead three franchises to the Series. He and Lou Piniella are the only managers in history to lead four teams to seasons of 90 or more wins.

    And to go a bit off topic for a minute, if you want to discuss 'worst Sox manger', hands down Pinky Higgins immediately comes to mind. Along with many other failings, he'll always be remembered as to how he brought up to the team rookie Don Buddin who the previous year had won the MVP in the minors, and mismanaged him to the point of ruining a potential brilliant career.
    Oh yes. But Buddin became a legend, no? Then let's not forget Billy Jurges, who replaced Higgins, did ok for half a season (with his signature move of hustling rather than walking to the mound to change pitchers), then succumbed to the reality that was the Yawkey Sox and as I recall essentially suffered a nervous breakdown in year 2.

  10. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by illinoisredsox View Post
    Joe was a crusty, tough nosed New Englander. Here's a pretty good write up on him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Morgan_(manager)
    Thanks. A good write-up of a guy who clearly was underappreciated by the Sox. It took him forever to get to be a coach, let alone a manager in Boston even though he managed 8 years at Pawtucket. Army service in the 50's.

  11. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by illinoisredsox View Post
    Joe was a crusty, tough nosed New Englander. Here's a pretty good write up on him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Morgan_(manager)
    I never had much respect for Joe.

    I think he once formulated the line-up by asking his 5 year-old daughter who to play.

    The team responded to the manager change, perhaps more out of glee watching McNamara walk out the door.

    Don Zimmer had some great records for 3 or 4 years, but he played favorites way too much for my liking.

    Bill Carrigan won 2 rings in his 3 years and the team went 91-62 in a second place finish his other year (1914-1916).

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by illinoisredsox View Post
    Before we start annointing anyone the "best" after less than 20 games, we should remember Joe Morgan started out 19-1 in 1988; Sox went 27-30 the rest of the way and got swept by the A's in the ALCS. The teams Joe managed were not nearly as talented as the current iteration, but Joe got a lot out of them (2 division titles) and uttered those immortal words "Your team is not as good as you think it is" to the upper management when they let him go. The disasters that followed under Hobson proved him correct.

    With 2 titles, Francona is still the standard and there's a gap to second.
    Well said, and I agree.

    I love the impact that Cora seemingly has on the team, but he has a long way to go to be crowned 'Best Manager Ever'.

  13. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fan_since_Boggs View Post
    A related question: does anyone remember the Yankees playing this sloppy under Joe Girardi?

    The Yankees sloppiness is quite noticeable.

    Why get rid of Joe Girardi? He won a W.S., and did pretty well with a team that was going through some kind of rebuilding period. He was one win away form the W.S. last year. And then Cashman replaces him with a guy who never even served as a bench coach. Brilliant.
    Aaron Boone - LOL

    I feel so fortunate that the Sox did not sign him as our new manager.

  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Slasher9 View Post
    this is easy.
    Francona is the greatest Red Sox manager of all time.
    Yup

  15. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by bosoxmal View Post
    Which is exactly what Cora has done. He has taken a wierd mixture of talented ball players and made them into a team. He is far more trusted than any of the other good managers the Sox have had. Everyone in baseball-land watched Betts take strike one every AB thinking 'get on base' His average dropped 50 points over night and Farrell nor any of his so-called coaches said boo. He has stuck with JBJ when a lot of people (including me) wanted him benched or traded==whatever. He has givne honest advice (and encouagement to Devers that has helped the kid keep his confidence when he heads for 3rd base. He has obviouslygiven this kid the green light when others wanted him "shorten that stroke".

    Alex Cora doesn;'t know baseball. He knows people.
    One of the things Cora mentioned early was being able to communicate to the players in such a way as to get them to buy into what he was saying. He gave a specific example yesterday of how Hanley was shocked to see he was batting 2nd in the line up. Cora explained to Hanley that he wanted Hanley to get more at bats, and that he was in a good spot between Betts and JD. Hanley seemed to buy into it.

    I give Cora a lot of credit for how he has changed the hitting philosophy of this team so successfully in such a short period of time.

    I think he knows baseball and people very well.

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