World News – US – Why Dave Roberts’ Dodgers Firing Case Never Was Easy: Sherman

The Dodgers followed the Braves three games to one in the NL Championship Series and a friend of Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts called and expressed the belief that without a rally to win the pennant his pal would be fired

« As logical as (Dodgers President of Baseball Operations) Andrew (Friedman) is, he won’t be able to sell his loyalty to Doc (Roberts) if they are knocked out here, » said the friend

By that time the Dodgers had won eight straight division titles, including five for five in Roberts’ tenure.They had won two pennants with Roberts But the longest tale – billions of dollars spent but no championships since 1988 – threatened Roberts and the franchise

The Dodgers have won three straight wins over the Braves and their third NL title in four years I texted the friend who just said, « SURE » Yet after Los Angeles’ stunning loss in the Game 4 of the World Series against the Rays, there was yet another give-and-take about the thin ice under Roberts This lasted until Game 5 when Roberts made a series of no relief decisions. to the letter that ideally went to move the Dodgers and himself into a one title win For at least 24 hours he was safe

So you can see how this is all upside down and why Friedman has been praised for avoiding the noise and pressure to make decisions with as little emotion as possible, whether it is about his manager or his players Because the noise is relentless

There is nothing the sporting public – fans and media alike – appreciate as much as firing someone. What is often missing is the Who do you hire meter? Every year the Yankees, for example, get knocked out of the playoffs, my inbox is overflowing with instinctive calls to fire GM Brian Cashman, and of course you want to claim a title in the last 20 seasons. mean someone else should do the job? Well, there is a case there

But you better be able to answer the following question: are you sure there is a replacement who can produce a candidate every year and navigate Yankee front office politics and cut through a media market difficult better than Cashman? It’s not really something you want to guess

In other words, if you fire Mark Jackson or Dwane Casey with winning teams, you better get it right with Steve Kerr and Nick Nurse and how often does that happen? You can argue the game got past Tom Coughlin and it was time to go But the door opened to Ben McAdoo and then Pat Shurmur

On Tuesday morning, my colleague, friend and Post researcher Mike Vaccaro casually reminded me that 25 years ago, Wednesday – October 27, 1995 – I was the first reporter to put two and two together, I realized the Yankees were pretty much doing a false managerial search and calling the person I thought would find the job Joe Torre told me he wasn’t afraid of the postman George Steinbrenner, saying, « If you worry about what may happen in the future, you will have problems in the present. »

Torre was actually hired A famous title « Clueless Joe » came with the name because Torre had been a coach with the Mets, Braves and Cardinals, had made the playoffs once without winning a game and had been among the players with the most games played without ever appearing in the playoffs

Cashman told me years later that the process was rushed and inadequate Torre, however, had a group of allies in the organization and Steinbrenner was looking for experience and understanding of the market, and the Torre raised to Flatbush ticked these boxes

The loser with relationships whose hiring was a shotgun wedding ended up being a Hall of Fame official and a symbol of October Sometimes you do it wrong and it’s fine But even the best process promises nothing – Sandy Alderson saw so much potential in Mickey Callaway, for example Meanwhile, the Yankees have been on a winning streak from Buck Showalter, Torre, Joe Girardi and Aaron Boone How many times have we believed that ‘Andy Reid couldn’t win the big one, until he did. And then there’s the Marty Schottenheimers who never quite finish the deal How do you know where Roberts stands for sure?

Roberts is only nine innings away from a title But even if it all fell apart, who would you trust a gem like the Dodgers to? UNEJ Hinch and Alex Cora are on the cusp of coming out of suspensions and already have plenty of contenders because of their championship pedigree But those championships were won by beating the Dodgers and Roberts with Astros and Red Sox teams that turned out to be cheaters

Look, you can find the right guy When Friedman as general manager and then Joe Maddon as manager left the Rays after the 2014 season questions arose as to what was to come next. Untested Kevin Cash has been hired to succeed Maddon and is claiming the title of best manager in franchise history these days and possibly the best current manager in the game.

Still, it’s always easier to fire and then hire Anyone can be shown the door, everyone who walks in doesn’t know what they’re doing I know that won’t slow down any calls for take someone out of the job in the days, weeks and years to come But that’s part of the equation – you kick someone out, especially if you’re a winning team-now – you better be right About the person you invite

© 2020 NYP Holdings, Inc All rights reserved

Terms of use

Privacy notice

Your Ad Choices

Sitemap

Your California Privacy Rights

Do not sell my personal information

Dave Roberts, Los Angeles Dodgers, World Series, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox