jordo212000;507360 wrote:My point is, why are you firing the manager? Obviously the players he has had aren't good enough. Tony LaRussa couldn't have done anything with that team. How many games did they expect Russell to win? If they fire Russell, then they need to get rid of the guy that constructed the team as well, it just doesn't make sense to me.
But like others have said, in an ideal world you would fire the owner.
I get what you're saying...but:
1. Russell's best attribute is that he's a player's manager. With a young team, you really need more of a disciplinarian. He's a lesser Torre. Put him on the Bankees and he'd likely have a good reputation, but he's too soft and passive for a team composed of prospects and retreads. The best manager ever couldn't make this current group an overnight winner, but he's the worst style choice you could have.
2. The team just kept making the same stupid fundamental mistakes all year. You'd think things would be corrected over time, but they weren't. And Russell added to it with stupid ideas. In the (bottom of the, if memory serves) sixth inning of one game they were trailing, they had runners in scoring position and two outs with the pitcher up. He let the pitcher bat. Inning over. Pitcher might have faced 1-2 batter the next inning, giving up hits/walks, but then was removed. *Clap, clap, clap* for that strategy.
I agree that he was screwed being the caretaker for a team full of prospects and retreads and was the fall guy, so if there is future glory, the next guy will get it. But from being a fan of the team, he never would have led them to glory. He was hired because he's a nice guy to players. The repeated poor execution on their part that never was corrected and his poor managerial decisions made the change necessary.
