More fawning bullcrap on the inscrutable wisdom of Obi-Wan Leyland

Bonderman and Pena were acquired in a three-way deal that sent Jeff Weaver to New York.

I could be wrong, but isn't Robertson originally from the Houston organization?

 

It got me thinking, so I looked it up.

Robertson was drafted by Florida in 1999. He was Traded by the Florida Marlins with Rob Henkel (minors) and Gary Knotts to the Detroit Tigers for Mark Redman and Jerrod Fuell (minors).

Also of note, Robertson is a fan of the Shocker (Wichita State that is).



Maroth was drafted by the Red Sox in 1998 and traded to the Tigers for Bryce Florie.

 

Being a former Tiger yourself, Trey Beamon, you should know Robertson came from Florida. I think Starman's assessment of Leyland is a bit harsh. While I agree that the Obi Wan manager routine has gotten a bit old, I think he has done a good job this year. I mean the Tigers record speaks for itself. Yes, the talent on the field is better, but I think he has helped it come together and kept the level of bullshit in the lockerroom to a minimum. I'm not sure who talked about the pitchers' arms falling off, but I think that's just ridiculous. Not one of the Tigers' starters have thrown 200 innings this year. The starters rarely go past the 7th inning. I don't think that qualifies Leyland as an arm-killer.

 

Actually, two have just touched 200 innings. Robertson is at 204.0 while Bonderman is at 203.2

But they could be the only two to see that mark in the regular season. Rogers sits at 190.1 and Verlander at 181.0. They'll each get one more start (two max).

 

His lifetime credentials also include, coming into this season, a .486 lifetime winning percentage.

And no, that wasn't dragged down by being saddled with one or two horrible teams. He had overall losing records at all three of his previous stops.

I'm not saying that Leyland sucks, is a horrible manager, couldn't manage your kid's tee-ball team, any of that.

He's an OK manager, probably a little better than average. There are plenty of managers in MLB, a bunch in the minors, and all sorts of other people who can have winning seasons if the right circumstances occur -- mainly a huge influx of pitching talent onto your roster.

It's just that ever since he was hired last October, just like when Larry Brown was hired (for that matter the same thing is going on with Marinelli), all we've gotten has been an unending stream of gooey fellatio-fests about his "veteran wisdom," "crafty experience," he knows "the right way to play," "he's a stickler for fundamentals," blah blah blah yack yack yack, yadda yadda yadda, and every time he scratches his ass it's cited as yet another example of all this veteran experience coming to the fore, when in real fact he's made plenty of mistakes like ALL managers do.

 

don't forget how every single profile of him manages to work in that he smokes. strange.

 

54-108, 1998 Marlins
64-98 his first year managing in the bigs with a franchise that was worse than dead.

Give me a break.

 

He's walked into some shitty situations . . . not like Joe McCarthy, who stepped out of
one limosine, and walked right into another . . .

 

Today, the crusty crafty grizzled genius, FIRST manages to blow a 6-0 lead, THEN, in extra innings, with a division title on the line, without anyone holding a gun to his head, allows Neifi Perez to bat - for a player who had homered the previous time at bat.

10 game lead on Aug. 6. 55 days later, lead completely blown.

Case closed. Mother Fucking Moron.

 

And for that, Twins fans are very grateful.
(Sorry Tiger fans, no malice intended, but it had to be said.)

 

Don't forget he had Kenny Rogers throw 40+ pitches in extra innings, after having Todd Jones throw 45, and Zumaya throw 37 when you're trying to get ready for the postseason. But at least they won the AL Central... Oh wait...

 

I won't dispute what happened today or the collapse. That said, how many others managers do you believe could have led the Tigers to the postseason, Starman?

That lineup has a terrible OBP, and really, I'm not sure how they have been able to keep it up for this long with Todd Jones as their closer from start to finish. Smoke and mirrors. Give the man some credit.