 |
| Ron Gardenhire |
The Sox won three out of four vs. Detroit at Comerica Park this week, and honestly, it isn't worth much comment. The two teams began the week a combined 56 games below .500. The Tigers are outright tanking. The Sox are just killing time, apparently, with no real desire to improve a losing team. Both clubs have players on the roster who have no business in the majors anymore -- see the matchup between Santiago and Beckham.
Heck, there was even an article on The Athletic this week where a writer asked if the Tigers (33-78) could be even worse than the 2003 Detroit club that went 43-119. The answer to that is no. Detroit has seven games left with the Sox, seven with the Kansas City Royals and four with the Baltimore Orioles. I think the Tigers have 11 more wins left in them, based on that schedule.
But they likely will finish with the worst record in baseball and add another abysmal season to manager Ron Gardenhire's ledger.
There are some Sox fans who still believe Gardenhire is a good manager. They carry scar tissue from the era in which Gardenhire was beating the Sox and winning divisions with the Minnesota Twins. However, 2004 was a long time ago, and the Metrodome has long since been imploded.
Good ol' Gardy has fallen on hard times. Here are his past six seasons as manager:
2011 Minnesota Twins: 63-99
2012 Minnesota Twins: 66-96
2013 Minnesota Twins: 66-96
2014 Minnesota Twins: 70-92
2018 Detroit Tigers: 64-98
2019 Detroit Tigers: 33-78 (48-113 pace)
Total: 362-559 (.393 winning percentage)
That is too pathetic for words. As much as we question Rick Renteria, I will take him as a manager over Gardenhire any day of the week. Does anyone really believe the Tigers are going to turn around under that guy? Not that the Sox are going to turn around under Renteria, but you know what I mean.
Wow! Are you that short sighted? So now it's the managers fault the guys playing for him are not ready for the majors? The major league club has been stripped of almost all its talent.
ReplyDeleteThat's not a small sample size. He has a terrible record over six seasons. He got fired from Minnesota for a good reason. Can't believe he got another job. Yet there are still Sox fans who think he is great. LOL.
ReplyDeleteKinda funny how the Twins pulled it up over .500 the year after Gardenhire got canned.
ReplyDeleteCome on! Get real! Who is the best baseball manager of all time? He couldn't win with these AAA and AA players. Castro...two nights ago, in the first inning...keep in mind in the first inning - he struck out, over threw the cut off man allowing a run to score, and after catching a routine fly ball drop it, allowing a runner to advance from 2nd to 3rd. That is what Gardenhire has to deal with...it ain't the managers boys...he has almost nothing to deal with.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the Tigers are terrible. You're not getting my point, which is that the game has passed Gardenhire by. He was brutal his last FOUR YEARS in Minnesota, which has been a well-run organization through the years. I can't believe he got another job. I can't believe people wanted him to manage the Sox. Might as well just rehire Ozzie Guillen, who also would be a fish out of water in today's game.
ReplyDeleteCredit this Twins writer. He told it like it was with Gardenhire:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/9/29/6868239/ron-gardenhire-fired-twins
Gardenhire had a losing record against Robin Ventura. Every other AL Central manager owned Ventura, who also was bad at managing.
I'm amused that someone wondered into this blog entry today with the search term "Ron Gardenhire another death march".
ReplyDelete