 |
| 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.
