Exploring the Evolution and Impact of Baseball Managers

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00:00Who do you think is the best in the business now?

00:02Are you on that Tito or Bochy or is it Dave Roberts?

00:07Or who do you think the best in the business is now?

00:10Because I could go back in time.

00:12I was just talking about being a Yankee fan since I was a little boy.

00:15And I went to see Charlie Huff pitch at the stadium against Reggie Jackson.

00:18And I was in heaven.

00:20And I used to get a thrill watching George Steinbrenner fire Billy Martin.

00:24I got a kick out of Billy Martin.

00:26And I've seen every manager since I say I started as a hardcore baseball fan in 70.

00:33In 71, I went to the World Series with my father.

00:36In 79, I went to the World Series.

00:37They beat the Orioles both times.

00:39I could go down the litany of managers.

00:41Who's your favorite now and who's your favorites then?

00:45You know, the three starting now, the three you mentioned, it's hard to top.

00:49Obviously, Bruce Bochy has won four World Series.

00:51The great thing about Bochy, of course, is he's transitioned with the times.

00:57Not everybody can do that.

00:59You know, I asked Bochy, you know, was it harder or easier when you first started versus now?

01:06What's the big difference?

01:07And he said, you know, the biggest thing now is when I first started to manage,

01:11the manager used to just tell players what to do.

01:15Go do this.

01:15Go do that.

01:16But in today's world, he says, you've got to offer an explanation with it.

01:21I want you to do this.

01:22Here's why.

01:23Whether it's, you know, something we think will help you, help the team.

01:26He said that's just the way it is, and that's the way it's got to be done.

01:29Not everybody, you know, could do that.

01:32I mean, I'd like to see if Earl Weaver would be asked by a player, you know.

01:36But Bochy has won four World Series.

01:39He's going to the Hall of Fame.

01:40Terry Francona, same thing.

01:42He's got an incredible way with players.

01:43There's a lot of Terry Francona in the book.

01:45Dave Roberts, I shadowed for four days, trying to get into the day-to-day.

01:50What's the day-to-day like for a baseball manager today, a modern,

01:54the quintessential modern manager?

01:56Because they've got players pulling at them.

01:59The, you know, baseball analytics office always wants another meeting.

02:02You know, in Los Angeles, the way things are, you know,

02:04the marketing department wants the manager to go speak at a statue dedication.

02:09You know, the media relations always has interview requests.

02:12And Dave Roberts handles everything, including and especially the baseball part with aplomb.

02:18So I'd say those three.

02:20And, you know, going back in time, I mean, Earl Weaver, there's some fascinating stuff about him that,

02:25you know, he was an early advocate of analytics.

02:27He used to have his media relations guy in Baltimore keep track of batter versus pitcher matchups long

02:33before anybody else heard of that.

02:37And so he would know, like Detroit's coming in this weekend.

02:40He'd have a whole list of how my relief pitchers have done against each of Detroit's batters.

02:45So, you know, he used to update those.

02:47And a lot of people back then thought he was crazy.

02:48But, you know, it turns out he was almost like the godfather of analytics.

02:52And there's a lot of stuff on him and on that in the book as well.

02:57Get the book, Skipper, Why Baseball Managers Matter and Always Will.

03:02It's everywhere and available now.

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