A similar story, but less extreme. And it probably helps to have a dynamic, intense new manager in Larry Bowa. For now, anyway. One of the more interesting ideas in The Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers is that changing managers almost always helps a club in the short term. But it s a long season, and after a while, the intense manager causes new problems.
Feuds start, players press too hard, and chaos erupts.
I m wondering if Bowa is cut from similar cloth. I see a few warning signs already in his style. In the first 16 games, Gomes and Bottalico have been in 12 and 11 games, respectively. That s a recipe for burnout and injuries. The starters haven t shown similar abuse, but both Chen and Person use a lot of pitches and were heavily abused by former manager Terry Francona.