Now, players are staging a mutiny. Both Bowden and first base coach Dave Collins have gone on record in the afternoon paper denouncing the negative approach taken by players, and this surely is an unsavory state of affairs. It's tough to succeed in baseball, and poor performances here and there are part of the game. But when you can't even assume your players are taking the right approach, you're about finished. We've failed from the general manager on down.
Some coaches seem to want the manager's job, too.
Baseball clubs often go into the tank after just this fashion, which is why, by the way, the Yankees are so much more than just the sum of their paychecks. In one year, like 1999 for the Reds, everything comes together unexpectedly because players have been humbled by failure. So they're willing to put their personal interests aside, work assiduously to improve and accept less glamorous roles for the sake of the team. The club wins, everybody cares primarily about the team and a certain magic fills the air. Now, I'm going to get mine.