Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1938-05-12

n NH contrary to the dope
is called a Miracle
Man."
NS'S' He earns that title
because he had stronger players than
the preseason dopesters believed he
had. This must be the case because
the same man, in the same league
may finish fourth or eighth in another
season, yielding first place to another
man.
Which brings us to the question:
How important actually, is a manager
to a ball team? If the same team
played one season under a manager
of exactly average ability and the
next season under the smartest man.
ager in baseball how much difference
would appear between the records
of the first and second season?
Bob Connery, one of basebalPs
smartest men, estimates that man.
ager can make difference of four
or five games in a season. can ex-
ceptional manager will win four or
five more games than an ordinary
manager" says he, land really in
competent manager may lose four or
five more games than an ordinary
manager"
When teams play 154 games in a
season the difference between excel
lence and mediocrity does not seem
to be very great. And the record
seems to prove this, too.
There are several managers in the
major leagues whom baseball does
not regard as very smart fellows.
There is a right way and wrong
way to play the game. There are
several major league managers
Charley Grimm of the Cubs, for ex-
ample, Pie Traynor of the Pirates,
Gabby Street of the Brownsville do
things that the combined judgment
of all sound baseball men says are
wrong.
Yet they hold their jobs and their
teams often finish ahead of teams of
such known smart managers as Con-
ME Mack, Bill McKechnie, Mickey
Cochrane and Jimmy Dykes.
1.-THE breaks of the game, the i'm
portance of pitching, the work of
individual players are so much more
important than the strategy of the
managers that the strategy only really
counts in an occasional close game,
and such games do not come up very
often" That is Bob Connery's ex-
PLANTATION.
If a pitcher is hot, or team is
on hitting streak, strategy does not
count for much. And, on top of that
a manager may make the right guess
on a percentage basis and it may
not come off right.
1t is probably true that Joe Nc
Carthy, Bill Terry, Connie Mack and
Bill McKechnie are the four smartest
managers in baseball, and they are
all in the major leagues. But it is
also true that many major league
managers are not so smart as some Of
the better men who are sentenced to
the minor leagues.
should prefer DOME Bush of Min
neapolis, Bill Meyer of Kansas City
Bert Neihoff of Louisville, to at leas,
half dozen big league managers
They know more baseball, play i,
more intelligently, handle men more
cleverly, make fewer mistakes.
Yet one or two of those half dozer
major league managers who obviously
have no special qualifications for theil
jobs may be the managers who wir
the pennants and meet in the worlo
series. It's happened often enough
Do you notice, too, how apparently
careless major league magnates are ir
selecting their managers? They fire
one man because he had bad record
the year before and then casually
promote one of their players who ha:
had no managerial experience what
ever You would think they would
canvass the entire country, weigh the
capabilities of many candidates; but
they seldom do. They take the man
who is easiest to get.
Many times fine managers have
been discharged and thoroughly un-
tried men put in their places with
the explanation that the fans were
tired of the old manager and the
new man would be popular choice
without any thought of whether he
would be good choice.
It's all very battling but the best
answer is that the importance of q
manager in the baseball scheme is
usually overestimated by the fans.