Haven't played since Little League…

Always wondered…

Other than recruiting, what qualities differentiate great managers fro losers…

Winning percentage.

IMO, the ability to manage the pitching staff. Schloss has made some ballsy moves pulling pitchers mid AB. Example: bringing in Palisch on a 3-2 count in a bases loaded situation

I mean...coaching position, managing players between the ears, putting players in situations to execute well.

Managing between the ears.

Hiring the right positions coaches.

Understanding your players and knowing when to make pitching changes/pinch hitter/pinch runner/etc.

Setting an overall vision for the program and consistently moving the team towards the vision.

To be honest, if we really knew, nobody would ever make a bad hire.

if we're talking the main difference between Schloss and Childress...

#1 is recruiting of position players...transfers and high school players

Schloss and his staff are simply better for a variety of reasons

Agsncws said:

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To be honest, if we really knew, nobody would ever make a bad hire.

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This is true. Some have "it" and some don't. But the ones that can both attract top players and also develop the right relationship with those players (to maximize the overall output) are the ones that will win the most.

And just because you have "it" for part of your career doesn't always mean that you still do later in your career, when you might start to slow down a bit and get a little lazy.

maroonthrunthru said:

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Haven't played since Little League…

Always wondered…

Other than recruiting, what qualities differentiate great managers fro losers…

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#1 quality of good coaches in any sport, imo, is correctly evaluating talent and putting the best players on the field at every position, regardless of anything else. Imo, this is the main reason Jimbo is gone.

For baseball, you need to be a great situational coach. Pitching moves, baserunning moves, defensive moves, pinch-hitting moves - all of these are crucial, and can win or lose a game. This, imo, is an experience thing, and the manager must have a great understanding of all his players' strengths, weaknesses, and mindsets.

Schloss seems to be great at these things, which is why he's so successful.

I do remember a quote from Sparky Anderson…

"Stars… You can't win without 'em.."

One from Tommy Lasorda

"Managing is like holding a dove in your hand. If you hold it too tightly you kill it, but if you hold it too loosely, you lose it.

Also Sparky Anderson -

"The problem with John Wockenfuss getting on base is it takes three doubles to score him."

There are hundreds of answers, but in this modern data-driven era I would offer this one: an understanding there is a time to manage by feel of the game in the moment versus trusting the analytics over the grinding long haul.

here's a fun example...

the 2024 outfield of Braden, Jace, and Sorrell have combined to hit 34 home runs so far this season

they will probably finish with 45 to 50 HR's as a group

now let's go back 5 years to 2019

the 2019 starting outfield...combined to hit 9 home runs for the entire year -- only nine

recruiting better players is very important

wow. that is obscene

Robs' recruiting really fell off a cliff after 2017 .

Offense and power in particular...

you moran said:

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Also Sparky Anderson -

"The problem with John Wockenfuss getting on base is it takes three doubles to score him."

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Played minor league ball in Florida with Wock when he was trying to get back to the show. He was slow.

Instilling the right culture and mindset.

OKCAGS said:

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Robs' recruiting really fell off a cliff after 2017 .

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In Rob's case truth or not, he got the reputation among high school recruits and coaches that he would degrade fielders and batters that he recruited. He remained strong with the pitchers but the negative effect really affected us those last couple of years.

As a 14 year veteran of managing in the little leagues, I feel like my best quality was collecting low maintenance parents so we could have a chill experience without any Karens messing **** up. We weren't always great, but we didn't have any *****ing and moaning