THE MOST IMPORTANT MAN IN SPORTS IN THE PAST FORTY YEARS: The Veterans Committee of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, again given the chance to induct Marvin Miller as part of its expansion era ballot, has instead voted unanimously to induct managers Joe Torre, Bobby Cox, and Tony La Russa.
I do think Mr. Finn raised a fair point regarding La Russa: if we're going to ding McGwire for using PEDs, why give a free pass to his manager who let it happen?
Congratulations to Bobby Cox and SHAME on the committee for not unanimously inducting Marvin Miller.
ReplyDeleteAll that I can add to the discussion is that I really don't like Tony La Russa. Not sure if it's because I'm a Cubs fan, or because of those sunglasses, or both, but ugh.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even like him when he was managing the White Sox.
ReplyDeleteI've already fought what may be a losing battle on Twitter on this point, but I do wonder how much credit Torre deserves for managing the juggernaut, deep-pocket, competitive-imbalance-era Yankees dynasty of the late-90s/early-00s (vs. how well a replacement-level manager might have done). His non-NYY managerial record is quite a bit less impressive, and those teams often actually underperformed vs. expected (Pythagorean) wins. From anecdotal reports, he was not well regarded in his time as an in-game tactician, or as a developer of young talent; and as far as I recall, he didn't have the reputation of a guy who could help unlock a pitcher's previously unrealized potential (see LaRussa/Dave Duncan or Cox/Mazzone). So yes, I get it -- I'm just not sure I get unanimity.
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