Sandberg. Really?

[CT III]

I think Sandberg will be like most managers, give him good enough players and he's probably not going to fuck them up.  Give him shit players, and no amount of "managing" is going to win anything.  Hendry's the problem here, I'm not real concerned about who manages the team at this point.

[Brownie]

Can anybody tell me if Sandberg knows how to manage a baseball team?  What has he done at Iowa?  What has Iowa done since Sandberg?  I don't care if the players like him.  The players liked Dusty.  I don't care if he gets thrown out of games.  A drunken fan who runs out on the field naked is going to get thrown out of the game too.  I don't care if if he chatty as all hell.  The guy next to me at the last game that I went to was chatty and I wanted him to be thrown out (and to stay off of my lawn).  I only want to know if he can manage a team any better than my deceased mother in law can.

I have heard he buys into that old-timey, "Let's bunt!" shit. That's a strike against him in my book.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt in that it is kind of nice to know your players can do things like lay down a bunt when it's necessary. Now, if he's doing the first-inning sac bunt or the bunt the guy from 2nd to third, that's dumb, but wouldn't it be nice to know that if you need a run and have a guy on third, the hitter can execute a squeeze?

[Bort]

I think Sandberg will be like most managers, give him good enough players and he's probably not going to fuck them up.  Give him shit players, and no amount of "managing" is going to win anything.  Hendry's the problem here, I'm not real concerned about who manages the team at this point.

Yeah. If at that presser, they annouced Sandberg was manager, but Hendry was leaving, I'd be overjoyed.

[motown]

Can anybody tell me if Sandberg knows how to manage a baseball team?  What has he done at Iowa?  What has Iowa done since Sandberg?  I don't care if the players like him.  The players liked Dusty.  I don't care if he gets thrown out of games.  A drunken fan who runs out on the field naked is going to get thrown out of the game too.  I don't care if if he chatty as all hell.  The guy next to me at the last game that I went to was chatty and I wanted him to be thrown out (and to stay off of my lawn).  I only want to know if he can manage a team any better than my deceased mother in law can.

I have heard he buys into that old-timey, "Let's bunt!" shit. That's a strike against him in my book.

I know there's virtually nothing else to judge him on, but is Sandberg's minor leage managing necessarily indicative of how he will manage in the big leagues? For example, presumably there would be more of an emphasis in the minors on bunting, stealing, etc., and other ways of "playing the game the right way" that most sabremetricians hate.  But maybe it's necessary to do these things more often in the minors to teach the lil tykes how to execute successfully what the manager wants done (damn the consequences to the teams's chances to win the game).  

Please, God, let that be why Sandberg bunts in the first inning.

[Chuck to Chuck]

Please, God, let that be why Sandberg bunts in the first inning.

Do we even know for certain he is doing this or is it simply a Brietbartism?

[Eli]

I know there's virtually nothing else to judge him on, but is Sandberg's minor leage managing necessarily indicative of how he will manage in the big leagues? For example, presumably there would be more of an emphasis in the minors on bunting, stealing, etc., and other ways of "playing the game the right way" that most sabremetricians hate.  But maybe it's necessary to do these things more often in the minors to teach the lil tykes how to execute successfully what the manager wants done (damn the consequences to the teams's chances to win the game).  

Please, God, let that be why Sandberg bunts in the first inning.

I guess I look at it the opposite way.  The primary focus of the minor leagues is to get young players as many at-bats as possible so they get better.  Any any time a player bunts, that's a wasted at-bat in terms of the player's development.  I suppose it's useful to have guys bunt in game situations, but bunting is far easier than hitting.  Save it for practice.

But all indications are that Sandberg thinks that bunting is some sort of way to honor and respect the Game of Baseball.  His Hall of Fame speech indicates that pretty clearly:

These guys sitting up here did not pave the way for the rest of us so that players could swing for the fences every time up and forget how to move a runner over to third, it's disrespectful to them, to you, and to the game of baseball that we all played growing up. Respect.

A lot of people say this honor validates my career, but I didn't work hard for validation. I didn't play the game right because I saw a reward at the end of the tunnel. I played it right because that's what you're supposed to do, play it right and with respect.

If this validates anything, it's that learning how to bunt and hit and run and turning two is more important than knowing where to find the little red light at the dug out camera.

And just for posterity's sake, Sandberg had 31 sacrifice bunts in 9,282 career plate appearances.

[Canadouche]

And just for posterity's sake, Sandberg had 31 sacrifice bunts in 9,282 career plate appearances.

Correlating precisely with the number of times that Chicago lead off men got on base in the 1st inning of those games.

[Yeti]

I know there's virtually nothing else to judge him on, but is Sandberg's minor leage managing necessarily indicative of how he will manage in the big leagues? For example, presumably there would be more of an emphasis in the minors on bunting, stealing, etc., and other ways of "playing the game the right way" that most sabremetricians hate.  But maybe it's necessary to do these things more often in the minors to teach the lil tykes how to execute successfully what the manager wants done (damn the consequences to the teams's chances to win the game).  

Please, God, let that be why Sandberg bunts in the first inning.

I guess I look at it the opposite way.  The primary focus of the minor leagues is to get young players as many at-bats as possible so they get better.  Any any time a player bunts, that's a wasted at-bat in terms of the player's development.  I suppose it's useful to have guys bunt in game situations, but bunting is far easier than hitting.  Save it for practice.

I was about to respond, but I saw... THI

[Chuck to Chuck]

Please, God, let that be why Sandberg bunts in the first inning.

But all indications are that Sandberg thinks that bunting is some sort of way to honor and respect the Game of Baseball.

Add in Yeti's "I have heard..."

From where have we heard?  What indications?

[BH]

Please, God, let that be why Sandberg bunts in the first inning.

But all indications are that Sandberg thinks that bunting is some sort of way to honor and respect the Game of Baseball.

Add in Yeti's "I have heard..."

From where have we heard?  What indications?

Chuck's right for once. Until I head it from Weebs, I'm ignoring this.

[Richard Chuggar]

Please, God, let that be why Sandberg bunts in the first inning.

But all indications are that Sandberg thinks that bunting is some sort of way to honor and respect the Game of Baseball.

Add in Yeti's "I have heard..."

From where have we heard?  What indications?

Chuck's right for once. Until I head it from Weebs, I'm ignoring this.

fag

[Bort]

Please, God, let that be why Sandberg bunts in the first inning.

But all indications are that Sandberg thinks that bunting is some sort of way to honor and respect the Game of Baseball.

Add in Yeti's "I have heard..."

From where have we heard?  What indications?

Chuck's right for once. Until I head it from Weebs, I'm ignoring this.

fag

I'm pretty sure it's up on Rotoworld somewhere.

[Internet Apex]

I know there's virtually nothing else to judge him on, but is Sandberg's minor leage managing necessarily indicative of how he will manage in the big leagues? For example, presumably there would be more of an emphasis in the minors on bunting, stealing, etc., and other ways of "playing the game the right way" that most sabremetricians hate.  But maybe it's necessary to do these things more often in the minors to teach the lil tykes how to execute successfully what the manager wants done (damn the consequences to the teams's chances to win the game).  

Please, God, let that be why Sandberg bunts in the first inning.

I guess I look at it the opposite way.  The primary focus of the minor leagues is to get young players as many at-bats as possible so they get better.  Any any time a player bunts, that's a wasted at-bat in terms of the player's development.  I suppose it's useful to have guys bunt in game situations, but bunting is far easier than hitting.  Save it for practice.

But all indications are that Sandberg thinks that bunting is some sort of way to honor and respect the Game of Baseball.  His Hall of Fame speech indicates that pretty clearly:

These guys sitting up here did not pave the way for the rest of us so that players could swing for the fences every time up and forget how to move a runner over to third, it's disrespectful to them, to you, and to the game of baseball that we all played growing up. Respect.

A lot of people say this honor validates my career, but I didn't work hard for validation. I didn't play the game right because I saw a reward at the end of the tunnel. I played it right because that's what you're supposed to do, play it right and with respect.

If this validates anything, it's that learning how to bunt and hit and run and turning two is more important than knowing where to find the little red light at the dug out camera.

And just for posterity's sake, Sandberg had 31 sacrifice bunts in 9,282 career plate appearances.

Save it for practice? Would that not be a waste of pitches from whoever is firing real-life stuff at the would-be bunter? Or should they just bunt off the pitching machine throwing straight stuff at them while the fielders do something? I think you have to bunt in games in order to learn how. Some guys really shouldn't be bunting at all in games though. Like big dudes with serious power and hairy anuses.

[Yeti]

Please, God, let that be why Sandberg bunts in the first inning.

But all indications are that Sandberg thinks that bunting is some sort of way to honor and respect the Game of Baseball.

Add in Yeti's "I have heard..."

From where have we heard?  What indications?

In 2007, the Peoria Chiefs were 3rd in the Midwest League in sacrifice bunts.
In 2008, they were 2nd.
In 2009, the Tennessee Smokies were 2nd in the Southern League.
In 2010, the Iowa Cubs are 8th in the Pacific Coast League. They have 40, and are on pace for 60, in 144 games.

And I heard it from some guy on the Score who said he was following Sandberg's progress over there. That's all I had to go off of. A little research gave me those numbers.

[Tinker to Evers to Chance]

Please, God, let that be why Sandberg bunts in the first inning.

But all indications are that Sandberg thinks that bunting is some sort of way to honor and respect the Game of Baseball.

Add in Yeti's "I have heard..."

From where have we heard?  What indications?

In 2007, the Peoria Chiefs were 3rd in the Midwest League in sacrifice bunts.
In 2008, they were 2nd.
In 2009, the Tennessee Smokies were 2nd in the Southern League.
In 2010, the Iowa Cubs are 8th in the Pacific Coast League. They have 40, and are on pace for 60, in 144 games.

And I heard it from some guy on the Score who said he was following Sandberg's progress over there. That's all I had to go off of. A little research gave me those numbers.

So right now the Iowa Cubs are 8th out of 16 teams.  That doesn't sound like a significant number, or one I should be concerned about.