Sweet Lou Piniella For Cooperstown?

[KCBOOMER]

Not No, but HELL NO. I hate putting managers into Cooperstown.

[gyb13]

Originally posted by KCBOOMER
Not No, but HELL NO. I hate putting managers into Cooperstown.

amen boom

[Fuzzy Bear]

Originally posted by KCBOOMER
Not No, but HELL NO. I hate putting managers into Cooperstown.

I don't agree with this sentiment for managers, in that a manager can make a world of difference in the outcome of the game on the field right now. I would agree with the sentiment for other baseball personnel (umpires, general managers, etc.)

I can't see putting a manager into the HOF, however, unless he wins multiple pennants. Division titles aren't good enough in my book.

Tommy Lasorda, who no one really thinks is a genius, won 4 pennants, including 2 world championships, and several other division titles with teams that did not have overwhelming talent.
Pinella hasn't done that.

Dick Williams won four (4) pennants (2 world championships), and a division title with three (3) different teams. He also took a team that never won (the Expos) and turned it into a legit contender.

Pinella has won a lot of division titles in a four-team division and gotten to the postseason a lot in an expanded playoff foremat. This is nowhere near as impressive as Leo Durocher's three (3) pennants (1941, 1951, 1954).

Pinella is the most overrated manager in baseball today. His record in keeping pitchers healthy is below average, and his failure to advance in the postseason in 2001 puts an exclamation point on his failures. He's OK, but he'll need some more flags to be HOF stuff.