When the 1958 Yankees came back from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to beat the Braves in the 1958 World Series, New York manager Casey Stengel famously said “I couldn’t have done it without my players.”
When Mike Hinckley issued back-to-back walks to Atlanta in the ninth inning Wednesday night, forcing in the game’s lone run, someone sitting just below the pressbox, yelled loudly “Acta, you suck!”
Manny didn’t throw any of those pitches; however, it was his decision to bring Hinckley into the game at that juncture, and Hinckley had pitched a hitless inning the previous night. Still, that fan left convinced that Acta’s decision had cost the Nats a sweep of the Braves.
In the grand scheme of things, how much does a manager really mean, in terms of overall wins and losses? Stengel is the perfect exemplar; prior to managing the Yankees, he skippered the Dodgers and Braves, with one winning record in 9 seasons. He’d never finished above 5th place.
Hired by New York in 1949, Casey won 10 pennants and 7 World Championships in 12 seasons. He also had a roster liberally strewn with stars and future Hall of Famers. Taking over the expansion Mets in 1962, he went 175-404 in four seasons before retiring.
The greatest managerial accomplishments in my lifetime are the 1969 Senators under Ted Williams; the 1989 Orioles under Frank Robinson; and the 1980-81 Oakland A’s under Billy Martin, not necessarily in that order.
Williams took a Senators’ roster that had lost 96 games in 1968, and won 86 games the following year. His impact was based largely on his charisma. His presence alone guaranteed higher visibility for his ballclubs, and many of his players overachieved. A similar situation occurred with the ’89 Orioles. The season after dropping their first 21 games of the year (54-107 overall), they contended until the final weekend, thanks largely to Robinson’s will, and deft handling of the pitching staff.
The 1979 Athletics were a mess. With Jim Marshall at the helm, they lost 108 games, and drew only 308,000 fans. Martin arrived the following year, and with basically the same players, went 83-79, and followed it up with a postseason appearance in 1981.
In all three cases, each team reverted to form the following year, and not long after that, each skipper moved on, Williams to retirement, the other two to other ballclubs.
Acta’s record in D.C. isn’t spectacular, nor is it horrible. Winning 73 games in ’07 was an overachievement; last year he was undermanned due to an avalanche of injuries. Fourteen games this year is too small of a sample to give any grade at all.
But remember Stengel’s words: You can’t do anything without the players.
Phil Wood is a contributor to Nats Xtra on MASN. Contact him at [email protected].
