Brewers Fan With A Question

all of the above….
stay away from our World Series over-rated muppet sidekick coach and Cub announcer.
Love the Dbacks…..but look at the line-up he had in ’01.
Brennaman could have coached 3rd that year and we still would have won…..understanding that Jim Henson give him time off to do so.

With a lot of veteran players, it wasn’t a team that needed much in the way of guidance off the field. They knew what had to be done, and did it. Obviously, he is now longer a rookier manager, but I am not sure how he would cope with a team of youngsters. From what I recall – it was so long ago now! – I did quite like his in-game management, but as ‘stash mentions, when you have Schilling and Johnson pitching at their peak for you, there isn’t all that much management to be done in their starts!

and this is not an indictment of his skills or lack thereof…..
He managed some future hall-of-famers and a bunch of All Stars during those years….
I guess he had never had the “challenge” of managing a team without such a potent line-up and veteran leadership……and when he did have that challenge..it appears….he didn’t fair so well…..
Hire Wally Backman.

As long as they don’t burn the pitchers’ arms off, a la Dusty Baker, they really don’t ahve as much impact as some people would lead you to believe. Remember that Bob Melvin was Manager of the Year last year and many are calling for his head after this season. Managers are almost always a product of their players.

People remember the World Series, and I think there’s a fairly strong consensus that AZ bested the Yankees more in spite of Brenly’s strategies there, than because of them ( ie misusing Kim, Schilling,etc). Apart from that, a more general consensus on Brenly is tougher.

When he took over for Showalter, Bob famously threw Buck’s hefty rulebook in the trash and told players to “Play hard and be on time. That’s it.” Buck saw players more as skillsets or assets with which he could maximize output, primarily thru playing time and strategy, whereas Bob saw them more as people who needed to be individually managed and maximized. Bob was more of a cheerleader. Let Williams, Gonzo and Grace set the clubhouse tone, stroke Randy and Curt, and advocate for young pitchers like Kim, Prinz and Brohawn. Brenly didnt visit the mound as often as Showalter. He would give a kid the ball, say something demonstrative, and let him sink or swim. It bit him in Yankee Stadium, but I thought this approach with young pitchers during the season was a key to the team’s growth and ultimate success.

He had a rocky relationship with Ruby Durazo, who never seemed to play as often as his talent warranted. Also, his heavy usage of BK Kim and Oscar Villareal (2003) may have contributed to their subsequent declines.

I’m not convinced Bob is a particularly gifted manager, but he’s terrific with people and I suspect would be a managerial step up from anyone the Brewers have had recently :-)