Nov 8, 2023·edited Nov 8, 2023Liked by Paul Daugherty
I believe Counsell meant about "I let them be themselves" that the guys that made it into the pros had special abilities that fit their athleticism. So, if they play left outfield really well,, then they get to play left outfielder, and aren't moved around the ballpark so they can fill in for someone else on any given moment. That is the one thing that bothered me about the Reds...putting a player oftentimes in a position he is not comfortable in...and he misses a catch as he is out of his comfort zone. I like to ski, or at least used to, and my strength is skiing strongest off my right leg to left. I'm left handed, but play golf right handed. You know, they have individual given strengths, just like left and right guards in football. One moves stronger and faster to the left and the other to the right. If you put a guy in the right that is generally great on the left, he will flounder and miss a tackle. It's their inane ability. "Let them take to the field what they brought with them that got them this far." Some guys, like Bandon Phillips could move in any direction and make a spectacular catch and throw to first. Keep him there.
I was in management most of my life...it's about putting people in positions that best fits their comfort zone, is an asset to the company. And supporting them to grow even more in their strengths. I think Counsell will do just fine.
If you still have a crockpot, buy some beef and buns and make sloppy joe's. A side of chips and you're on.
A couple notes on the assorted topics of the day beginning with the "managing intangibles": Doc, you mentioned no one is offering kudos to David Bell for his "staying ahead of the game" getting reliever up early (and often). I offer the exact opposite regarding David Bell's so-called management of the Reds bullpen in 2023. No defined roles, used guys every day (check the appearance #'s) and simply wore them out! Can't tell you how many times, say Buck Farmer, was brought in, got 2 quick outs to end an inning and then was not back out for the next inning, but back warming up and in again the next day. More pitchers used per game daily = worn out when needed in the playoff chase. End story. I preface my next remarks with the admission: I am a lifelong Michigan Fan - spent my formative youth there and never let go. Thus, on the subject of the sign stealing accusations/investigation, I simply wonder in what team sport do the participants NOT try to steal the signs and any advantage they can. Sign stealing rules are vague and ridiculous. You do make a great point regarding how little difference it makes for the teams with lesser talent on their roster. I believe the Houston Astros have more than proven their superiority in the aftermath of that sign-stealing debacle! On the cooking note: You gotta love Stouffers lasagna, although not more than homemade...but I cook, so I don't run into the frozen food issue. In the interest for full disclosure, my wife cooks the lasagna, I cook a whole lot of other things we usually refer to as concoctions - I do not use recipe's. Weather is supposed to be great, grill a steak and enjoy your Keystone and a fine cigar. Mmm!
Joe Madden describes the turmoil he inherited from the Angels in his book, " The Book of Joe ". Someone, recently, paraphrased Joe by saying that analytics are useful, but does the number cruncher know if a pitcher is sick, has a sore arm, had a fight with his girlfriend the night before ? A manager that has the pulse of a clubhouse does ! Joe encountered his GM and his tribe encroaching in Joe's office and locker room. The falling out he had about that eventually got him fired. As for Stouffers, my past few Thanksgivings has been their turkey dinners, sometimes two ! I cook a bit, but the luxury of mikey wavin' a meal in 8 minutes, with no pans to wash is too hard to pass up !
We are both fairly tired of cooking. He cooks more than me, mostly because he gets hungrier. Soups in the crockpot now that summer has passed will happen more. I make a few meals semi regularly. Retired people. Meals out are good too. I keep frozen stuffed peppers in the freezer downstairs. Stouffers of course.
Doc, get an air fryer! I don’t cook either, but with an air fryer you throw a salmon in and 10 minutes have dinner. Put a pork tenderloin in and 15 minutes have a delicious dinner!
Nov 8, 2023·edited Nov 8, 2023Liked by Paul Daugherty
I spent five years preparing my own meals on week days when I worked in Columbus. In good weather, I grilled enough to last the rest of the week and made frozen veggies with seasoning for a 'balanced' meal. Although I sometimes resorted to Stauffer's lasagna, I preferred buys some of the pre-prepared foods at Costco. The stuffed peppers, ravioli/lasagna, chili, salmon, spinach salad, and a few others are pretty good and should last a few days. Good luck.
Very entertaining today! I often wonder if baseball managers matter? Then you see Bochy come to Texas and ... well ?? I always thought Francona would have been a good fit here, but when I saw that he was knocking down $5 mil per, well, I understand why it never happened. Gabe Kapler wins 107 games and two year later is sacked ... for Bob Melvin?
Years ago, I decided to learn how to cook five meals. They are basic, no frills, easy. When the wife is out of town, I sort of enjoy going to the store and assembling the ingredients, opening a bottle of red, and going about putting it all together. I always have leftovers for lunch the next day. I had 3 or 4 really nice Crockpot meals, but they were too big for when I am solo. I will admit to being happy when she gets home :-)
As a Buckeye fan, it did seem weird to me that Michigan could go from losing to OSU 62-39 and 56-27, then skipping the game in Columbus during Covid, to dominating OSU the past two years. Something changed? What could it be??
I also do not understand all of the David Bell hate.
Doc, you’ll have to fact check me, but I believe that manager of the year votes are submitted before the start of the post season. I’m not sure how much support Torey will get for squeaking in ad the 6 seed. But he is a great personality and a solid baseball mind. I hope he does get another MOY!
I liked today's column. Nicely eclectic. I find it difficult to judge the performance of professional sports teams managers and coaches. Certainly a large part of their job is setting the tone and expectations, teaching, developing strategy, and making tactical decisions. They have to be well organized. Is it fair to grade them strictly on W-L? I'd say no, because for one, they don't generally have the freedom to make all personnel decisions, and you would also have to look at how close the games were. Certainly a team that is losing by a few points is better than one losing by 10 runs or 21 points in football, yet their W-L record could be the same. I think the thing you have to look at is, does the coach or manager install a winning culture? One where the players believe, and are motivated to sacrifice individual accolades for team performance? I think the Reds and Bengals have that right now.
The Cubs pulled, well, a Cubs move in hiring and overpaying Counsell, a manager with a few division titles under his belt and nothing more.
They didn't even pay that much to Maddon, who "managed" them to a world title in '16. Hall of Famers such as Baker, Bochy and Larussa never made that much per season.
Oh well, let the Cubbies be the Cubbies ... overpay for a good, but not great, manager. Won't make a bit of difference come next August/September.
Stroud may be the one to break the streak of OSU quarterbacks flailing in the NFL -- I don't count Burrow as an OSU quarterback -- given what he's been doing so far. Yet, it makes you wonder if it will hold up over the long term. Much like in baseball, when a hot rookie hitter gets figured out by the pitchers, it is much the same in football. Eventually, the defenses will put the clamps on Stroud. It may be Lou's crew this Sunday.
My wife works third shift. Much less to say, it's either fast-food, leftovers that she cooked, or some microwaveable concoction from the store on the nights she works.
She works tonight, in fact ... so it might be a Stouffer's lasagna for me, too. Haha.
The Reds shouldn’t worry as long as the Ricketts family owns the Cubs. Recall that it gutted the team after it won the Series in 2016, then got rid of the manager who guided that team to the Series title. Now it has decided that overpaying a manager will make all the difference. Go figure.
I think Bell did great and agree keeping “employees” loyal and happy through all the wins and loses is a feat whether in sports or biz.
The advantage Lou and the Men have is now CJ is no surprise. No excuse to not be ready.
It is pretty awesome to have Cincy teams to talk about with some confidence!
Great TML!!!
I believe Counsell meant about "I let them be themselves" that the guys that made it into the pros had special abilities that fit their athleticism. So, if they play left outfield really well,, then they get to play left outfielder, and aren't moved around the ballpark so they can fill in for someone else on any given moment. That is the one thing that bothered me about the Reds...putting a player oftentimes in a position he is not comfortable in...and he misses a catch as he is out of his comfort zone. I like to ski, or at least used to, and my strength is skiing strongest off my right leg to left. I'm left handed, but play golf right handed. You know, they have individual given strengths, just like left and right guards in football. One moves stronger and faster to the left and the other to the right. If you put a guy in the right that is generally great on the left, he will flounder and miss a tackle. It's their inane ability. "Let them take to the field what they brought with them that got them this far." Some guys, like Bandon Phillips could move in any direction and make a spectacular catch and throw to first. Keep him there.
I was in management most of my life...it's about putting people in positions that best fits their comfort zone, is an asset to the company. And supporting them to grow even more in their strengths. I think Counsell will do just fine.
If you still have a crockpot, buy some beef and buns and make sloppy joe's. A side of chips and you're on.
MAN UP!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!
A couple notes on the assorted topics of the day beginning with the "managing intangibles": Doc, you mentioned no one is offering kudos to David Bell for his "staying ahead of the game" getting reliever up early (and often). I offer the exact opposite regarding David Bell's so-called management of the Reds bullpen in 2023. No defined roles, used guys every day (check the appearance #'s) and simply wore them out! Can't tell you how many times, say Buck Farmer, was brought in, got 2 quick outs to end an inning and then was not back out for the next inning, but back warming up and in again the next day. More pitchers used per game daily = worn out when needed in the playoff chase. End story. I preface my next remarks with the admission: I am a lifelong Michigan Fan - spent my formative youth there and never let go. Thus, on the subject of the sign stealing accusations/investigation, I simply wonder in what team sport do the participants NOT try to steal the signs and any advantage they can. Sign stealing rules are vague and ridiculous. You do make a great point regarding how little difference it makes for the teams with lesser talent on their roster. I believe the Houston Astros have more than proven their superiority in the aftermath of that sign-stealing debacle! On the cooking note: You gotta love Stouffers lasagna, although not more than homemade...but I cook, so I don't run into the frozen food issue. In the interest for full disclosure, my wife cooks the lasagna, I cook a whole lot of other things we usually refer to as concoctions - I do not use recipe's. Weather is supposed to be great, grill a steak and enjoy your Keystone and a fine cigar. Mmm!
Joe Madden describes the turmoil he inherited from the Angels in his book, " The Book of Joe ". Someone, recently, paraphrased Joe by saying that analytics are useful, but does the number cruncher know if a pitcher is sick, has a sore arm, had a fight with his girlfriend the night before ? A manager that has the pulse of a clubhouse does ! Joe encountered his GM and his tribe encroaching in Joe's office and locker room. The falling out he had about that eventually got him fired. As for Stouffers, my past few Thanksgivings has been their turkey dinners, sometimes two ! I cook a bit, but the luxury of mikey wavin' a meal in 8 minutes, with no pans to wash is too hard to pass up !
We are both fairly tired of cooking. He cooks more than me, mostly because he gets hungrier. Soups in the crockpot now that summer has passed will happen more. I make a few meals semi regularly. Retired people. Meals out are good too. I keep frozen stuffed peppers in the freezer downstairs. Stouffers of course.
Doc, get an air fryer! I don’t cook either, but with an air fryer you throw a salmon in and 10 minutes have dinner. Put a pork tenderloin in and 15 minutes have a delicious dinner!
I spent five years preparing my own meals on week days when I worked in Columbus. In good weather, I grilled enough to last the rest of the week and made frozen veggies with seasoning for a 'balanced' meal. Although I sometimes resorted to Stauffer's lasagna, I preferred buys some of the pre-prepared foods at Costco. The stuffed peppers, ravioli/lasagna, chili, salmon, spinach salad, and a few others are pretty good and should last a few days. Good luck.
Any of Counsell’s contract guaranteed? Aren’t they all? Could fall down dugout steps!
Marie Callendar……chicken pot pies, and
Chicken, broccoli, cheese and rice.
Not sure about other Marie’s, but those 2 are gold
Very entertaining today! I often wonder if baseball managers matter? Then you see Bochy come to Texas and ... well ?? I always thought Francona would have been a good fit here, but when I saw that he was knocking down $5 mil per, well, I understand why it never happened. Gabe Kapler wins 107 games and two year later is sacked ... for Bob Melvin?
Years ago, I decided to learn how to cook five meals. They are basic, no frills, easy. When the wife is out of town, I sort of enjoy going to the store and assembling the ingredients, opening a bottle of red, and going about putting it all together. I always have leftovers for lunch the next day. I had 3 or 4 really nice Crockpot meals, but they were too big for when I am solo. I will admit to being happy when she gets home :-)
As a Buckeye fan, it did seem weird to me that Michigan could go from losing to OSU 62-39 and 56-27, then skipping the game in Columbus during Covid, to dominating OSU the past two years. Something changed? What could it be??
I also do not understand all of the David Bell hate.
Doc, you’ll have to fact check me, but I believe that manager of the year votes are submitted before the start of the post season. I’m not sure how much support Torey will get for squeaking in ad the 6 seed. But he is a great personality and a solid baseball mind. I hope he does get another MOY!
From an OG catholic who ate this every Friday through my youth, I recommend PB&J.(super-crunch and grape ... protein , fruit, carbs, fiber)
I liked today's column. Nicely eclectic. I find it difficult to judge the performance of professional sports teams managers and coaches. Certainly a large part of their job is setting the tone and expectations, teaching, developing strategy, and making tactical decisions. They have to be well organized. Is it fair to grade them strictly on W-L? I'd say no, because for one, they don't generally have the freedom to make all personnel decisions, and you would also have to look at how close the games were. Certainly a team that is losing by a few points is better than one losing by 10 runs or 21 points in football, yet their W-L record could be the same. I think the thing you have to look at is, does the coach or manager install a winning culture? One where the players believe, and are motivated to sacrifice individual accolades for team performance? I think the Reds and Bengals have that right now.
The Cubs pulled, well, a Cubs move in hiring and overpaying Counsell, a manager with a few division titles under his belt and nothing more.
They didn't even pay that much to Maddon, who "managed" them to a world title in '16. Hall of Famers such as Baker, Bochy and Larussa never made that much per season.
Oh well, let the Cubbies be the Cubbies ... overpay for a good, but not great, manager. Won't make a bit of difference come next August/September.
Stroud may be the one to break the streak of OSU quarterbacks flailing in the NFL -- I don't count Burrow as an OSU quarterback -- given what he's been doing so far. Yet, it makes you wonder if it will hold up over the long term. Much like in baseball, when a hot rookie hitter gets figured out by the pitchers, it is much the same in football. Eventually, the defenses will put the clamps on Stroud. It may be Lou's crew this Sunday.
My wife works third shift. Much less to say, it's either fast-food, leftovers that she cooked, or some microwaveable concoction from the store on the nights she works.
She works tonight, in fact ... so it might be a Stouffer's lasagna for me, too. Haha.
Van Morrison just good music … more please
The Reds shouldn’t worry as long as the Ricketts family owns the Cubs. Recall that it gutted the team after it won the Series in 2016, then got rid of the manager who guided that team to the Series title. Now it has decided that overpaying a manager will make all the difference. Go figure.