I was watching some MLB Network yesterday, and they cut away to the Reds-Cardinals game with the local St. Louis team doing the commentary. They were talking about the impact Mark McGwire had on Albert Pujols. They went so far as to say that Pujols would be mistaken if he let McGwire tell him how to do anything. The assertion was that Pujols already knew how to swing the bat. Valid point.
They continued by saying that the roal of coach in the majors is somewhat diminished because all the players essentially know how to play baseball. Great point. The coaches are there as an extra pair of eyes if something should go wrong. They can help look for glitches in a players swings, fielding techniques or pitching motions, but their job as teacher is pretty much nil. I couldn’t agree more, and
What am I driving at? Well, this is what I’ve been saying the whole time. The coach (and especially manager!) doesn’t really have a role in the overall functionality of a player. Having a talented team comes from their minor leagues and their front office (unless the player is very young and raw, such as many players on, say, the Nationals or Pirates who don’t fully develop). The success of a manager depends on their in game strategy.
Sorry, it’s late and I was repeating myself.
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