What’s with all the coaching hoopla?

With former Phillies skipper Larry Bowa set to coach third base for the Yankees next season, I’m wondering; can you remember a time when coaches occupied so many headlines?

Bowa would become third base coach for the most significant team in the sport. Bowa spent last season as an analyst for ESPN and XM Radio and has been a third base coach before, with the Phils from 1988 to 1996, Anaheim from 1997 to 1999, and Seattle in 2000. He is, for our purposes, the Leo Mazzone of third base coaches.

And speaking of the most famous coach in baseball, Mazzone’s departure after 15 years as the Braves pitching coach signifies, to some, the end of their NL East dynasty.

Mazzone, considered the best pitching coach in baseball, signed on with Baltimore for $500,000. The move marks a return to his home state of Maryland and reunites him with his long-time friend Sam Perlozzo, elevated from interim to full-time manager two weeks ago.

Closer to home, rookie third base coach Billy Dancy became the focus of much fan angst for sending and holding runners in costly spots. Dancy, a company man of 30 years himself, replaced organizational mainstay John Vuckovich, who was moved into a front office position.

Coach role overblown?
Jeff Schultz, columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, believes Mazzone’s role with the Braves was overstated:

"Notwithstanding the hysteria that seems to be surrounding the imminent departure of the Braves’ pitching coach, I’m going to tell you at least two things Leo Mazzone has never done in Atlanta:

1). Thrown a pitch.

2). Called a pitch.

This isn’t meant as a slap at Mazzone. Clearly, when a team has had only one pitching coach during a run of 14 division titles, it means something. There becomes an escalating belief that Mazzone has become one of the better pitching coaches in baseball.

But this feeling that the Braves are suddenly going to crumble like Pompeii or that Mazzone even remotely approaches the importance of Bobby Cox or John Schuerholz to the organization represents the height of absurdity.

He doesn’t pitch.

He doesn’t call the pitches.

He’s basically a shrink and an adviser. That’s what pitching coaches do. Yes, the Braves have had some wonderful reclamation projects through the years. But if you’re going to give Mazzone credit for Jaret Wright, you had better put him on the hook for Dan Kolb. Here’s a guy who went from a pretty decent closer to a complete basket case. So the teachings of Leo didn’t apply to the Braves’ bullpen this season?

John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine — they were going to be great, with or without Mazzone. Even Mazzone would tell you that. He also would tell you that when it comes to handling a pitching staff, Bobby Cox may go down as the greatest manager in baseball history. A lot of pitchers have come through here. When they leave, they all say the same thing: "I loved pitching for Bobby."

Beerleaguer take
It all comes back to the same thing for me: what do coaches really do? Managers are more hands on, pitching coaches are next in line, but the rest of the staff is used mostly in an advisory capacity.

On the manager front, today's headlines are monopolized by White Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen, a whole new breed of manager who hangs out with players in the clubhouse and cracks wise.

Manager labels, like "players manager" never stick, in terms of which type is preferred. After a year and a half of intense baseball refocusing because of this site, it’s clearthat bullies don’t work, and a new era of player-friendly skippers are having noted success.

The worst implosion of the season occurred in Florida where conservative senior Jack McKeon saw his team crumble around him in the midst of a Wild Card race.

The opposite occurred in the AL Central, which saw two new breeds, Eric Wedge of the Indians and Guillen of the White Sox, lead their clubs to in their push to the postseason. Last year, it was former Phils boss Terry Francona, run out of town for being a players’ manager, that led the Red Sox back to their first World Title in ages.

Here's my thinking: In order for managers like Guillen to fit, there must be good leaders within the team itself. The White Sox appear to have them, just as the Red Sox had them last year in the form of players like Jason Varitek.

With managers, it's not the style that counts. It's the fit.

Comments

[Tom Goodman]

The focus on coaches is merely the lull before the storm. Once the WS is over and a few marquis contracts expire, coaches will retire to the background where they largely belong...that is until one of them screws up.

As for Schultz's take on Mazzone.... It may rank as one of the cheapest shots taken at a coach in a long time. First, never trust anyone who pre-announces what he is about to say is not intended as a slap in the face because it invariably is. Everyone knows pitching coaches are very important, whether they be "mere" shrinks, gurus, advisers, father confessors or just big-time hand-holders. Think of it this way: when you have a stinker in the job (anyone seen Joe Kerrigan lately?) EVERYONE knows it.

[J. Weitzel]

Shultz does seem to be going through a bit of denial. If you can access the reader comments to the column, Braves fans bury him for this. Indeed, hard to complain about Mazzone's numerous resurrection projects over the years, the Cy Young winners, etc., etc., etc.

[Oisin]

Tom G - that to me would be the definition of a good coach - the one you don't know about because that side of the operation works just fine. I seem to recall Rob Neyer arguing a couple of years back that mazzone's claim to being an exceptional coach was the an observable impact on a pitchers over a long period - but he's the exception to the rule. Whilst I don't think the braves will fall apart without him, they will no longer have the sure knowledge that if Mazzone can fix a pitcher so he is a good fit for the team, it is worth making a deal to get a probable bargain. I don't think scheurholz will have that latitude again, and it will be interesting to see how it affects moves by the braves.

[Tom Durso]

You're probably right, Jason, in that coaches are getting an unexpectedly large amount of attention these days. But I for one can't wait to see Larry Bowa the first time he sends a guy home who gets thrown out by 20 feet ...

[Tom Goodman]

TD: I've been reading your comments on Bowa on various blogs and I feel I should warn you that you are in real danger of being dropped from his Christmas list.

[el123chico]

shultz's comparison between reclamation projects and failures is misleading. kolb was the only failure in town and how many good years did he have before that? even roberto hernandez pitched well in atlanta.

and tom g - thanks for giving me a chance to mention this again. i saw joe kerrigan a few months ago in the rhawnhurst tavern in fox chase. i didn't speak to him because no matter what i planned on saying "why did you ruin brett myers?" would have come from my mouth.