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Here's a little two-part challenge for everyone.
Part 1: Read the following quotes from two current big league managers -- Manager A and Manager B -- and try to figure out which is Jerry Manuel and which is Manny Acta (easy!).
Part 2: Try to make it through this whole post without shaking your head in utter disbelief and/or bemoaning the Mets' woeful managerial situation (hard!).
Manager A says:
"Bunting is pretty outdated. Everybody scores so many runs nowadays, it doesn't make sense to play for one run unless it's late in the game and it's close. I hardly ever bunt early in a game, unless it's with a pitcher. A big inning can win you a game. One run in the third inning can't, unless you have Pedro pitching."
Manager B says:
"We have to put a value on say, moving a runner over. We have to put a value on getting a bases on balls. We have to put a value on infield back, [getting a] ground ball that's sufficient to score a run. Those types of things have to be accented in order for us, in my opinion, to kind of get to the next level."
Manager A says:
"If I have enough data ... I can go by the stats, because they don't lie. I mean, it's been proven to me that a guy from first base with no outs has a better chance to score than a guy from second base with one out. That's been proven to me with millions of at-bats. So I don't like moving guys over from first to second unless there's a pitcher up or it's real late in the game. ... I'm telling you right now you're not going to be seeing me bunting guys from first to second in the middle of the games or early unless it's the pitcher. ... I'll be straight up to you guys, I'm not going to be running all over the place just so 20-25,000 people in the stands are saying that I'm aggressive while people are getting thrown out on the bases."
Manager B says:
"A lot of it is based on an ability to read individuals. To try to put them in situations that are best for them and then how does that fit in the context of winning"
Manager A says:
"I want to win. More than being statistically-inclined, I'm very open minded. If someone can show me things that I didn't already know, I am willing to change. I'm not stubborn. If the statistical evidence shows I'm wrong, and it helps me and my team win baseball games, then I would be a fool not to listen."
Manager B says:
"Well, I would hope that I'm more of a 'feel guy,' I try to be more of a 'feel guy.' The only time that I look at that particular data or history is if I know nothing about the particular player… But, for the most part, I try to read and learn our players and then try to learn the opposition. I use the statistics pretty much as confirmation as to the decision I made. I'll look back and say, 'At least it lines up with the stats,' and sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't."
Manager A says:
"You always learn things. I've been managing and coaching for many years, I managed for a long time in the minor leagues, and every year you run into things you had never experienced before that you learn from. And we're in a great era now too, since every year there is more to learn from a sabermetrics side. Every piece of knowledge I take in, I try to use it to our advantage, for myself as a manager and for the ballclub."
Manager B says:
"You get so many statistical people together, they put so many stats on paper, and they say, well, if you do this and you score this many runs, you do that many times, you'll be in the playoffs. That's not really how it works, and that's what we have to get away from. And that's going to have to be a different mind-set of the team in going forward. We must win and we must know how to win rather than win because we have statistical people. We have to win because we have baseball players that know and can understand the game."
Manager A says:
"I'm still learning [about PITCHf/x]. I think it's going to be a huge part of scouting, especially when it matures and is 100% accurate, and is integrated in the minor leagues and even in college. There are so many things you can learn that we could never know for sure. How good is this guy's slider, really? Why is it good? All of the conventional wisdom in scouting will be put to the test, and you'll see a whole new world in terms of data and information."
Manager B says:
"You don't see a lot of guys that have statistical numbers play well in these championship series. What you see is usually the little second baseman or somebody like that carries off the MVP trophy that nobody expected him to do. That's because he's comfortable in playing that form of baseball, so therefore when the stage comes, it's not a struggle for him."
Manager A says:
"I read Baseball Prospectus a lot too. Will Carroll writes some of my favorite stuff. I also loved Mind Game."
Manager B says:
"I don't like to rely on stats."