Mike Matheny?

Look, I am sure Mike Matheny is a good solid baseball guy.
I have no doubt that he has the chops to become a big league manager.

And as a former St. Louis Cardinal, he played 5 years under LaRussa, won 3 Gold Gloves and played for the 2000, 2001, 2001 and 2004 playoff teams.

But call me crazy, shouldn't the Defending World Series Champs be managed by someone with managerial experience?

Is Matheny going to be the manager at the All Star Game?
He was a minor league instructor. He wasn't even on the coaching staff! (Jose Oquendo, anyone?)

"Hey, you might be a good managerial candidate. You should get your feet wet."
"Great. Do you mean with the Batavia Muckdogs? Or the Memphis Redbirds?"
"No, we were think of The Defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. That's a good place to get started."

Since 1981, the Cardinals have been managed by Whitey Herzog, Joe Torre and Tony LaRussa.
Whitey is in the Hall of Fame. Joe and Tony are working on their speeches.

Red Schoendienst managed for a few games in 1990. He's in the Hall of Fame.
Mike Jorgensen was an interim manager in 1995 when they were waiting for LaRussa to become available.

But for the last 30 years, save for Jorgensen keeping the seat warm, the Cardinals managerial post was filled by experienced man who will be in the Hall of Fame.

Now they are giving it to someone who has as much managerial experience as Lisa Kudrow.

He might turn out to be great.

Maybe the Cardinals know something I don't.
But call me crazy, but the first line up card you fill out should NOT be the Defending World Champs.

And this is the second high profile franchise to fill their managerial post with someone with NO experience. (Hello Robin Ventura and the White Sox!)

And somewhere Chris Chambliss is saying "I can't even get an interview!"

Will somebody PLEASE Interview Chris Chambliss?

Seriously. Why can't Chris Chambliss even get his name MUMBLED for a manager's job?

Three high profile managerial positions are available...
The Cubs, Cardinals and Red Sox all need to be filled.

I hear a lot of names floating around for those gigs.
Terry Francona will probably land one of them.
Maybe Ryne Sandberg will get one.

The likes of Pete Mackanin and Dave Sveum are mentioned. So have Mike Maddux and Mike Matheny.

I am sure they are all able baseball minds.

Davey Johnson is, for sure, as he is returning to Washington.
Bob Melvin once won Manager of the Year, so his returning to Oakland isn't nuts.

But Chambliss' name is never even MENTIONED.

Seriously, no offense to Robin Ventura, but he has been handed the keys to the White Sox and he wasn't even a coach!

Since the start of the 2010 season, people such as Juan Samuel, Mike Quade, Don Cooper, Brandon Hyde and Daren Brown all got to put "Major League Manager" on their resume.

John McLaren got to put a second franchise on his.

Do ANY of them have Chris Chambliss' qualifications?

I know I brought this up before, but it is getting absurd.

Let's review Chambliss' background.

16 full big league seasons.
Former Rookie of the Year.
Former American League All Star.
Former top 5 AL MVP finisher.
Former Gold Glove Winner.
Former playoff hero. (First since Mazeroski to end a post season series with a walk off homer.)
2 time World Series champ.
Coached for several of the Yankees World Series winners under Joe Torre.
Major League hitting coach for the Cardinals, Mets, Reds and Mariners.
Minor League Managerial experience over four different decades.
Former Sporting News Minor League Manager of the Year.
Managed as recently as 2010 with Charlotte.

And the respect of three generations of players.

You wouldn't give a guy like THAT a shot?
A guy who wants one shot!

Ozzie Guillen is the sixth Marlins manager since 2005.
Six men have managed the Mariners since 2005.
Five men have managed the Orioles since 2005.
Five men have managed the Pirates since 2005.
Five men have managed the Royals since 2005.
Four men have managed the Astros since 2005.
Four men have managed the Brewers since 2005.
Four men have managed the Dodgers since 2005.

Of those teams mentioned in this time frame, only the 2005 Astros won the pennant.

That's 39 managerial hirings.
You are telling me that all 39 had more to offer than Chambliss?
I find that very hard to believe.

Interview him.
Give him a shot.

Clearly this isn't based on fandom. He was a Yankee!

It's just based on respect for a guy who has earned it over his 5 decades of baseball experience.

Mets search to REPLACE Terry Collins starts tomorrow

So the Mets are going to do it.
They are going to hand the keys to one of the most expensive rosters in baseball and what SHOULD be one of the marquee franchises in the game to a guy who couldn't handle the baseball pressure cookers that are Houston and Anaheim.

Now you are going to put him in the New York media market who want to run managers out of town on a rail AFTER they win a World Series?

The Mets are giving a hot head manager with a 24/7 sports media hovering over Queens waiting for him to say something stupid?

This is a catastrophe waiting to happen.

If I am Bob Melvin, Wally Backman or even Bobby Valentine for that matter... I'd have my resumes ready. There might be an opening in APRIL!

By the way, I am saying this is a bad move NOW and I said it was a bad move 15 days ago when I couldn't believe he was in the running.

No second guess here.

So Terry Collins, who had basically a players revolt on his hands in Anaheim, gets a third chance.

Chris Chambliss? He can't get a first chance.

Go figure.

Why didn't the Astros win? It MUST be Cecil Cooper's fault!

Man it couldn't POSSIBLY be that he was given an older lineup than a cattle call audition for Cocoon 3!

He had 7 regulars who were 33 years or older.... and ancient mariners in the rotation.

And by Ancient Mariner I mean the Late Mike Hampton. 

You know it's the same guy who was a Met for a minute before ruining his career in Colorado, right?

It's the same guy who missed 2 1/2 seasons this decade and is going to miss all of next year.

Did Omar Minaya put THIS roster together as well?

Well Coop was shown the door and the names are swirling around for a possible replacement... and still no mention of Chris Chambliss.

You deserved better Coop.

You deserved YOUNGER!

Ahhh that Riggleman touch

What must Manny Acta be thinking right now?

He's dumped because he couldn't make a lousy team rise above the level of "lousy."

So in comes Jim Riggleman.

Riggs has managed all or part of 10 seasons now.

He has one playoff spot (the 1998 Cubs who won the one game playoff against the Giants for the Wild Card only to be swept by Atlanta.) He has one other winning season (the lock out shortened 1995 season with the Cubs.)

He has 4 complete seasons where his team had a winning percentage of .420 or lower.

And now has lost his first 6 games as the Nats new manager.

Acta must be thinking "I could have done THAT!"

With such a lousy resume, why the hell does he keep getting managing gigs, even if they are temporary (like his 90 game tenure with the Mariners last year)?

You are really saying that Chris Chambliss can't handle this?

I will keep lobbying for Chambliss until he gets a gig!

The Oakland A's need to fire Bob Geren RIGHT NOW!!!!

Let me get this out of the way first… I have nothing personal against Bob Geren. I have never met the man.

He might be a nice guy. He certainly is a baseball lifer. He played professional baseball from 1979 to 1993 including five years in the big leagues.

He’s been a minor league manager, a bench coach and now a big league skipper. He might be right person for a job somewhere.

But it is becoming more and more obvious that he is not working as the manager of the Oakland A’s.

And the staff at Sully Baseball, who has put him on the firing line and called for his head, all agree that the time to let him go is now.

Not in a month.

Not in a week.

Now. If Billy Beane is reading this, he should fire Bob Geren before he finishes reading this sentence.

Here’s why:

IT’S NOT LIKE HE’S NEW TO THE JOB

He’s been there for 2 ¼ seasons… 

and his second season was worse than the first… 

and his third season looks worse than the second one.

You see a pattern developing?

THE A’S WENT FOR IT THIS YEAR

They brought in Holliday, Cabrera, Nomar and Giambi. This looked like a year that the A’s would make a run at it.

And some people kind of bought into it.

The season in ¼ over and the team is the worst in the American League. If they still are going for it, then they can’t wait as they continue their 66-96 pace.

THE MANAGERIAL SHAKEUP IS THE ONLY OPTION

They aren’t going to make a blockbuster trade.

They aren’t going to bring up a phenom.

The only way to give the team a boost or a kick in the pants is to change the man in the dugout.

THE A'S ARE CHASING THE RANGERS!!!!

Look, the Rangers might turn into the Rays and stun us all the way to the World Series.

Or…. They could be yet another team that had a terrific first quarter and wilt in the summer heat!

They aren’t trying to track down the 1961 Yankees… or the Angels for that matter.

Did you remember the Rangers were in first place at this point in 2006? 

OF COURSE YOU DIDN’T! 

They played losing ball the rest of the way and another team zoomed in to take the division.

Do you remember which team it was? 

THE A’S!!!! And the A’s had a losing record at this point as well!

So it isn’t too late… but you’ve better do something before it is.

THE A’S ARE PLAYING THE RANGERS!

The A’s are 8 games back of the Rangers… and on Friday they head to Arlington for a 3 game set to finish the month.

What better way to start making up those 8 games than some head to head wins?

AND FINALLY… THEY HAVE TODAY OFF

If you are going to have a change, why not have it on a day off? Have a transition of power and give the new guy a chance to get into the new office.

And also have give the players a day to have it sink in that the front office isn’t about to throw this season into the dumpster.


Now who should they put in?

Do you promote bench coach Tye Waller or third base coach Mike Gallego?

Do you give a shot to a solid minor league manager like Ken Oberkfell?
Do you give another shot to Don Baylor? John Gibbons? Ned Yost? Bob Melvin?

Do you go a drastic new direction and bring in Buck Showalter?

I’m always in favor of giving Chris Chambliss a shot…

Heck, give the job to Stomper the Elephant.

But the A’s need to do something and they need to do it now.

And when I say “now” I mean in 3… 2… 1… Now.

I claim the authority to fire Bob Geren

I'm not even an A's fan... but enough is enough.

The A's are making my pre season pick look worse every single day!

And the other day, after going through a humiliating 4 game stretch where they were outscored an average of 11.75 to 3.25, the A's were 3 outs away from winning a 4 game series with the Rays.

He had his closer warm. And he didn't bring him in. Tampa tied the game and later won it.

They responded with a lifeless 2-1 loss tonight.

We are at the 25% mark of the season where the front office pushed their chips to the center of the table and the A's have fewer wins than any team in the American League.

This is the equivalent of a citizen's arrest.

I, Paul F. Sullivan, lifelong Red Sox fan, will relieve Bob Geren of his duties as manager. 

And in his place I am inserting Chris Chambliss.

Seriously, how could Chambliss have the team in a worse place?

At this point, I bet A's fans would rather have the elephant Stomper manage the team.

What team will NOT hire Chris Chambliss next?

Isn't it odd that Chris Chambliss has NEVER gotten a chance to manage a big league club?

He was an All Star player and a World Series champion.

He became a minor league manager in the late 1980s.
In 1990 he was named minor league manager of the year by the Sporting News.

He was a coach for the four World Series Champion Yankee teams under Joe Torre.

He coached for the Mets and the Reds and is currently the manager for the Charlotte Knights, AAA affiliate for the White Sox.

That's quite a resume. That kind of covers every base to be considered Major League Managerial material.

And yet he never seems to be on anyone's short list of candidates.

Managers are fired left and right and somehow Chambliss is constantly denied even a shot.

Since Chambliss started his minor league managing career, managers who have never won squat, like Jeff Torborg, Terry Collins and Jim Riggleman have been given multiple chances.

And managers who have flopped on the big stage, like John McNamara and Grady Little, found new gigs in the past two decades.

I hope it is not racial. The Hal McRae's and Don Baylors of the world have had multiple chances.

And yes, I realize that some managers need that second chance to make everything work.

Joe Torre bombed as the Mets manager and had mixed results in Atlanta before becoming a Hall of Fame manager in the Bronx.

Terry Francona didn't burn the world up as the Phillies manager before becoming the greatest manager in Red Sox history.

But somehow Chambliss never gets a first chance.

Are you telling me that A. J. Hinch, with his 7 nonedescript seasons as a backup catcher and no managerial experience brings more to the table than Chambliss?

How can the Orioles, who have had 5 different managers since winning the 1997 Division Title and each one of them posted a losing record, not give Chambliss a shot?

There are a mess of teams that should be thinking of a managerial switch soon.

The Indians with Eric Wedge?
The Padres with Buddy Black?

I'm sure there are a few more teams that the clock is ticking on the manager.

Last year I advocated for the Blue Jays to bring back Cito Gaston.
They did and the results speak for themselves.

Now I am throwing my weight behind Chambliss.

All he has is experience, a championship pedigree and ability.

Nit picking details.