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800+ Wins with the MN Twins
I know!!!! Who would believe it?!?! If you’re a Twins fan, you have gotten very, very, VERY used to our guy coming in as the runner up every single year that we can show that he really should be #1.
Of course, there is a LOT of us that say this was NOT the best of his years to be considered but since this is a subjective art, you have to realize that the humans who do the voting can’t help but think a bit consecutively and realized that this was definitely an honor that couldn’t wait any longer. Here’s the ballot results from the Baseball Writers of America site: 2010 Managers of the Year.
I honestly couldn’t be happier for him and I think it’s a well-deserved honor.
Keep your eyes on FSN because they will updating things during the day and expect to have an interview with Gardy available soon! Here’s video provided by the Minnesota Twins twitter account with his ackowledgement of the award.
[update] also according to the Twins, there will be an interview aired at 5:00 pm on the MLB Network!
YAY!!!!
Good for Gardy. I know he catches a lot of crap from some fans, but the guy finds a way to have his team at the top more often than not, regardless of injuries or other issues that arise. Of course, fortunately for Ron, the writers have to cast their votes before post-season begins!
One interesting thing: ESPN’s coverage noted that he is the first manager in the history of baseball to win division championships in 6 of his first 9 seasons. Gardy certainly does get ripped on in the blogs, but if you take a step back and look at the BBWAA voting this year, Twins fans have little to complain about (well, aside from their team being horrible in the playoffs), and it’s definitely tough to imagine who we would replace him with.
the thing about the getting rid of Gardy argument (I dont agree, btw) is who are you going to replace him with? better managers are not sitting there. And the way to Twins system works, Scott Ullger would be the manager because he is next in line. Do we really want to see that?
I heard Jim Souhan fill in for Pat Ruesse today and he was telling a story. He said that a veteran player and the Twins brought in because he was a ‘character guy’ and thought he would fit into the clubhouse went up to Mauer and Morneau (who were sitting next to each other) and asked why does everyone blindly follow Gardy. Souhan said thatthis veteran said ‘you guys are the superstars. you shouldnt be following a guy a like Gardy. You should be setting the rules’. They told this player that its not the way it works around here. (I am trying to figure out who this player was, it might of been Rueben Sierra or Rondell White). I thought that was an interesting observation.
Gardy might not be the best tactician, and the SABR-type guys dont agree with him a lot, but Gardy keeps that clubhouse loose and I think that is pretty important in the long run of things. Its a looooong grind of a season. I tend to believe that is key to have a good team every year. Nobody like tension and stress. Also, generally speaking, Gardy doesnt call out his players in the press. Gardy also seems to like his job, and it seems to reflect everywhere in the organization.
so kudos to Gardy for winning (I thought it was going to be Washington winning it), and I hope he stays for a while and we finally get that World Series trophy back here to the upper midwest
James, I’m sure context is everything when it comes to the alleged comments made by that “veteran” to M&M. Personally, in a way, I agree. Those two SHOULD be stepping up in greater leadership roles. Not that they should be wresting control of the team away from Gardy, but setting the tone for what is and isn’t acceptable in that clubhouse and on the field… expectations of what it means to be a Minnesota Twin… those two guys, along with perhaps Nathan, Cuddyer, Kubel, maybe Baker, should be doing more of that and relieving Gardy from having to always be the “rule-setter”. That’s what veterans do in MLB and if that’s what this particular veteran was saying, I agree.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure either of them have the personality to do that and I think that’s unfortunate.
http://1500espn.com/shows/reusse
click on the listen now, its on hour 1 and at the beginning of the show where Souhan was telling all these stories