Which manager is this?

>>> He spent most of his first season just observing what he had to work with.

He brought the team to a 73-89 record. He was known for his strict style of managing and not accepting anything but 100% from his players. He always believed in his team and stood behind them. He was a superior leader. He refused to act surprised they kept winning and moving forward, telling the press the team was doing what they were capable of doing playing up to their potential.

It was through his confidence that made the team believe in what they were doing.

He also used a strict platoon system for many of his position players, regardless of the circumstances. He got the most of his players by using their best abilities to contribute to the team as a whole. <


What's your guess?

Nope.

Nope.

By the way, I never said it was necessarily a Mets manager.

Davey Johnson if a newer one. Maybe Hodges.

Gil?

Sounds like Tony LaRussa with the Cardinals except he went 73-89 in his 2nd year, not his first.

The answer is Gil Hodges and he should be in the Hall of Fame.

Tom Seaver credits Gil Hodges more than anyone else for his success as a major league Pitcher.

I knew gill Hodges. Gil Hodges was a friend of mine.

Mr Collins? You are no Gil Hodges.

Yes, it's Gil Hodges.

Congrats to those who got it right.


So a strict platoon system actually worked to great effect in producing a World Series winner. Well, what do you know about that!

I appreciate the effort and analogy, from my recollection the platoon was :

Ed Charles, a veteran third baseman who platooned with Wayne Garret
Ed Kranepool platooned with Don Clendenon at first until clendenon outplayed kranepool
Ron Swoboda and Art Shamsky platooned in right field.

That was no different than what the 86 Mets did with Backman/ Teufel at second, mookie/ Dykstra in center and Mitchell / Mookie / in left

Big difference was both the 69 Mets and the 86 Mets were pursuing a world series and not trying to rebuild as are the 2012 Mets. There is nothing wrong with platooning players once they have a long history of at bats and their abilities are established. Its a different story, however, when you are supposed to help mold a bright prospect like Kirk N into an everyday player and instead you platoon him with a career part time player in Torres.

IMO the most notable thing Gil Hodges did in 1968 was to let a young Tommie Agee play through his struggles against both left and right handed pitching. Tommie also provided great defense consistently. gils faith in the young center fielder helped Tommies development and he went on to star for the 69 championship team hitting 26 homers from the lead off position as a FT centerfielder.

What would have happened to Tommie if Terry Collins was managing him in 1968 ? Would we have won in 1969 if Gil had platooned Agee and stunted his development?

From wikipedia about the 1968 Mets...
>>> They went 73-89 and finished 9th in the National League. They were managed by Gil Hodges. <

So in 1969, the Mets weren't expected to be pursuing anything like a World Series, after finishing in 9th place the year before. They weren't even expected to be at .500 in 1969. They were an expansion team that was still trying to build a team that could be taken at all seriously.

Who says Kirk is ever going to be an everyday player? He'll get some at bats along the way against a lefty here and there, and if he starts outperforming Torres ( like Clendenon did vs. Kranepool), he can be given more opportunities. If not, a platoon suits the TEAM better...just like it did for Gil way back when with Charles and Garret at 3rd and Swoboda and Shamsky in RF.


>>> IMO the most notable thing Gil Hodges did in 1968 was to let a young Tommie Agee play through his struggles against both left and right handed pitching. Tommie also provided great defense consistently. gils faith in the young center fielder helped Tommies development and he went on to star <


Boy, this sounds an awful lot like what Ike is going through now, doesn't it?

Credit to Sandy on Ike hereby given but many feel an equal opportunity for Kirk is long overdue.

Tom Seaver and Bud Harrelson raved how Gil made his players better. They won because of him not in spite of him.

Not here to debate whether a platoon makes sense because in certain situations it does. But What separates world series winning managers like Gil Hodges from those managers that have been fired for their stubbornness is knowing when to go with acquired baseball instincts rather than numerical sabermetrics.

How long did that Clendenon-Kranepool exist before Gil took Kranepool out of the equation? Have we reached a point in the 2012 season where that decision necessarily has to be made NOW? If Torres continues not to hit, do you think he will be kept out there no matter what?

C'mon- nothing HAS to happen now. It just should happen now. By the snails pace that personnel issues are dealt effectively with by this front office, you would think this was a California team and more specifically , Oakland . Money ball is one thing but Dummy Ball is not acceptable in NY.

Actually Mets fans...Hodges got all that from the Old Perfesser who was a strict platoon man, since Casey Stengel learned that from the greatest manager ever...John McGraw

But Hodges was great taking over a team Stengel molded