
Originally Posted by
Jeffy25
It's because he was petty and unnecessary abrasive way too often. He irritated me, and because his in-game strategy was weak, yet people acted like he was a genius.
I respect Tony. But I'm not a fan of his.
Intentionally throwing at Ryan Braun 'to send a message' when we were in a pennant race, within reach of the Brewers in 11 in the 7th inning of a tied game to lead off the inning. So, let's put the winning run on base? Which is what happened btw. It's another example of him putting 'a message' and his personal feelings on a situation over the team winning a baseball game in a pennant race.
The fact that he managed the World Series so badly, that if Daniel Descalso and Jon Jay don't let off the bottom of the 9th in Game 6, we would have ended the World Series with Kyle Lohse at the plate.
The driving away of consistent super stars doesn't help, but that can happen. Especially when you have such strong ego's all over the place. I just don't get the sense that that is going to happen with Matheny.
He was too much of a drama queen when it came to his own personal issues over that of his players. It drove me insane. And he was not this great in-game strategist. In fact, he was toward one of the worst by the time he retired. When he come on as a manager in the 70's, yes, he was above average with his use of the bullpen. But baseball caught up to him after 30 years and he no longer adapted.
I respect Tony, I think he was a good manager overall. But he was given far too much praise for what the reality really presented. The fact that the Reds brawl still brings him so much anger shows the sign of someone with some petty altercations that he can't get over.
I respect Matheny too, but he handles himself differently, and he isn't unnecessarily abrasive.
Comes down to two things for me:
He was regarded by many as this great baseball mind, and he really wasn't.
And he would allow his personal issues with opposing players or managers or situations trump the interests of the team to actually win a game.