McAdam: Ron Roenicke adjusts to a game that's constantly evolving and discarding old school rules

On Wednesday, Ron Roenicke will celebrate his 64th birthday. His history in professional baseball dates back 43 seasons, when he began his career as a minor leaguer in the Los Angeles Dodgers' system.

He's seen -- and done -- it all, (or most all of it) over the past four decades. He's been a minor leaguer, a major leaguer, a minor league manager, a major league coach and is in his second stint as a major league manager.

He's been released, traded, fired and hired. He's also been a survivor. Only two other current managers are older: the Angels' Joe Madden and the Astros' Dusty Baker.

Chronologically then, Roenicke is decidedly old school. When he signed his first contract, four-man rotations were still a thing and teams actually scheduled doubleheaders. They flew commercial, didn't get a leave of absence when their children were born, and rookies were routinely hazed.

It was, in almost every sense, a very different game.

But baseball has changed greatly over the last decade or so. Bunting is out, openers are in and analytics rule the game.

Roenicke has watched the game's evolution, and if he needed reminding, another aspect of it played out Monday night in Arlington, Texas, where San Diego Padres phenom Fernando Tatis Jr. drew the ire of Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward by daring to swing away at a 3-and-0 pitch with his team already leading by seven runs late in the game, and connecting for a grand slam.

Woodward jawed the Padres from the home dugout, and the Rangers responded by drilling Manny Machado, the next hitter, in apparent retribution.

It was yet another reminder that the game's unwritten rules are being re-written, quickly, in real time.

"I think the unwritten rules have changed, as everybody knows, through the years,'' said Roenicke, "and I think probably for the good.''

As Roenicke contemplated the fallout from Tatis's grand slam, he did his measured best to put the transformation into context.



"I think the biggest thing is, 'Don't rub it in, don't show up the other team if they're down,''' he said. "What's that line? It was 10-3 at the time. Is it OK (to swing) if it's 8-3? Is it OK if it's 9-3? It's hard for a player, to put it on him and I don't want to put that on him. I know if we're in a game and it's (a) 3-0 (count) and I'm not comfortable, I'll signal out to Carlos (Febles, third base coach) and let him know what I want to do because I don't want the player to make that decision.''

As the game evolves, some of the changes are being dictated by current trends. And in an era of smaller ballparks and exploding home run totals, it seems no lead is safe. In Roenicke's eyes, that makes it more acceptable to not ease up on the throttle -- regardless of the score.

"There's a lot of runs scored today. There's a lot of really big innings,'' he said. "So I don't think the safeness is there like it used to be. It used to be over a grand slam, so, five runs up, from the seventh inning on, you didn't do any of that -- you didn't swing  3-and-0, you didn't steal. But it's changed. I just think it's more gray area now and it's harder for a player to have those decisions. I just think we should help him.''

Roenicke conceded he "probably wouldn't have a guy swing there,'' in relation to Tatis. But he couldn't come up with any absolutes for that situation, either.

"I'm trying to think of situations where I'd want him to (swing),'' he said. "But that's hard too, because what if your player's slumping and maybe this is a time where he finally gets himself in a good hitting count and you want him to not necessarily hit a grand slam. But say you just want him to get a base hit and drive in a couple of runs because he's been scuffling. Now he's in a count where he may get a good pitch to hit and now you tell him not to.

"But I would not have a guy probably swing there. But I just don't want to say there's a blanket, 'You shouldn't do it.' I think there's reasons why a manager may want him to do it and there's reasons why the player may want to do it in those situations. Like I said, it's a gray area and sometimes it's difficult to let the player make that decision.''

Roenicke understands that what he was taught better than 40 years ago doesn't hold much currency now. The game has transformed -- in obvious and subtle ways.

"Absolutely,'' he said. "I've been changing and evolving through my career. It's so different now.''

That applies not only questions of strategy and also to celebrations and on-field comportment. Bat-flips are commonplace after home runs, a behavior that would have been, if not entirely unthinkable, then likely to incite a beanball war not long ago.

"I like a lot of things that are happening that allow players to do a little bit more,'' he said. "I still think there's a point where you don't try to show up the other team. I know people hit home runs and they watch them a long time and they flip their bat. I'm OK with the celebrating; just don't try to show up that other team.

"But I have to make changes. It's a different game and these are different players. If you want to manage and coach the way it was 30 years ago, you're not going to survive very long now.''