Until recently, it seemed like the age-old practice of teams firing their managers in mid-season, hoping to produce a dramatic turn-around on the field, was obsolete.
In 2021, not a single manager was fired in-season.
That makes some sense, given that the industry now largely treats managers as useful puppets, carrying out the wishes of those in the front office, right now to the construction of lineups. It may be a cruel, cold-hearted thought process, but essentially, the thinking went like this: Why fire someone who's not very important in the first place?
In the last two weeks, however, that philosophy took a hiatus -- for two franchises, at least.
First, the Philadelphia Phillies sacked manager Joe Girardi and replaced him with bench coach Rob Thomson.
That, ironically, soon led to another firing: Joe Maddon, manager of the Angels, whose team had lost 11 in a row, including three straight to Philadelphia.
Two managers, then, whacked in the span of four days.
So far, the shakeup achieved its desired effect for the Phils, who have since won nine in a row. The Angels, meanwhile, took a little longer to get a win for Maddon's replacement, Phil Nevin, finally beating the Red Sox Thursday night after dropping the first three games of the series.
For both teams, desperation had set in. The Phillies, who haven't qualified for the postseason since 2011, looked to be in danger of missing out again, despite having their biggest payroll ever. The Angels, who last reached the playoffs in 2014, but haven't won a postseason series since 2009, were similarly all-in.
Notably, neither manager had been hired by the front office executive who ultimately pulled the trigger. Girardi was hired by since-deposed GM Matt Klentak, was let go by Dave Dombrowski; Maddon, meanwhile, was fired by Perry Minasian, who has been on the job since the end of 2020, having replaced former GM Billy Eppler. (It should be noted that Maddon was hired by owner Arte Moreno, over Eppler's objections. Eppler had hoped to hire Buck Showalter).
Maybe the Phils will keep winning and end their October drought. And perhaps the Angels will right things under Nevin and finally get Mike Trout back on the postseason stage.
But neither move, it's safe to say, will have the kind of impact the Red Sox had in July of 1988 when, unhappy with the team's performance, John Harrington fired John McNamara and replaced him with interim manager Joe Morgan.
Under Morgan, a baseball lifer who had managed in the minors forever before being added to McNamara's major league coaching staff, the Red Sox ripped off 12 wins in a row and 19 in their first 20 games.
That remains the gold standard when it comes to salvaging a season in the wake of a managerial change. Under Morgan, the Red Sox went from being a game over .500 (43-42) to 46-31 the rest of the way, winning the AL East before being dismissed by the Oakland A's in the ALCS.
Morgan made a few personnel changes upon taking. McNamara, who was notorious for not trusting younger players, had buried infielder Jody Reed and first baseman/outfielder Todd Benzinger. Upon Morgan's takeover, Reed replaced veteran Spike Owen as the starting shortstop and Benzinger became almost a daily fixture in the lineup.
Mostly, however, Morgan changed the temperature in the clubhouse. Whereas McNamara was tense and defensive to the point of paranoia, Morgan introduced a tranquility to the team, and the players responded.
McNamara had become embittered. He felt unfairly scapegoated for losing the 1986 World Series and his misery had infected the clubhouse. The Red Sox were uptight and not everything was all right. Given to making moves based on hunches and sprinkling his conversation with strange, folksy sayings ("six, two and even,''), Morgan succeeded in lightening the mood. Not for him was every loss a personal affront or a threat to his job security. At 58, Morgan had basically given up his dreams of managing in the big leagues, but handed the opportunity, he was determined to enjoy his opportunity.
“It’s one of those things where you have a good club but things weren’t happening,’’ Morgan told former team historian Gordon Edes a few years ago, when asked about the team's turnaround in the summer of '88. “And there’s no doubt this club could win. They were too good.’’
The day he was hired, Morgan was told by GM Lou Gorman that he would be managing the club until someone else could be found.
"Don't look too far,'' said Morgan, full of confidence in his own ability. "You've already got somebody.''
At the time, it sounded like false bravado. In actuality, Morgan was prophetic.
When a week into his team's improbable rise the Red Sox were sort of forced into giving him a contract beyond the 1988 season, Morgan recounted a contract negotiation with Gorman, which had lasted more than an hour.
I asked him what had taken so long.
"Just trying to get myself a little more scratch (money),'' he answered without hesitation or embarrassment.
After the season, Morgan got even more scratch from owner Jean Yawkey, who at a testimonial dinner in his honor, handed him a bonus check in the amounf of $50,000.
Ultimately, Morgan couldn't get the Sox past the Oakland A's. They swept the Sox that fall, and again in 1990, and when the team fell short of the playoffs in 1991, he was fired -- incredibly, in part because, according to Gorman, the Sox were fearful that someone was going to hire Butch Hobson out from under them.
If they're fortunate, maybe Thomson or Nevin will execute similar turnarounds and guide their respective teams to the postseason. But it's doubtful either -- or anyone else -- will do so with the carefree and delightfully quirky way Morgan did 34 summers ago.
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A year ago, when Chris Sale returned to the Red Sox in August after successfully completing his rehab from Tommy John surgery, performed 17 months earlier, the Red Sox dismissed out of hand any suggestion that Sale rejoin the club as a bullpen weapon.
"Chris Sale is a starter,'' said manager Alex Cora, again and again, a sentiment backed by Chaim Bloom and anyone else who had a say in the matter.
Nope, the Red Sox weren't even going to so much as consider Sale as a reliever, even if it meant he could rejoin the team sooner in that capacity.
Now, some 10 months later, things have changed.
Sale, who suffered a rib fracture in February, is close to starting a rehab assignment. And this time, the Red Sox are least debating the merits of having him ease his way back onto the pitching staff by first using him in relief.
"I think everything is on the table at this point,'' pitching coach Dave Bush told The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey. "If it suits him and us for him to come back sooner and in fewer innings and we have a bullpen that's capable of absorbing the extra innings, then maybe that's an option.''
Bush's response was not exactly definitive. It's more about the Sox being open to taking that route. And to be clear, as should be obvious from reading Bush's answer, such a move would be temporary. This is not about the Red Sox re-imagining Sale as a reliever going forward. (Nor, given Sale's salary, should it be).
But yes, the Sox may experiment if it makes sense for them and gets Sale back on the roster sooner.
Still, this was more than the Sox were willing to consider last summer. So, what's changed?
For one thing, the Red Sox were in need of starting pitching in August of 2021. While Nathan Eovaldi and Eduardo Rodriguez were solid, Garrett Richards and Martin Perez had effectively pitched themselves out of the rotation due to under-performance. The Sox had an obvious need, and Sale was there to fill it -- even if, at the beginning, he was somewhat limited in terms of endurance and stamina. In his Aug. 14 debut, he threw 89 pitches over six innings.
Also, the bullpen was performing better at the time. Yes, Matt Barnes had struggled once July began, but the Sox assumed he would soon right things. Adam Ottavino had emerged as the team's primary set-up man.
This time, the circumstances are different. For one thing, Sale is not coming back from a serious arm injury and procedure. For another, while he returned in mid-August last year, this time, Sale is returning at about the midpoint.
But mostly this seems to be a matter of expediency. Sale has made just nine regular-season appearances since the start of the 2020 season, and the Red Sox want him back sooner rather than later.
If Sale is going to be laboring in Portland or Worcester over his last few rehab assignment outings, doesn't it make more sense to have him spending that time contributing to the parent club, even if it's just a few innings at a time? Friday night was yet another reminder that the Sox bullpen is still unformed and very often, not trustworthy. Sale could develop into another Tanner Houck-like weapon, available for two-inning stints, while he builds up arm strength and general stamina.
The danger -- if you want to call it that -- would be that Sale becomes a true weapon in his bullpen audition and the Sox find themselves tempted to keep him there, allowing them to keep some of their precious prospect capital at the trade deadline.
That would seem to be a case of under-utilizing Sale, who is making $30 million and has a minimum of two more guaranteed years after this season. Then again, if Sale patches the gaping holes that currently exist in the bullpen and prevents losses like Friday's -- the 13th blown save of the season for rest of the staff -- that could be considered money well-spent.
