Lou Baker

[apete6]

Is anyone else starting to get worried about all of the moronic things Lou is seeming to do in ST? There are some very Dusty-like decisions being made. Like:

 

Batting Mr. Grit Theriot #2 (or anywhere but 8th for that matter)

Not making SS an open competition with Theriot and Cedeno

Batting Pie 8th (where he'll get nothing good to hit in front of pitcher)

Fukudome batting 3rd, moving Aram (probably our best hitter) to 5th

Making Demp his "#3"

Seemingly not giving Marshall or Gallagher a chance to win a rotation spot. Hell, Hart either.

Essentially not giving Marmol a chance to be the closer

Making comments devaluing Cedeno & Murton in terms of trade value

 

There were a lot of bad decisions last year as well, but no one really remembers because they made the playoffs, just like Baker in 2003. Main difference is that Lou seems to be able to change his mind and adjust on the fly, but if Milwaukee didn't fold like a lawn chair, we don't make the playoffs last year. If we are 10 games out at any point this year, I'm saying we don't make the playoffs.

[Rusch33]

Writing off the season already?

[inari]

I seem to recall identical threads like this last spring training. When it comes to Lou, we shouldn't really take anything he says seriously.

[treebird]

despite the things he says, lou pretty much just always does the most obvious thing. i remember last year, any time he'd mention a somewhat unconventional idea he'd like to try, he'd go through with it for like two days and then reset back to normal.

[XZero771679666304]

despite the things he says, lou pretty much just always does the most obvious thing. i remember last year, any time he'd mention a somewhat unconventional idea he'd like to try, he'd go through with it for like two days and then reset back to normal.

 

That's the thing that separates Lou from Dusty: The ability to recognize something isn't working, and the willingness to change it.

[apete6]

Writing off the season already?

 

Not writing off the season, but not giving Lou the benefit of the doubt on every decision just because he made the playoffs last year. I got burned by giving Dusty the benefit of the doubt on every decision until "I'd rather see Guthrie vs. Lowell instead of Veres vs. Lenny Harris" and I'm not making the same mistake again. "In Dusty We Trusty" was a bunch of garbage and so is all of the man-love for Uncle Lou.

 

I recognize that he is light years ahead of DB in terms of changing course or going with the hot hand, but there are still several bad decisions that Lou is on the verge of making to start the season and I'd rather not be 10 games back in May again.

 

Cubs will still make the playoffs barring some unforseen circumstance, but I'd rather do it because of Lou, not in spite of him.

[David]

despite the things he says, lou pretty much just always does the most obvious thing. i remember last year, any time he'd mention a somewhat unconventional idea he'd like to try, he'd go through with it for like two days and then reset back to normal.

 

That's the thing that separates Lou from Dusty: The ability to recognize something isn't working, and the willingness to change it.

 

 

That's not necessarily a good thing. Of course it's good when he gives up on a bad idea after 2-3 games, but the fact of the matter is, 2-3 games isn't enough to determine anything, and if it was a bad idea, he shouldn't have done it in the first place.

 

The same goes for the inverse. If he comes up with some brilliant idea and then gives up on it when it doesn't go well for the first couple games, it would be a bad thing.

 

A - He should be able to recognize what a bad/good idea is

 

B - Once he has determined that something is a good idea, he should stick with it

 

What if Marmol has gotten rocked his first two outings out of the pen and then he had just gone away from him the rest of the year?

 

I realize no manager is perfect (especially among those that are realistic candidates), and I'm fine with Lou for now. For the most part, he doesn't do any really stupid things like Dusty did, and that's all you can really ask of a manager. Don't screw it up.

 

So, I'm not trying to be hyper-critical of Lou here. I like him. I'm just saying that if you decide to implement something and give up on it almost immediately after if it doesn't start out well, that's not a good thing.

[WilcoFan]

Writing off the season already?

 

Not writing off the season, but not giving Lou the benefit of the doubt on every decision just because he made the playoffs last year. I got burned by giving Dusty the benefit of the doubt on every decision until "I'd rather see Guthrie vs. Lowell instead of Veres vs. Lenny Harris" and I'm not making the same mistake again. "In Dusty We Trusty" was a bunch of garbage and so is all of the man-love for Uncle Lou.

 

I haven't seen Pineilla get nearly the man-love Baker ever got here, and I don't think most people who defend him rely simply upon the fact that the team made the playoffs to justify their belief in him.

 

BTW, if the Brewers start off 24-10 again, it'll be really hard to not be 6-7 games out of first at least.