# Favorite baseball managers **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 17, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-baseball-managers/500061 "2009-06-17T13:32:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-baseball-managers/500061/61 "2009-07-14T04:15:19Z")
I hope this isn’t in the category of a zombie thread yet. I didn’t see that there were requests for my story. Circa 1996: My college friend who was a missionary kid born in Tokyo and who spoke native Japanese had a small TV show on NHK (think PBS), interviewing interesting Americans so that Japanese people could listen and read along and improve their English. Shortly previously, Hideo Nomo had hit the USA and especially Japan, giving Lasorda an opportunity to charge TV crews for interviews. We showed up at Dodger Stadium in the winter, with the park bereft of fans and hangers-on. We lugged the equipment to the spot, but then Tommy showed up and demanded money to appear. My friend tried phoning Japan (using the only cell phone I think I’d seen at that time), but it was the middle of the night in Japan, and he reached no one. The Dodger publicity office finally (apparently) told Tommy that “all was arranged” (meaning “throw him a few hundred dollars later and he’ll probably just forget this”), and he did the interview, complete with “the sticks that stay together are harder to be broken” speech, and his wondering if he could conduct baseball camps in Japan for money. His appeal to teamwork caused eye-rolling in the crew, and nearly in the onscreen talent. Even months later, the host of the show said, “I have forgiveness issues with Tommy Lasorda.” I gather he had not been fully informed of the situation by the publicity department, but his graspiness did not endear him to the people on the scene at all… ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-baseball-managers/500061/62 "2009-07-30T02:48:45Z")
I’m reviving this thread to point out that the _Sporting News_ published their list of [50 Greatest Coaches of All Time](http://www.sportingnews.com/college-basketball/article/2009-07-29/sporting-news-50-greatest-coaches-all-time). Managers on the list are 1. Casey Stengel 2. Joe McCarthy 3. John McGraw 4. Connie Mack 5. Joe Torre 6. Walter Alston 7. Sparky Anderson 8. Tony La Russa 9. Bobby Cox 10. Tommy Lasorda ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-baseball-managers/500061/63 "2009-07-30T06:07:30Z")
Yankee fan here. My favorite Yankee managers were Dallas Green, Lou Piniella, and Joe Torre. The manager that I thought was great that didn’t get enough due has got to be Tom Kelly. I think that Mike Sciosca is very good as well. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-baseball-managers/500061/64 "2009-07-30T15:19:29Z")
Bobby Cox should be much higher on that list. ---
**Author:** ![Notassmartasithought](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c0e974/32.png) [@Notassmartasithought](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Notassmartasithought)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-baseball-managers/500061/65 "2009-08-01T03:50:56Z")
No one has pointed it out, but there are many folk who poo-poo what Casey did with the Yankees. The allegation is that all he had to do was put the same eight guys out there plus the best pitching staff in ball at the time. I can’t find the cite, but as I recall it’s not hard to find out that Casey changed the Yankees’ (is that the right place for the apostrophe?) line-up all the time, and pinch hit as early as the first inning. Plus, who can top this? [Casey Stengel Senate Testimony | Baseball Almanac](http://www.baseball-almanac.com/quotes/casey_stengel_senate_testimony.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-baseball-managers/500061/66 "2009-08-01T12:50:23Z")
> [@Notassmartasithought](#): > > No one has pointed it out, but there are many folk who poo-poo what Casey did with the Yankees. The allegation is that all he had to do was put the same eight guys out there plus the best pitching staff in ball at the time. There’s no doubt Casey had ridiculous talent but he often got a lot out of pitchers who didn’t do much anywhere else. His lineups were often injury- and drunk-prone. He did a hell of a lot of lineup juggling, to be honest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-baseball-managers/500061.md?page=3)