What If You KNEW Everyone’s Finishing Stats On Opening Day?
Yesterday, three Oakland A’s homered in a row, on three consecutive pitches, and two of these guys I’ve been following for some time: Milton Bradley and Frank Thomas.
Both are thought to have attitude problems. The Dodgers traded Bradley for that reason, and the same logic informed Kenny Williams’ decision to buy out Big Frank’s contract, despite the fact that he would have been a shoo-in first ballot Hall of Famer wearing a White Sox cap.
I think Frank will probably hit 40 homers for the A’s this year. Bradley I’m not sure about. He’s inconsistent, at best.
But what if we KNEW exactly how every player on our team would perform, statistically? Konerko will hit .279, blast 38 homers, and have 100 runs batted in.
Thome will knock out 44 big ones, hit .293, and have 115 runs batted in.
Would that make our job as a big league manager a no-brainer?
I doubt it. As you know, you can have some great individual performers who are dugout Typhoid Mary’s. Gary Sheffield’s tenure with the Dodgers comes to mind.
Nearly every year, he hit over .300, his home run production was at or near 40, as I recall, and he had a decent number of runs batted in. But he was reportedly poisonous in the dugout, deriding management at every turn.
Just having predictably solid performers on your squad is no guarantee of a championship. You have to have leadership and at least some chemistry, as well.
There’s no question the White Sox of ‘06 look every bit as strong as the Series Champs of ‘05, and maybe stronger. But you don’t win on paper.
Those bad boys in Oakland have something special. Call it fire in the belly or the need to vindicate oneself.
When we examine Big Frank’s stats come September, or even October, we’ll see how much this extra emotion factors into the A’s ultimate ranking.
Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. A Ph.D. from USC’s Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. Headquartered in Glendale, California, he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.
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