OTC: Is Hillman In Over His Head?
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Mike
Greg- I’m a little surprised you didn’t include the quote Rick Sutcliffe gave on the radio (can’t remember which station) this past week relating a conversation he had with Tony La Russa. Essentially, La Russa told Sutcliffe that Hillman is a great gameday manager but the wording was much stronger. I was absolutely floored when I heard the comment, and couldn’t believe I had heard it. I believe it was still worth mentioning in this piece as a opposing view to the many who bash Hillman.
Personally, I’m not thrilled with many of the moves, but there are times I can see his line of thinking. And the biggest beef most have had with him during the 9 game stretch when Soria didn’t pitch was because he was trying to protect a little competitive advantage over his opponents. Of course now that Soria has been once shutdown and now DL’d for 15 days, many of his decisions don’t seem as bad. He has apparently learned from his Farnsworth episodes and he’s putting #40 out there at the right times and making him earn some trust.
Right now, I’ve got to wonder why we didn’t send Guillen out on a rehab assignment when he got “healthy.” He’s had three good games on 4-27 against Toronto and 5-1/5-3 against Minn. In those three games he went 8-11, 3R, 2-2B, 3-HR, 9 RBI. His season totals as of today are 18-66, 10R, 2-2B, 3-HR, 11 RBI. Today, he couldn’t even run hard to catch the fly to right that started the rally. He can’t go first to third. Its a joke and whoever decided not to send him out to get healthy and strong before putting him out in the field has hurt this team.
Hillman’s made some dumb moves, for sure. But if La Russa says you have to be ready or else Hillman will out manage you, you’ve got wonder what he knows that we don’t. Of course, he could have been in a drunken stupor and driving a car in Florida when he said it, too.
Gavin
Greg,
I am totally with you on loving LeBron and hating Kobe. I’m sure there are plenty who disagree and I am not saying Kobe can’t play, I just want for Shaquille to always be able to say that Kpbe never won a title without him. As a KU fan, I always want the team with the most Jayhawks to win, but failing that, I am more than happy to see the Lakers lose and LeBron win, at least until he gets to the Knicks.
JS
Trey Hillman is at best a minor league manager who has been thrust into a position that is probably beyond his capabilities. We can see that no major league coaching experience is hurting him. I don’t care how long you coached in Japan the major leauges are different and bad decision making is magnified. Hillman needs to adopt a philosophy and stick to it. It seems like every night he is trying a new strategy or trying to show his intuitive skill and it is not working. This not the kind of position where you want on the job training. At this point we are winning in spite of Hillman not because of him.
Seth
Please stop promoting Hal from Ace Sports. The KC Star gives this ticket scalper enough free publicity, you don’t need to add to it. Surely there are better ways to quantify the level of excitement over the Royals great start this year. The best news I heard all spring was that both Missouri and Kansas were playing their March Madness away from the Sprint Center so this guy took a financial bath. The general media tried to portray him as someone worthy of sympathy, while I appreciated the irony of a scalper getting fleeced.
greg
Mike,
I did hear the Sutcliffe interview and was as stunned as you about his story that LaRussa said Hillman out-managed him a couple of times last season. You’re right, it would have fit into this column but I didn’t have that quote saved.
Seth,
Okay. I’ll try and refrain from anyone mentioning Hal the rest of the season.
craig glazer
Greg unless we find a hitter, a real one, or unless one of our average hitters turns into to something, we will continue to struggle as you see with good pitching and not much offense, too bad, we are one or two guys away from being a strong team, but likely not with this lineup…no stars on offense…yet…maybe buy or trade for someone…
Dan Davis
This Robert Ford is at the stadium so why isn’t he asking these questions as well? 610’s pre and post is one of the worst things I’ve ever heard on the radio.
Gob
I gotta agree with Dan Davis, at least about Robert Ford. For the first few weeks (at least when I still listened to him), he pronounced it COW-ffman Stadium instead of COUGH-ffman stadium. Not a big deal, but just showed he wasn’t really paying attention. I do think Greg Schaum does a nice job. He’s a little bit too “statty” for me, but he understands the game. I actually learn things from listening to him. He’s like Petro in that sense. Not terribly entertaining, but informative. Ford, in my opinion, brings nothing except a semi-deep voice.
MoCrash
Just for the record, LaRussa has never said a discouraging word about any fellow manager. I wouldn’t put this down as an objective endorsement.
MoCrash
Also, on the subject of the Royals’ prospects: while much improved, the Royals’ fatal flaw is the lack of a true No. 3 hitter. What would a Pujols, Chipper or Teixeira mean to this team?
smartman
Holy shit, Craig Glazer is everywhere on this blog. Dude, get a twitter account if you think people give a shit about what you think.
bobd
hal would screw hisown mom for a dime.
He’s a filthy no good liar who’s out to lie
aned cheat his way to a buck. Go on craigslist
and save money…forget the pos hal in oak park.
rick
Jared Allen, NBA, and the Chiefs but all the response is about the Royals. Maybe they are capturing this town.