FanPost

Royals Managers 2005-Present: A Summer Blockbuster Trilogy

Inspired by the heated discussion on managerial skills from Will's thread, a decided to revisit the days of the Royals last 3 managers, including Ned Yost. It turns out the Royals had a series of summer blockbuster movies on their hands that the promotions department obviously didn't do enough with.

The year was 2005. The skipper was the beloved 'in-his clothes showering', notostros creemosing, moustachio'ed Tony Pena. After skipping out on the team in the darkness of a Toronto night to avoid having to testify in a divorce trial, the team eventually hired the lovable loser Buddy Bell. Bell was supposed to bring the professionalism back that had been missing under his predecessor.

Bell started out 11-6, including a 3 game sweep of the Yankees. "The team just seems more comfortable under Bell" the fans said. "He has them trying harder -- the players really want to give it their all" others chimed in.

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via i9.photobucket.com A fundamentally sound Buddy Bell helps with fielding practice

Sadly, this movie doesn't have a happy ending. Despite his extremely hot start, the team faded to finish 43-69 his first year. (Probably due to injuries and underperformance). Despite Bell's magnetic personality and his experience in running a major league dugout, the team would struggle to a 62-100 record the following year. The fans were not amused and began calls for his head. Bell would struggle out of the gate the next year, and would eventually announce his resignation effective at the end of the season. He lead the team to a 69-93 performance, but the fans were unmoved by a 9 game turnaround.

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via www.georgeblowfish.com The vicious dogs of injuries and underperformance were too much for Buddy


Luckily though, this movie was followed up by the another summer blockbuster -- "Return of the Jedi*" Trey managed fast and loose with the rules as a Texas rancher. He had the team picking up their own chairs and wasn't afraid to call them out at home plate in front of the fans for poor play. "That's exactly what this team needs" said the fans. "He's bringing accountability back to an organization that's been lacking it for over 20 years." Protests over how bush league his actions appeared were met by displays of affection for his Japanese managerial record plus calls for "give him a chance first - he can't be as bad as Bell!"

* Trey was a Jedi, right? Isn't Jedi short for Japanese Manager?

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via img170.imageshack.us A weekly status meeting during Hillman's reign


The team seemed to respond to Trey's cowboy managerial style despite seeming losing 2-3 runners a game due to poor stolen base attempts. The team was 21-22 after 43 games and the town was awash in man-love for Trey. Unfortunately, the good times wouldn't last as the team would stumble to a 75-87 record after the hot start. (Although it should be noted that Trey was saddled with 1/2 a season of Tony Pena Jr., who would set modern records in futility by "producing" a .398 (!) OPS in 225 ABs).


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via blogs.suntimes.com Ozzie shows Trey what happened to the 2008 Royals

The second year followed the Bell plan as Hillman lead the team to a disappointing 65-97 record after an astounding 18-11 start (cf. Injuries and Underperformance). Much like his predecessor, Hillman was viciously attacked by fans at failing at the important in-game managerial tasks and making poor use of the team stalwarts like Mike Jacobs and Josh Anderson. His nonsensical postgame interviews became the stuff of legends as he was seemingly unaware that they would occasionally contain baseball questions.

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via i293.photobucket.com The End of Days for Trey


The second movie ends with the handpicked successor to the throne falling gracefully on his sword and accepting his fate (while being allowed to coach one final Grienke victory). Which brings us to the third movie in the trilogy: "A New Hope".

Times were bleak after the emperor (ahem, GM) got rid of his chosen savior, his Bobby Cox in denim clothing, one of the greatest baseball minds of his generation. And yet, a new hope arose as they went to find a replacement to provide an outsider's perspective, someone new and yet familiar, someone who had worked for the Braves. That outsider was Ned Yost.

Ned had the team shoot out of the gate to a 25-23 record, coaxing career performances out of players like Bruce Chen, Jose Guillen, and the ghost of Rick Ankiel.

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via cdn3.sbnation.com Rick Ankiel helping out

Yet seeing as how the previous 2 movies ended, can we trust what we're seeing? Will Buddy Trey Ned get struck by the twin killers Injury and Underperformance? Will fans be clamoring for some kind of cream to get rid of the Yost infection after 2010?

I say 'Nay'! I say Ned will be the one to slay the twin beasts plaguing this team through his managerial prowess and the strength of Kendall's knees (and bat). Remember Neddy, Haters Gonna Hate.

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via i32.tinypic.com Can Ned avoid this?


Because after all, does the stock market not say 'Past performance is not indicative of future results'? With a guarantee like that, I say get aboard the Yostest with the Mostest.*

* Side note, I also just purchased some Enron stock. It's got to bounce back at some point, right? I'd advise you get in on it as well.**

** The above does not constitute financial advice. Please consult your financial adviser before making any ill-advised financial decisions. But since it's slam dunk advice, you should probably get in on it -- unless you're chicken.

This FanPost was written by a member of the Royals Review community. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the editors and writers of this site.