INSIDE THE MANAGER.

The following page gives us some unique insight into the mind of the manager. We all know what type of team a certain player has just by looking at the roster, but what we don’t know most of the time is what the manager does with that talent. This section is dedicated at looking at the number of player changes that a manager makes with his team over the course of the season.

Some changes are inevitable, like pulling a pitcher after he’s given up 10 runs, or replacing someone due to injury, but others are purely voluntary......pinch-hitting, defensive replacements, or platooning. Some managers don’t have the depth to afford to pinch-hit, or have faith in their bullpen enough to substitute like a Tony LaRussa. This section does indicate though how much a manager sticks to his regulars for whatever reason.

Do these numbers serve a useful purpose you ask? I think they do. If you look at the differential between what changes you make to those made on the road by the manager profile that you create, you can get a good idea of how differently the computer manages for you on the road, thus, allowing you to adjust accordingly when making future profiles. Is the profile you create doing what you want it to do?? These numbers may give you some idea.

Gary Plunkitt, once again, garners first place with the most number of changes. In 1955, Gary posted an average of 6.99 HOME player changed (pitchers and batters) per game. Here’s the total home changes combined for 1959, which is not listed on the following sheet (Individual player and pitcher changes are):

....AN ANALYSIS?

CHANGES AVG

Gary Plunkitt 479 6.22

Steve Ehresman 360 4.67

Bob Calicchia 352 4.57

Rick Ryan 311 4.03

John Ungashick 305 3.96

Paul Kenyon 299 3.88

Tom Falduto 295 3.83

Bob Buonaccorsi 285 3.70

Jim Wheeler 283 3.67

Lou Ross 282 3.66

Don Zminda 277 3.59

Mike Cascarano 205 2.66

Frank Papp 205 2.66

John Turnbull 157 2.03

League Average 292 3.80

Then there are managers like me who don’t make any changes and stick with the starting lineup. Or maybe just don’t put up with the whiners who want in the ballgame.....or maybe everyone is in my doghouse! As you can tell, Gary runs away with it again by a landslide. I can make a safe bet that he uses a lot of defensive replacements. At least his players get some “PT.”

Hopefully this will either serve as fodder for friendly barbs, or as an eye-opener as to how you and the computer manager guides your team. Whichever the case, it gives me another reason to put more numbers on paper!!