Recycling Isn't Always Good

So, FAILED Brewers skipper Ken Macha has an interview with the FAILED Pittsburgh Pirates, and who knows? Macha may just wind up managing the Pirates next season. Wouldn’t surprise me a bit. It’s the coaching carousel, where no matter how bad you stink up the joint in one city, there’s always another team that says “hey – let’s see if we can get him!”

Apparently, there are only a certain number of guys who can ever be major league managers, and if you thought the United States Senate was an exclusive club, take a look at the ranks of Major League Baseball managers. It’s like a Who’s Who of has-beens who bounce from team to team, stinking up the town in one city, and moving on to stink up the joint in another town.

How is it possible that Dusty Baker is still employed as a Major League Baseball manager? He had one decent year with the Giants, but FAILED to move the team into the Fall Classic; he stunk up the joint so bad in Chicago with the hapless Cubs, failing again to move an expensive and talented lineup (Sosa, Prior, Wood, et.al.) past the first round. So, the Reds hire him, and, no surprise given his record, the Reds got knocked out of the first round of the playoffs by the Phillies a few days ago.

I have worked a couple times in my former life as both a faculty adjunct (hired-gun teacher) and as a full-time university administrator and I can tell you from first-hand experience that institutions of higher education, for all their liberal bravado, are actually some of the most conservative places on earth. It takes FOREVER to change ANYTHING.

Football isn’t really different. Once in a great while, someone - Matt Millen comes to mind - fails so badly that they’re out of the ranks of football management forever. Millen’s record as CEO of the Lions is the WORST performance in NFL history, and….shockingly….he’s no longer connected with pro football. (Ex-jock announcer doesn’t count. And that’s a rant for another day.)

Ned Yost presided over the greatest skid in Brewers history, and was fired before the ’08 season ended, but he took over managerial duties for the Royals in May.

Don’t be surprised if the Pirates or some other team hire the useless Macha. Bobby Cox finally retired, so the Braves will have to find some worn-out has-been to run the club next year. Who knows – it might just be that loser Ken Macha.