Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
November 16, 2002
What About Bob?

Bob Melvin has been hired to manage the Mariners. I'm disappointed once again that Willie Randolph didn't get a shot. But the Mariners seemed to have gone with a strategist this time:


Kidding aside, Melvin organized Arizona's spring training over the past two seasons, and he is credited as a major contributor to Brenly's success with the Diamondbacks.


''There's no doubt Bob Melvin has been a huge part of what's happened around here the past two years,'' Brenly said.


During his 10 seasons as a player, Melvin often posed questions to his managers as situations came up during games. It groomed him, if unwittingly, to be a manager himself.


Dave Campbell likes him, too:

Teams generally go with a different type of personality than the manager they had before. We haven't seen Melvin as a manager, but he has always been a low-key guy. Melvin is a solid, astute baseball man. He will command respect and get the players' attention, but he won't be nearly as fiery as Lou Piniella was.

I remember the 2001 postseason, seeing Melvin and Bob Brenly talking in the dugout, especially in one Division Series game against St. Louis and then again in Game 7 of the World Series. From a strategy standpoint, Melvin appeared to be the coolest guy on Earth while under fire.


I don't have much to go on here, but I'm very interested to see what his first lineup will look like.


Posted by David Pinto at 11:11 AM | Baseball