Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
October 22, 2006
Macha Speaks

Ken Macha tells Carl Steward that the problem leading to the manager's dismissal was with the front office, not with the players:

What Macha did do was grant an interview to MediaNews to clarify a few things.

First was the notion that his firing was a direct result of published statements from his former players.

"What I want to do is take the high road," he said. "Let's focus on the eight years that I was there, the four years I was the manager, and what we did, all the success and the rookies of the year and the players we developed and all the other stuff. Let's not just look at the last day. Don't judge me by that. Don't do that. I know why I was fired and Billy knows why I was fired.

"I wasn't fired because these players were upset. I know that. Billy Beane knows that. And I'm OK with that decision."

So why was he really fired?

"I can't come out and say that, because Billy didn't come out and say it," he said. "I think you can figure it out, though."

What's clear is that Macha's relationship with the front office, and not so much with the players, had become untenable.

Macha makes the case that he communicated just fine:

In September, following an incident at home plate when Macha had to restrain outfielder Milton Bradley from going after an umpire, Bradley made a voluntary trip into the manager's office.

"He came in and sat down, and while he had a hard time saying it, he told me, 'Thanks for stopping me from hitting the umpire or running into him," Macha recalled. "I said, 'Milton, that's no problem. I did what I thought was best for the team, and as I've told you all along, 'I've got your back.'"

Macha said the manner in which he managed Payton, Bradley and Frank Thomas, who had myriad issues as a member of the Chicago White Sox, speaks closer to his true abilities as a communicator.

"Lost in this whole cloud is that I had these three supposedly problem players this year," he said. "I had those three guys, they were probably my three most productive guys. And I handled 'em. That gets lost in the fog here."

As I've noted before, the Athletics exceeded their win prediction, run prediction, and allowed fewer runs than expected under Macha. He must have done something right.


Posted by David Pinto at 09:47 AM | Management | TrackBack (0)
Comments

The SF Chronicle seems to have a few more details reveiled about the situation, here's a link:

"Hurt" by player comments, Macha tells his side of story

Posted by: Marc Normandin at October 22, 2006 10:06 AM

So basically this guy's people management philosophy is to sit in his office and wait for people to come to him and he thinks there was no problem with that....especially given the youth of the A's. The three players he points out as sucessfully examples of his communication skills are veterans who have never had a problem voicing their opinions. Get a clue Ken.

Posted by: Jol at October 22, 2006 10:47 AM

Why extrapolate that Macha's only management philosophy is "to sit in his office" based on this article?

Posted by: Basura at October 22, 2006 11:42 AM

You're right. He prefers to sit in his office in his underpants.

Posted by: John Seal at October 23, 2006 12:59 PM
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