(The following is being syndicated from The Captain’s Blog).
Although every manager comes to Spring Training with at least a little bit of hope that they’ll be able to lead their team to glory, the landscape of postseason baseball is littered with many of their broken dreams. To illustrate this sad reality, a baseball card collage of the last manager to win a championship with each major league franchise is provided below (except for Ozzie Guillen, 2004 Topps traded set, and Bobby Cox, 1990 Topps, all cards are from the year of the last World Series victory).
If the card of your favorite team’s manager makes you nostalgic for another era, well, needless to say, it’s been awhile since celebrating a World Series title. At least that’s better than not even having a card about which to reminisce. That is unless your favorite team’s manager card is in black and white, which, of course, means you’re a Cubs fan.
Regardless of past history, Spring Training is always a time for new hope. After all, before Bruce Bochy added his picture to the head of the class of reigning champions, the Giants hadn’t won the World Series since 1954.
Another reason many teams (and their fans) enter Spring Training with new found expectations is because a new managers has been brought on board. Adding star players is always a boon for optimism, but there is something special about having a new sheriff in town that seems to bring hope to an organization.
This year, eight new skippers will be donning their team’s uniform for the first time, while four interim/new managers from 2010 will have the chance to conduct their first training camp. Not surprisingly, nearly all 12 of these new managers will be piloting some of baseball’s longest suffering franchises, at least in terms of how long it has been since last winning a World Series. On average, the 12 new managers will be seeking to erase almost 30 years of championship futility (23 years excluding the Cubs’ 102 year drought). So, optimism will certainly have to be at a premium.
Will one of these new leaders add their baseball card to the roll call of champions? Only time will tell, but at least in February, they all have a chance.
New Managers in 2011
| Team | New Manager | Years Since World Series |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | Kirk Gibson* | 9 |
| Atlanta Braves | Fredi Gonzalez | 15 |
| Baltimore Orioles | Buck Showalter* | 27 |
| Chicago Cubs | Mike Quade* | 102 |
| Florida Marlins | Edwin Rodríguez* | 7 |
| Kansas City Royals | Ned Yost | 25 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | Don Mattingly | 22 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | Ron Roenicke | 41 |
| New York Mets | Terry Collins | 24 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Clint Hurdle | 31 |
| Seattle Mariners | Eric Wedge | 33 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | John Farrell | 17 |
*Managers hired during the 2010 season.
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3 Responses to Managing Expectations: A (Baseball Card) Pictorial History of Dashed Hopes and Broken Dreams
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TIQ IQ
To the baseball card enthusiasts out there, does anyone know why Bobby Cox was featured on so few baseball cards relative to his very long career as both a player and manager?
For some reason I dont recall ever getting managers cards in my packs, and I did plenty of collecting when I was little. I guess I just blocked those cards out.
A collage with managers is a cool idea! The baseball card collages I put together are posted on my wife’s Etsy site. http://www.etsy.com/listing/81908537/red-sox-vintage-baseball-card-collage