Here is the opening to my Thursday column about Bob Melvin and the Oakland A’s: PHOENIX Cut to this scene. A’s manager Bob Melvin sits in the dugout at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on a bright morning. He has met with the media in general, a columnist from another paper and now he’s talking to me, one on one. He was American League Manager of the Year in 2012, and after the A’s gave him a four-year extension, he and his… Read More »
Here is the opening to my Tuesday column, comparing Bob Melvin and Jim Harbaugh: It all comes down to Jim Harbaugh vs. Bob Melvin, a strange comparison if there ever was one. But, OK, you need to know what I’m talking about, and that involves an explanation of context. Here goes. I spent October on the grand tour of the Midwest with the Giants, and as I killed time in press boxes before playoff games, I asked myself a simple… Read More »
Bob Melvin has to be manager of the year in the AL. Agree?
Here is the opening to my Tuesday column: This is in praise of Bob Melvin. He is doing better with the A’s than just about anyone expected, and that is the mark of a good manager. The preseason talk about the A’s was blunt and brutal. They would lose 90 games, easy. They still may lose 90, but based on what they have done so far, that seems unlikely. They can’t really hit and sometimes they don’t pitch so well,… Read More »
ComcastSportsNet BayArea justed posted Grant’s latest opus in which he gives five reasons Bob Melvin is a superior manager to Bob Geren — there are a million reasons, really. I won’t give away Grant’s reasons but it’s clear the A’s play better under Melvin than Geren, it’s so obvious you wonder why Billy Beane didn’t make the switcheroo a lot earlier. I like columns with lists, top 5′s, top 10′s. They interest me. I hope this one interests you. To read… Read More »
I bumped into Duane Kuiper before today’s A’s-Giants game. We talked about new A’s manager Bob Melvin, a former Giant. Kuiper said Mike Krukow preferred to pitch to Bob Brenly instead of Melvin. “Brenly was Krukow’s personal catcher,” is how Kuiper put it. “Ask Bobby about that?” Kuiper said. “It ticks him off.” So after Melvin’s pregame news conference, I said I had a question for him. I asked it and Melvin started laughing as he recalled the very first… Read More »
Bob Melvin just got ejected from the A’s-Royals game. Why is this significant? It shows he’s active and alive. He argued with three umps today. Bob Geren, the former manager, got ejected from exactly one game before he got dumped. So there are obvious differences. FYI: Matsui just hit a solo homer. Melvin is emphasizing Matsui. Geren de-emphasized Matsui before he himself got de-emphasized for good. Matsui hit 3 homers for Geren in Geren’s 63 games. He has hit 3… Read More »
