Bernie Williams a manager?

Sounds kind of good, doesn't it?

Well, in case you missed it, Bernie Williams managed a baseball game over the weekend. Sure, it was just the Futures Game, but he accepted an offer and called the shots for one day. The whole story is nice, written by Yahoo!'s Tim Brown. But my biggest takeaway was this nugget left at the bottom:

"I think it is something I could maybe possibly in the future possibly [see] doing. It’s kind of intriguing at this point for me," Williams said.

No joke.

Casey Stengel Featured Card of the Week

Casey Stengel. Where do I begin?

A player. A manager. A Hall of Famer. He did it all.

“The Old Perfessor” won 10 pennants as manager for the Yankees. He won it all seven times, and became the only manager to win five in a row (1949-53).

Here’s why Mike Scioscia should win Manager of the Year every year

Bud Black. Joe Maddon. Ron Roenicke.

What do these three names all have in common? They all served as coaches under Mike Scioscia for the Angels.

Black won this year’s NL Manager of the Year. Maddon won it in the AL in 2008. And Roenicke just got hired to manage the Brewers. Coincidence? I think not.

Scioscia grooms great managers. He’s won Manager of the Year twice and has a World Series ring. He definitely has one of the best baseball minds in the game, and I think he should be honored for that each year, regardless of his team’s performance.

Yes, you read that correctly. The manager doesn’t need to lead his team to a division title, or even a second-place finish, to win Manager of the Year award — and that’s not just my opinion. It’s a fact: see Joe Girardi with the Marlins in 2006 (4th place), or Buck Showalter with the Rangers in 2004 (3rd), or Tony Pena with the Royals in 2003 (3rd).*

*Coincidentally, all three managed or coached the Yankees at one point.

The list doesn’t go on much further than that — the award has only been around since 1983 — but those examples are still legitimate forms of proof.

Sports Illustrated’s Joe Lemire analyzed the award yesterday.

Baseball's Manager of the Year awards are essentially prizes for the skipper of each league's most surprising team or the club that overcame the most adversity.

The article’s main point is the qualifications for winning Manager of the Year are fuzzy. What else is knew? There’s another MLB award without clear voting guidelines. Every award is up to the writer’s interpretation of the award. As for Manager of the Year…

Jack O'Connell, Secretary-Treasurer of the Baseball Writers Association of America, wrote in an e-mail that there are no specific instructions given to voters and that they are told only to "vote for who you think did the best job."

That’s just ridiculous. And I’m pretty sure this is what it’s like for all the awards, too.

Major League Baseball should institute guidelines for all of its awards — like the Hall of Fame has (see Voting) — and the writers should be forced to follow them. Why the heck not?

Poll Results: Girardi to return as manager

My latest poll was pretty much answered mid-week when the Cubs announced their manager for 2011 and the Yankees said they “absolutely” want Joe Girardi back in pinstripes.

Jon Heyman even reported Girardi will likely receive a raise. Here’s a critique on Girardi from the Post’s Joel Sherman.

I’m not really content with Girardi at the helm, but I’m not sure who’s a better option out there. I’d say there’s a 90 percent chance Girardi’s back next year.

OK, so for the first poll of the offseason I’d like to draw the attention back to the 2011 lineup.

Poll: Where should Cano hit in the lineup?

(Feel free to include an explanation in the comments after you vote; this is a highly debated topic among fans.)

Heyman: Yankees will bring back Girardi

Via Jon Heyman:

The Yankees plan to bring back manager Joe Girardi at a raise, no matter what some fans may say about his reliance on his ever-present binder.

This is when we wait for the Yankees beat reporters to see if Girardi has been told the team plans to bring him back.

My guess is he’ll say the team hasn’t told him anything, but I still do believe Heyman’s report. The Cubs already picked Mike Quade as next year’s manager, which is where some thought Girardi might land. The Dodgers are committed to Don Mattingly, who I thought may take over for Girardi. There aren’t many other options.

I’ll keep you posted if anything gets confirmed or denied.

BBA: Ron Washington Manager of the Year

My blog is a part of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance and one of the neat things the group does is end of the year voting for awards. Here are the results for the first award we voted on, as originally posted on Bronx Baseball Daily.

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The Connie Mack Award is our name for the Manager of the Year award. The award is named after the Hall of Fame manager of the Philadelphia Athletics. Mike Scioscia won the first Manager of the Year award that the BBA gave out last season.

Here is how we voted:

• 1st Place: Ron Washington, Texas Rangers – 26 points
• 2nd Place: Ron Gardenhire, Minnesota Twins – 24 points
• 3rd Place: Terry Francona, Boston Red Sox – 20 points

Also receiving votes were Joe Maddon of the Rays, Joe Girardi of the Yankees (obviously), and Cito Gaston.

Over the next few days and weeks we will make announcements on a few more awards: The Willie Mays Award (Manager of the Year), the Goose Gossage Award (Top Reliever), the Walter Johnson Award (Top Pitcher), and the Stan Musial Award (Top Hitter).