Phil Rogers Time

I need to post more, but here's entry #2 from the Tribune's Phil Rogers. Here he talks about formers Cubs managers managing on other teams. For a while, the Cubs were the last stop for managers until Dusty Baker joined the Reds and Jim Riggleman joined the Nationals.

Long-departed manager getting second shot with Nationals
...

Riggleman points to the improvement of the Cubs' franchise for helping the standing of those who have worked there.

The premise of Riggleman getting a chance now is the Cubs being good now. Apparently the Cubs are now a prestigious enough organization that a downtrodden manager can finally find a job with the worst team in baseball. It also has nothing to do with any of the former managers' abilities apparently.

Riggleman, 57, oversaw one of the most dramatic turnarounds in the franchise's history, winning a one-game playoff over the Giants for a wild-card spot into the '98 playoffs one year after a 68-94 season. He was fired after injuries to Kerry Wood and Kevin Tapani contributed to a 95-loss season in '99 and waited almost 10 years to get another chance to manage.

The Cubs did have a resurgent year. Not mentioned here is the breakout out year of the magically more muscular Sammy Sosa. Medicine and the hop helped propel the Cubs to the turn around.

There is also an inference that injuries were the reason Riggleman didn't get a job until last season (Wood and Tapani Out = 10 years of no being a manager). I don't recall a healthy Kevin Tapani being good enough to be the difference between a playoff and a 95 loss team.

Riggleman, whose team is 3-12 this spring, is looking forward to the chance to manage at Wrigley Field again. He knows this is a critical season for Piniella, who is trying to rebuild the mojo the Cubs seemed to have before being swept in the first round of the playoffs in '07 and '08.

Thanks for the spring training record- it really helps establish Riggleman's abilities as a manager. We all remember the spring training record of the Yankees last year, right?

And the real problem with the '09 Cubs was mojo. I had been thinking it was Soriano hitting in the low .200s and Milton Bradley getting off to a bad start and Geo Soto being overweight and bad and not having a major league caliber replacement for the hurt Ramirez and Kevin Gregg blowing saves.

I was watching the wrong team this whole time. They just needed their mojo back. Yeah baby. Unless the Austin Powers reference is too dated. I personally like "How Piniella Got His Groove Back" a little more.

He [Riggleman] believes the negativity of fans takes on a life of its own.

"It's tangible,'' he said. "It's a tangible feeling. In '99, when things started to go bad, it was tangible. We got the feeling, ‘Oh, God, we're not going to turn this around.' "

Why not end the article blaming the fans. I mean, the booing must be worth about 20 losses according to my advanced algorithm. That would've possibly made the Cubs a playoff team and saved Riggleman's job. But time was not so kind.

Don't worry- Riggleman isn't going to be able to hear the collective booing of the dozen fans in DC.