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You call your dog, and he comes to you. Then you realize, "Wait a minute, this is Sandy Alderson's dog."
And you come around to what you keep coming around to: you're still Sandy Alderson.
And you still have a manager to find. Folks don't realize the enormity of this job. The pressure of being a GM on the rocks.
Then you realize, wait a minute, some people do. Jim F. Duquette knows!
You call the sometime Mets broadcaster. "Jim probably deserves a bigger role," you think to yourself, "but his availability is erratic. Maybe he belongs in your front office and not your broadcast booth at all. In fact, maybe this is a test."
That little reverie has distracted you long enough to miss the fact that Jim has already said hello twice. He's about to hang up, when you yell, "JIM!"
"Spock?" he kids. You don't get his joke. He explains that it's something about the T'Pau episode. Whatever. Jim's a weirdo. But he's a smart baseball man.
"Jim, what do you know about hiring managers?"
"I know a little about that, Sandy," he retorts.
"Well, I've got to find an experienced guy. The Wilpons insist that I hire a guy with MLB experience. Like you had to hire Howe."
"Uh, that one's on Phillips' ledger, Sandy."
"Were you consulted?"
"A little, but ... "
"Well, I'm consulting you now." You're starting to suprise yourself at how snappish you are. "I'm sorry," you offer. "Do you think you can whip together a list of 17 experienced MLB managers?"
"Sandy," he replies, "I will get you a list of the best available, yet experienced, 17 managers in all of baseball."
Good old Jim, you think. Such a company man, then you remember.
"Oh, and Jim? This list? It can't include Manny Acta, Felipe Alou, Joe Altobelli, Joey Amalfitano, Brad Ausmus, Buddy Bell, Terry Bevington, Tim Bogar, Bob Boone, Dave Bristol, Daren Brown, Dave Clark, Terry Collins, Cecil Cooper, Don Cooper, Pat Corrales, Chuck Cottier, Bobby Cox, Roger Craig, Mike Cubbage, Lee Elia, Jim Essian, John Felske, Mike Ferraro, Jim Frey, Matt Galante, Dave Garcia, Ron Gardenhire, Billy Gardner, Phil Garner, Cito Gaston, Bob Geren, Kirk Gibson, Fredi Gonzalez, Johnny Goryl, Alex Grammas, Chip Hale, Mike Hargrove, Toby Harrah, Bud Harrelson, John Hart, Tommy Helms, Trey Hillman, Glenn Hoffman, Frank Howard, Billy Hunter, Brandon Hyde, Davey Johnson, Tim Johnson, Kevin Kennedy, Don Kessinger, Bruce Kimm, Ray Knight, Marcel Lachemann, Rene Lachemann, Tony La Russa, Gene Lamont, Hal Lanier, Tom Lasorda, Tom Lawless, Jim Lefebvre, Jim Leyland, Nick Leyva, Grady Little, Davey Lopes, Frank Lucchesi, Ken Macha, Pete Mackanin, Charlie Manuel, Jim Marshall, Buck Martinez, Lee Mazzilli, Dave Miley, John McLaren, Jack McKeon, Hal McRae, Stump Merrill, Ray Miller, John Mizerock, Joe Morgan, Tony Muser, Jerry Narron, Larry Parrish, Tony Perez, Sam Perlozzo, Bill Plummer, Bo Porter, Luis Pujols, Mike Quade, Willie Randolph, Greg Riddoch, Jim Riggleman, Frank Robinson, Edwin Rodriguez, Larry Rothschild, Tom Runnells, Bill Russell, Norm Sherry, Jim Snyder, Moose Stubing, Dale Sveum, Jeff Torborg, Carlos Tosca, Dick Tracewski, Alan Trammell, Tom Trebelhorn, Gary Varsho, Robin Ventura, Bill Virdon, John Vukovich, Don Wakamatsu, John Wathan, Eric Wedge, Walt Weiss, Jimy Williams, Matt Williams, Maury Wills, Bobby Winkles, or Ron Washington."
Jim stops for a moment. You hear him thinking. "Who the fuck is Johnny Goryl?"
You laugh, because that's funny. Jim's a weirdo. "I'm counting on you, Jim. The team is counting on you." Jim's a team player. Almost to a fault. That sort of thing matters to him.
And Jim meets you in your office in an hour, hand delivering his list. You even brought your dog in with you. Such a good dog. "I figured you might want to talk about some of these guys," Jim says. "I did some cursory research."
You stare down at the names before you. Doc Edwards? You reach for the bottle bottom drawer. Time to go to work.
Which four of these guys gets called in for an interview?
| Mgr | Age | Team(s) | Yrs | From | To | W | L | W-L% | Ties | G > .500 | G | W Post | L Post | W-L% Post | Best Fin | Wrst Fin | Av Rk | Plyof App | WS won | Penn Won | ASG | Mets Connection | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/c/c84cf0b5_manager.jpg[/fimg] | Dan Jennings | 57 | MIA | 1 | 2015 | 2015 | 55 | 69 | .444 | 0 | -14 | 124 | 0 | 0 | | 3 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/8/844135d6_manager.jpg[/fimg] | Ryne Sandberg | 58 | PHI | 3 | 2013 | 2015 | 119 | 159 | .428 | 0 | -40 | 278 | 0 | 0 | | 4 | 5 | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/b/b8a4d899_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Sandy Alomar, Jr. | 51 | CLE | 1 | 2012 | 2012 | 3 | 3 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | | 4 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mets player, 2007; Mets catching instructor, 2008-2009. | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/4/46a871db_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Bobby Valentine | 67 | TEX, NYM, BOS | 16 | 1985 | 2012 | 1186 | 1165 | .504 | 0 | 21 | 2351 | 13 | 11 | .542 | 2 | 7 | 3.7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Mets player, 1977-1978; Mets third-base coach, 1983-1985; Mets manager, 1996-2002. | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/a/a96a6c2a_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Jerry Manuel | 64 | CHW, NYM | 9 | 1998 | 2010 | 704 | 684 | .507 | 2 | 20 | 1390 | 0 | 3 | .000 | 1 | 4 | 2.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mets first base coach, 2005; Mets outfield coach, 2005-2006; Mets bench coach, 2006-2008; Mets manager, 2008-2010. | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/9/98fdcbea_manager.jpg[/fimg] | Dave Trembley | 66 | BAL | 4 | 2007 | 2010 | 187 | 283 | .398 | 0 | -96 | 470 | 0 | 0 | | 4 | 5 | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | From upstate (WAY upstate) in Carthage, NY, and went to SUNY-Brockport. | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/5/5686861e_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Tony Peña | 60 | KCR | 4 | 2002 | 2005 | 198 | 285 | .410 | 0 | -87 | 483 | 0 | 0 | | 3 | 5 | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Son played in Mets minor league system, 2007-2013. | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/0/046ca632_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Al Pedrique | 57 | ARI | 1 | 2004 | 2004 | 22 | 61 | .265 | 0 | -39 | 83 | 0 | 0 | | 5 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mets minor league player, 1978-1987; Mets player, 1987. | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/4/48d9be84_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Jerry Royster | 65 | MIL | 1 | 2002 | 2002 | 53 | 94 | .361 | 0 | -41 | 147 | 0 | 0 | | 6 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/5/501b92d0_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Joe Kerrigan | 64 | BOS | 1 | 2001 | 2001 | 17 | 26 | .395 | 0 | -9 | 43 | 0 | 0 | | 2 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/e/e5a4dc76_manager.jpg[/fimg] | John McNamara | 85 | OAK, SDP, CIN, CAL, BOS, CLE, CAL | 19 | 1969 | 1996 | 1160 | 1233 | .485 | 2 | -73 | 2395 | 7 | 10 | .412 | 1 | 7 | 3.7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Played for the New York Giants. | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/1/11556fbd_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Buck Rodgers | 79 | MIL, MON, CAL | 13 | 1980 | 1994 | 784 | 774 | .503 | 1 | 10 | 1559 | 2 | 3 | .400 | 1 | 7 | 3.6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/a/aef40710_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Doug Rader | 73 | TEX, CHW, CAL | 7 | 1983 | 1991 | 388 | 417 | .482 | 1 | -29 | 806 | 0 | 0 | | 3 | 7 | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/5/5e27f789_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Doc Edwards | 81 | CLE | 3 | 1987 | 1989 | 173 | 207 | .455 | 0 | -34 | 380 | 0 | 0 | | 6 | 7 | 6.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mets bench coach, 1990-91. | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/8/859d0ec7_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Jackie Moore | 79 | OAK | 3 | 1984 | 1986 | 163 | 190 | .462 | 0 | -27 | 353 | 0 | 0 | | 3 | 5 | 4.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/8/862451d8_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Del Crandall | 88 | MIL, SEA | 6 | 1972 | 1984 | 364 | 469 | .437 | 0 | -105 | 833 | 0 | 0 | | 5 | 7 | 5.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | [fimg=90]https://d3k2oh6evki4b7.cloudfront.net/req/201709071/images/headshots/5/5d67846b_davis.jpg[/fimg] | Bob Skinner | 86 | PHA, SDP | 3 | 1968 | 1977 | 93 | 123 | .431 | 0 | -30 | 216 | 0 | 0 | | 5 | 7 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
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