Short-Term Risks : As Players Gain Long-Term Security, Managers Become Increasingly Expendable

Tom Lasorda’s security as manager of the Dodgers recently was underscored by a one-year contract extension. It also served to underscore the insecurity of managers elsewhere.

Lasorda is in his 16th season as successor to Walter Alston.

In that time, there have been 164 major league managerial changes, among them 17 by the New York Yankees, 10 by the Chicago Cubs and nine each by the Angels, Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres.

Last year alone, in a record blitz that seemed to illustrate the additional pressures of the position, there were 14 managerial changes. Half of the 26 major league teams changed managers, and the Cubs did it twice.

Nine managers are starting their first full seasons this year and five are making their major league debuts--Butch Hobson of the Boston Red Sox, Buck Showalter of the Yankees, Bill Plummer of the Mariners, Gene Lamont of the Chicago White Sox and Phil Garner of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Said Buck Rodgers, who was fired by the Montreal Expos in June and hired by the Angels in August: “I don’t know if there’s less patience or they’re looking for scapegoats sooner, but I think the owners embarrassed themselves with their buck passing last year.

“It’s their prerogative, but with more and more corporations involved, more and more boards of directors, we’re into a ‘Can you top this?’ mentality.

“I think there’s a need to go back to basics and let the baseball people make the decisions and run the baseball end of it.”

Tony La Russa, manager of the Oakland Athletics, put it another way.

“There’s so much money being spent on salaries and the purchase of clubs that the stakes are rising all the time, along with the expectations,” he said. “When the performance isn’t there, someone’s got to pay.

“It was the general manager for a time in the ‘80s. Now it’s the manager again.”

Managers have been fired regularly since 1876, when the National League was formed, and Al Spalding of the Cubs, Chuck Gould of the Cincinnati Reds, Mase Graffen of the St. Louis Cardinals and Bill Cammeyer of the New York Giants were replaced within a year or two of their hiring.

But now, as La Russa put it, “There’s no doubt that the (pressure) chips at you a little harder every year. I’ve never come close to saying, ‘This isn’t for me anymore’ but I fervently wish some of the (pressure) could be toned down.”

More than half a dozen managers said their job has changed in several ways, among them:

--The financial commitment has left owners less inclined to show patience with the familiar five-year building plan or any long-term redevelopment.

--Many roster decisions are based strictly on salary, meaning that when cuts are made, the manager seldom gets all 25 players he wants, and he is often left without proven role players or utility personnel.

--Multiyear contracts, in many cases, have given the players more security than the manager, eroding his authority and ability to discipline.

--Contract problems between players and management create ongoing and often long-term distractions.

--The comfort and security of multi-year contracts often affect the players’ intensity and effort, along with their willingness to play hurt, particularly in the year before free agency.

--Free agency has made it a movable feast for the players and a transitional game in which players often are rented for a year or less. That makes it difficult to maintain tradition, continuity and a consistent approach to fundamentals.

“From my standpoint, the only thing different is that, when I replaced Walt (in 1977), 17 of my 25 players had come up through the organization,” Lasorda said. “They were familiar with Dodger pride, tradition and the way things were done. The family atmosphere was in-bred.

“Last year, my only regular position player who came up through the system was Mike Scioscia. Now, it’s a constant process of indoctrination, of taking guys from different organizations and teaching them how we go about it.”

And indoctrination often is greeted by the player asking why, or saying he will have to speak with to his agent first.

“A manager used to be able to tell the players that his door was open if they ever wanted to talk,” said Jim Lefebvre, hired by the Cubs after being fired by the Mariners at the end of the 1991 season.

“Now the player goes to his agent, and the agent goes to the general manager and it’s the general manager who walks through the manager’s door, which generally means there’s a problem.”

La Russa said the key relationship is that “between the manager and the player, and I prefer to keep the general manager out of it. My attitude is, ‘Give me the first shot.’ ”

Whitey Herzog, who resigned as manager of the Cardinals in 1990 when he felt he had lost the ability to reach and motivate his players and is now a senior vice president of the Angels, said that even Alston, who had 23 one-year contracts, couldn’t go that route anymore.

“I don’t think you can operate on a one-year contract and be successful,” he said. “The manager has to have enough security that the players respect his authority. Hang him out as a lame duck and it’s that much tougher for him.

“I mean, if it’s a choice between a manager on a one-year contract and a player with a five-year, you know who’s gone. It’s easier to find a manager.”

But even with a multiyear contract, said Herzog, there’s only so much the manager can do now, “only so much you can fine them, only so many ways to discipline them or they’ll file a grievance with the union.”

He added that the distractions never seem to end, and that the disabled lists have never been longer.

“Overall, I don’t think you see the gung-ho attitude of a Pete Reiser,” he said, referring to the former Dodger who was renowned for crashing into fences.

“Of course, if I was making $25 million, I think I’d want to live to spend it, too.”

Said Rodgers: “In many cases, the attitude is safety first. You don’t get the effort around the walls and the warning track. You hear a lot more players say, ‘I’m a free agent next year, so I’m not going to get hurt.’

“I’ve never had much trouble with guys making lots of money, but there are definitely cases now of guys thinking stats first, winning second.

“And I think incentive contracts have contributed to that. I don’t want to know what my players have (in the form of incentives). I don’t want it to influence my managing.”

Said Lasorda, addressing the issue of the bulging disabled lists: “There’s a lot more medical supervision now, and I think the doctors’ attitude is that they’d rather not take chances with the club’s investments.

“Between that and the tendency of some players to protect their salaries and future free agency, there’s a lot of nights when it’s almost impossible to make out a lineup.”

And almost impossible, La Russa said, for the manager to find new ways to motivate when the player has the comfort of a guaranteed contract.

“The real motivator isn’t there anymore,” La Russa said. “The game isn’t meant to be played comfortably. A guy who plays 130 games with a multiyear contract might play 150 if he was on a one-year contract.

“I mean, if the issue of survival is taken away because next year’s salary isn’t determined by this year’s performance, you’ve lost the one true motivator. On top of that, the player knows that a mediocre performance still can be rewarded through arbitration.”

The indictments aren’t directed at every player. There is still, in large measure, pride in performance, but the general approach and atmosphere definitely have changed, the managers said, creating an environment in which the manager is forced to do as much managing in the clubhouse as in the dugout.

“You don’t see the camaraderie anymore,” Rodgers said. “You don’t see 15 guys going out together. I mean, we’d settle more problems over a beer among ourselves than we ever did at the ballpark or that the manager was forced to settle. We’d criticize each other and learn from it, but that doesn’t happen anymore.

“You don’t have that peer pressure. Players take it too personally, and there’s too much risk in being out regularly--the drugs, a Margo Adams, people hitting on you because of the money.”

The money rules. Highly regarded Jim Leyland spurned overtures from the Florida Marlins to accept a five-year extension with the Pittsburgh Pirates, only to have management dump the salaries of John Smiley and Bill Landrum without consulting Leyland. The angry manager has told friends that the next time will be the last time.

“Now when you sit there and make your final roster cuts, the controller is at your elbow,” said Bobby Valentine of the Texas Rangers.

Added Herzog: “The manager always has players he doesn’t want now, but when you’re dealing with budgets, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

With all of this, with all of the insecurity and new pressures, why would anyone want to manage?

Bill Russell, the former Dodger shortstop, has asked himself that. Russell could have remained a secure member of Lasorda’s coaching staff, drawing major league salary, major league meal money and a yearly licensing check of about $70,000.

Instead, he begins an apprenticeship that probably will span two years, at least, as manager of the Albuquerque Dukes, hoping it takes him to a big league managing job, preferably as Lasorda’s successor.

“I think everyone who has sat on the bench as a coach or player has thought about managing, has thought about the moves the manager has made, has felt, at times, he might have done it better or at least differently,” Russell said.

“I’ve had my duties under Tom, but I had been part of the action for so long as the shortstop that I felt I was only a spectator.

“I missed really being part of the club, having input, making decisions. I know I’m taking a chance by giving up the security, but I’ve always been in the middle of the competition and that’s where I am again. I’m the boss. It’s my call. . . . I’m nervous and I’m excited. I like the feeling.”

So does Lefebvre, despite being fired after leading the Mariners to their first .500 finish and three consecutive seasons of improvement. It’s lonely at the top, he said, because no one takes defeat harder than the manager. But amid the changing influences and pressures, there’s still only one way to go about it--and that’s with honesty, in dealing with the players and yourself, he said.

“I know managers who are afraid to make decisions because they’ll be criticized,” he said. “You can’t do that.

“You can’t manage to cover your (backside). You can’t worry about hurting feelings. You’ve got to love the challenge or get out.

“I mean, I’ve asked myself if it’s still worth it, and the answer is that I still enjoy the competition and the thrill of setting a goal, putting a club together, seeing how it performs. I’m in the unique position of being tested every day. I like having my hand on the pulse.”

The respected La Russa, whose contract was recently extended through 1994, said he refuses to take anything for granted.

For example, the security of his long-term contract could be gone as soon as the A’s played poorly, he said. In addition, the trust and respect he receives from his players must be worked at daily by being honest, straightforward, consistent in his rules and “making decisions that put the player in position to do his best.”

Short of going out of his way to be their friend--”I don’t believe in greasing a squeaky wheel”--La Russa said he tries to address trust and respect by doing something every day that will prompt the players to say, “I’m glad he’s with us.”

“I’ve felt frustration and disillusionment at times, but it’s always with (hassles) before and after games,” he said. “Once the game starts, the baseball is as healthy and outstanding as it’s been for 100 years, and there’s something magical about being involved in the competition. There’s still a beauty to having 25 guys come together as a team.”

The process might become more difficult, the security more tenuous, but the attraction is still there, luring them back.

They are hired to be fired at an ever-increasing rate, as Rodgers experienced in Milwaukee and Montreal, but he said: “I still enjoy the players, the game and the challenge of the competition. I’m not a brain surgeon. I’m a baseball manager.”

Managerial Changes

Since Start of 1991 Season

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Angels--Fired Doug Rader and hired Buck Rodgers.

Baltimore Orioles--Fired Frank Robinson and hired John Oates.

Boston Red Sox--Fired Joe Morgan and hired Butch Hobson.

Chicago White Sox--Hired Gene Lamont after Jeff Torborg resigned.

Cleveland Indians--Fired John McNamara and hired Mike Hargrove.

Kansas City Royals--Fired John Wathan and hired Hal McRae.

Milwaukee Brewers--Fired Tom Trebelhorn and hired Phil Garner.

New York Yankees--Fired Stump Merrill and hired Buck Showalter.

Seattle Mariners--Fired Jim Lefebvre and hired Bill Plummer.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Chicago Cubs--Fired Don Zimmer and hired Jim Essian, then fired Essian and hired Jim Lefebvre.

Montreal Expos--Fired Buck Rodgers and hired Tom Runnells.

New York Mets--Fired Bud Harrelson and hired Jeff Torborg.

Philadelphia Phillies--Fired Nick Levya and hired Jim Fregosi.