I didn’t think he was Brad Ausmus terrible but he did do a great job this year.
I wanted AJ when the Tigers decided to move on from Gardy. I didn’t think the cheating scandal was all on him and I thought he was a good manager for a young team like what the Tigers have. Garry, to me, was a great manager but I thought that he needed a more veteran team which is not what the Tigers were. But AJ did get 77 wins in his first year here, which I thought would lead to more or better and that didn’t happen til three years later
AJH is a very good manager.
What is funny is he did almost exactly what Harbaugh did. And no one acts like Hairball is a bad manager.
When good to very good HC cheat or “bend the rules” they tend to win. Because they are already really good.
It is like saying Lance Armstrong was only good because he doped. No he was really good, and then when he doped he became unbeatable. Or was Barry Bonds only good because he doped? Or was he really good and then doped and became a freak.
It is ironic to me that it seems that cheating is only a problem when the really good athletes or teams do it and then that makes them almost unbeatable. While at the same time a bunch of schmucks were also cheating but that only allowed them to be competitive and no one complained…
Anyway, back to AJH. He is a very good Manager. And he is a huge reason the Tigers have made this run. And I had kind of forgotten about the cheating scandal which is to say he has zero chance of winning the Manager of the Year due to that black mark. The only question will be if that will always be the case.
Barry Bonds was almost always the same to me. Great regular season stats player….invisible in the playoffs. Doping never really helped Bonds in post-season play. I think his best post-season was 2002 when the Giants lost in 7 games to the Angels. But if you read Bonds’ post-season stats for his career, they don’t come close to his regular season gaudy numbers
I would need to see his at bats and such.
My wife has coaches softball for 30+ years. And I have helped on and off for most of those years. We have a rule that we follow religiously in the post season. NEVER and I MEAN NEVER let the other teams best hitter beat you. In the regular season she will play it straight up because in HS it is all about the post season. So I would have to see if he was getting much to hit or if they were pitching around him.
But it is fair to say he did not put up great numbers. Totally off subject, but I wonder if he was a great in zone hitter and a poor out of zone hitter. Because I have found that great clutch hitters tend to be very good out of zone hitters also. Like they can just commit to any pitch and get a good swing on it.
I only say this about Bonds as he was so good at drawing walks and tended to be pretty selective. Kind of like power pitchers work best in the post season as you have to pound the zone as hitters are more patient.
Bond and Rose are 2 players I have always found interesting to study. They are kind of opposites in their approach somewhat. Bonds seemingly to play with little emotion while Rose seemed to always want to fight someone.
Tony Mandarich.
I don’t know baseball analytically so I have to admit that I was just watching him play and reading the stat-line. I know he took a lot of heat for his post-season performances (or disappearances as it was labeled back then)….especially in Pittsburgh!
Well yes you now give an example of someone who was likely average and then became good
That was not my point. Tons of dudes cheat just to become competitive. And again I do not think he caused the sport he was in to revamp the whole system like Armstrong and Bonds
Just effing with you brother. 
So I was at MSU his last year or 2. And he was “dating” a girl on my sister floor. One day he was strolling down our hall and we were all scrambling to get in our rooms because there was no way you could fit by that dude. He was so insanely huge. I have to admit at that moment his pure bulk frightened me. And I was about 2 bills and could bench over 300 and felt like a small little child l.
Lots of stories about MSU football and basketball players when I was there. I don’t think the dudes get down like they did back in the day 
The one thing i always wanted to do was use 5 to 6 pitchers a game. Absolutely disrupt the hitters rhythm unless its an ace obviously. I just wish we had a knuckleballer in the mix
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