Mattingly might not get his four-year contract, but he will be retained and provided an extension, a high-ranking Dodgers executive told USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity. The executive was not authorized to speak publicly, saying the decision will be announced after the season. Maybe if the Dodgers had bowed out in the first round against the Atlanta Braves, the executive said, Mattingly might be gone. But not now. He won't be blamed for this NLCS debacle. From USA today
While it's not his fault there's a NLCS curse on the Dodgers, he did fuck us up pretty bad in game 1 having to rely on Michael Young twice instead of A-Gon with the game on the line. He also could've pinch ran Dee in that situation instead of Mark "I might be more slow than AJ" Ellis.
You might want to avoid this thread, Ford. I'm having a hard time believing Mattingly's fate was decided by the result of one or two games in the NLDS. An NLDS that would have been in serious jeopardy had Donald's third baseman been able to lay down a bunt like he asked.
Mattingly was more in jeopardy from the slow start than anything that will happen in the playoffs. If we had a healthy Hanley and a 2011 Matt Kemp these first two series would be different.
Dodgers would have a faced a lawsuit for discriminating against retards if they'd let both Lyons and Mattingly go, so I kind of get it
meh probably some sort of pathetic stunt by the front office to wake the guys up for game 3 otherwise, why now? doesn't matter, go ahead and extend him... ... you can always fire his dumb ass later
This rumor is just a little pat on the head to get Donnie through the next two games. After that, they cut his throat and dump his body in the LA River.
okay, so now -- when they're down 0-2 -- they decide it's the manager's fault look, i'm the biggest mattingly hater here but that just isn't fair yes, he's made some questionable/idiotic decisions -- walking reed johnson to get to heyward, and trying to have uribe bunt come to mind so, yes he's certainly culpable for a good part of the blame but this in not all on him is it his fault the offense hasn't scored a single fucken run in 19 innings? is it his fault they couldn't score in the 6th inning of game 2 with 2nd and 3rd and no outs or (later) with bases loaded and one out? no, that lies squarely on mark ellis, puig and uribe for not getting it done i'm so fucken pissed right now and, like i've said, i think mattingly is a fucken hack but if the hitters had done their fucken jobs, we could easily be sitting pretty up 2-0 instead of down 0-2 so yeah guys, i get it... mattingly is a fucken tool but you spoiled overpaid cunts need to look in the fucken mirror instead of laying down and looking for someone else to blame for your ineptness :mirror: or as capn would say, fuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!! that is all :soapbox:
It's REALLY stupid for management to be agreeing to anything at this point in time. It could and should wait 3 weeks or more. "Players are openly grumbling about their manager." "These Dodgers hardly resemble the team that stormed through the NL down the stretch, with veteran players privately complaining about Mattingly's managerial ability. A small group of players actually made it the focal point of their conversation, just 45 minutes before the first pitch of Game 4 of the division series, one player told USA TODAY Sports. He requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the topic." ^That is news to me. Other than the comical needling over sac bunts, which seemed more like joking with maybe some real meaning beneath it, have we heard anything? Is AGon starting another revolution? What is this all about? Maybe Don should point out some things about these chokers. Stuff like... "Mattingly isn't in a lineup that has failed to score in 19 innings and gone 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position. He isn't the one making Cardinals rookies Michael Wacha and Joe Kelly look like Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. He hasn't turned outfielder Carlos Beltran into Reggie Jackson." It'll be interesting if they keep Don on board, but I think even I'd rather replace him after this season. I will laugh when Tim Wallach(or whomever replaces him) gets torn apart when we play below expectations. It's amazing how great this team was for so long and overcame what looked to be many impossible obstacles to easily win the west. And here we are yet again, injuries and slumps galore like Aug/Sept'12 & April/May'13...stumbling and choking, but in reality it's only been 2 games in a row(in less than 10hrs apart no less?) against a great team in their house.
Well you kind of said what I was going to say. You are so right. Funny thing though you mentioned Mark Ellis and he's actually been far better against those tough righties than any of us could expect and has been our best hitter this series. http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/s...e=sp&statType=hitting&page=1&ts=1381773616708 Arguments can be made about his decisions, which is why I get so defensive at times really. -If Uribe sac bunts successfully, we still could win that game after we tie it there. -If Dee Gordon scores when running for AGon, that game probably ends in 9 with a win. -If Young comes through in 1-3 of his 3 chances, we win and the decision is a success. There's no guarantee SVS hits the run in and IMO unlikely he does because he is not a good hitter. there's no reason to believe AGon drives those runs in because he has been a piece of shit this whole series and going back 2 games of the NLDS. -There is no debating that if Ethier catches that Beltran ball the Cards don't take the lead on that AB. -There's no debating that you will not win a game with 0 runs scored. it's mathematically impossible. -There's no debating that Uribe, Young, Puig, and AGon failed multiple times to drive in the go ahead run(s) with runner's in scoring position multiple times.
Managers in general have become scapegoats for underperforming players. I love Donnie, disagreed with his decision to pinch but for Kershaw in game 2 and pinch run for gonzo game 1 but overall I think he's a good manager. Half this season he's been trying to make a dollar out of 15 cents.
Right now, we are in better shape because Kershaw was pinch hit for in game 2. It didn't make a difference in that game overall and he is well rested for his next start, which might be on short rest.
Any decision can work. A decision working/not working is not what makes it right or wrong. Basically, Mattingly is "over" managing. Why walk a guy to face one of the other team's best young hitters? Why bunt someone in scoring position over to third, and cost yourself an out when that run won't even win the game? Why take your best hitter out of a tied ballgame? Literally a pineapple would have made the better decision in all of those cases, and they cost $2.99.
