"Yes, he's back."

I hope everybody's prepared for THIS little turdlet dropped by our pal in the media Bill Plaschke:

"Yes, he's back," said Ned Colletti when I questioned the Dodgers' general manager early Thursday evening."

Who is he talking about? Why, our very own Grady Little, that's who!!
Here's the link.

For those who want instant gratification, here's the gist of Plaschke's (and Colletti's, apparently) "reasoning":

Grady Little is coming back, and it has nothing to do with the one year left on his contract.

He is coming back because, weird moves and wacky lineups and all, he has earned it.

"He has put these kids in a position to succeed more times than not, he has been patient with everything, that has been the key to it," Colleti said.

So, no, he's not getting fired for making in-game moves that have driven some fans crazy.

"Some of the things that have happened on the field, it's tough to blame it on him," Colletti said.

And, no, he's not getting fired for filling out lineup cards which have driven some players crazy.

"One of the reasons we hired him was because we knew, at some point, we would be a team with younger players, a team in transition, and we knew Grady was a good fit for that scenario," said Colletti.

Even though he hides it in his slow voice and deep laugh, it is a scenario that has sometimes made Little as batty as the fans.

When asked if this year has been his most difficult of his four big league seasons, he nodded.

"So far, yeah," he said. "It's been very challenging."

The juggling of the lineup is nothing compared to the juggling in his office, where he has dealt with a procession of veterans complaining about playing time, rookies worried about getting cut, old guys trying to play through injuries, young guys afraid to aggravate those injuries.

The controversy he starts during games is nothing compared to the controversy he prevents during the three hours beforehand.

"There's a lot of transition going on," Little said, smiling. "We have to keep the lines of communication open even if you're saying something the player doesn't want to hear."

It is this communication upon which he should be judged.

His strength lies in its effectiveness and endurance.

The players know he will be honest with them. The players know he won't embarrass them.

The players know that even after late Rafael Furcal errors or loopy Ray Durham home runs, this communication will not change.

Said Colletti: "Under him, the players mature, the team matures."

Needless to say, I disagree with Ned's thinking on this (as will virtually all BBWC members I don't doubt), and one final thought: Where the heck did Plaschke learn how to write anyway? My god, the man's a complete hack! Jeez, enough with the one-sentence paragraphs already Bill.

Anyway, let the fur fly!!

I mean, did we really think the GM was going to say the manager is canned in the middle of a pennant race? I think this is a non-story, other than Plashke being an idiot for thinking this is a story.

I hope this article is just the ramblings of one writer who does not have a clue. My stomach started turning when I read it, but you all make me feel better by your descriptions of Plaschke. I just hope it is not true that Droopy comes back next year. One can only imagine the misery we will have ... unless Babu rids us of Gonzo, Pierre, and Nomar retires or is a bench player (I am sounding better on Nomar. huh Mike?)
Then maybe Grady won't be able to screw the line up as bad as this year.
Well,,,,Ok, he will find a way.
If Babu did actually say this then I am hoping Grady retires. Don't think I can take another year of him leaning on that damn dugout rail with no expression what so ever. No "spunk" one might say. hehe! Sorry Mike.

shmolnick:

Yes, Plaschke is an idiot and a terrible writer. But he wouldn't have put that "scoop" out unless he thinks there was some truth to it. I will not be surprised if Neddie keeps Grady on for another year.

But, this is not a scoop, according to the treatment most of the LA media gives Griddle. With the exception of Simers, Kennedy and some of Tony Jackson's stuff, the press has been very kind to Griddle and this is just playing to the party line. I love the part about Griddle never throwing a player under the bus. I guess all the rips on the kids are just tough love. Still waiting for him to rip on the stupid baserunning of the veterans. Gotta feeling I will wait for a very long time.

I will say this, if Plaschke is right (and he could tell me the sky is blue and I wouldn't believe him), LaRoche is gonna be one miserable young man because I can't see Griddle sitting his boy, Nomar. No matter how shitty he is. Well, that thought just depressed the hell out of me. I need to see what the going rate is on putting a hit on Griddle. Maybe I can find a hitman who is a Dodger fan and he will give me a discount. Hell, he might do it gratis, just want to be paid expenses.

grabarkewitz:

I will say this, if Plaschke is right (and he could tell me the sky is blue and I wouldn't believe him), LaRoche is gonna be one miserable young man because I can't see Griddle sitting his boy, Nomar. No matter how shitty he is.

You know, I thought that at first too, but now I'm not so sure. At first I was angry that LaRoche wasn't playing, but now we know it's because of his bad back. And even without LaRoche, it hasn't been all Nomar all the time - Abreu's actually gotten a few starts there. Plus, I believe we've only seen Hillenbrand start one game since LaRoche/Abreu came up from Vegas and Nomar came off the DL. Hard to believe he was actually our every day 3B for two weeks.

Now, to find a hitman. So, any ideas on how to find one? Do I put an ad in the Chronicle or Craigslist?

Can we just kill the messenger? I wouldn't mind hearing of Bill Plaschke's demise.

ceyheyjay:

I have said all along he wasn't going to be fired. Yes, Plaschke's beyond idiot, but Little will be back next year, count on it.

And thanks, Shmol, I was actually happy for one day. Way to put a stop to it.

Anytime, Jay! Always happy to help.

grabarkewitz:

Can we just kill the messenger? I wouldn't mind hearing of Bill Plaschke's demise.

Jay, or Bill?

Well, I've got two sides to this in my heart... 1) I fully understand Griddle's predicament day-in and day-out with the veterans and kids. 2) I believe MSTI is dead-on: Ned was asked a straight-forward question regarding his current sitting (no pun intended) manager about NEXT season while the current team is in the middle of a race for the playoffs. Ned's not gonna dodge the question, and he's not gonna say, "Yeah, he gone," either.

Now, about side #1...
Please don't interpret that I'm defending Griddle's idiot in-game decisions. That's indefensible. Also, I'm not defending the man's lineup cards, as 80% of them are head-scratchers. However, I have a question for all of you to answer:

How many of you on this board have a job where you are the main boss?

If you raise your hand, then you must have a little something inside you that empathizes with the man regarding his collection of players. Think about it: Gonzo’s healthy and playing (at best) every other day. Nomar’s supposedly healthy, and playing (at best) every THREE days. Raffy is NOT healthy, but you gotta believe that once Griddle’s decision to bench him for a few days led to Raffy immediately whining in Griddle’s office about it – probably saying a few choice words in an unknown tongue…

Now, I know this is the job Grady took on, but this situation isn’t like most manager’s situations, as the Dodgers are in transition, but also built to WIN NOW. These aren’t the Marlins, D-Ray, or even the D-Hacks, who never imagined themselves in this position back in April, and had planned to play all-kids, all the time. They’ve been incredibly lucky to have more wins than losses, and their philosophy going into the year was to improve on last year and hopefully have a better-than .500 record come October.

So, again, as much as I agree Plashke is a tool, and Griddle is a flawed manager, this article helped me to relate to Griddle a bit in terms of the whining he must face every day from the likes of Gonzo and Nomar, not to mention earlier in the season from guys like Tomko, Lurch, Betemit…

Also, all this included, I still believe Griddle will be fired after the season. I think Ned’s lying through his teeth, and has a prepared statement ready for sometime in mid-October. I DO think Griddle was probably a DECENT candidate to “win now” with this collection of players, but I also think that next year we’re gonna be running kids out there non-stop. And Griddle’s NOT the right guy for that, and everybody knows it. The “prepared statement” will read something like, “Grady did a fine job for the philosophy we had last year, but this year, we are going a different direction.”

We'll see, at this point what else is Babu going to say? Either way, we're stuck with Doofy for the remainder of this season. If he brings us a ring, then he can come back.

[quote][cite] BluePastorKyle:[/cite][quote][cite] ceyheyjay:[/cite][quote][cite] BluePastorKyle:[/cite][quote][cite] grabarkewitz:[/cite]Can we just kill the messenger? I wouldn't mind hearing of Bill Plaschke's demise.[/quote]
Jay, or Bill? [/quote]

He said Plaschke. Has your attention span gotten so short that you can't read more than one sentence? I hope your parishiners have longer attention spans than that. [/quote]
Hey, I'm turing 40 on Sunday. The home group threw me a B-day party last night. Got the typical over-the-hill gifts. Attention span is the next thing to go, for sure![/quote]

What did you say? I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. By the way, I turn 37 in a couple of weeks. That puts me almost half-way to Torgy, and on Sunday, you'll be almost 1/10 of the way to Ken.

shmolnick:

BluePastorKyle:

ceyheyjay:

BluePastorKyle:

grabarkewitz:

Can we just kill the messenger? I wouldn't mind hearing of Bill Plaschke's demise.

Jay, or Bill?

He said Plaschke. Has your attention span gotten so short that you can't read more than one sentence? I hope your parishiners have longer attention spans than that.

Hey, I'm turing 40 on Sunday. The home group threw me a B-day party last night. Got the typical over-the-hill gifts. Attention span is the next thing to go, for sure!

A veritable youngster. Doesn't matter Pastor, because 50 is the NEW 40! Haven't you heard?

Oh and on the sympathy for all the whining Grady Little puts up with every day- TOO BAD. These guys are paid a fortune to play a kid's game, and they know they're in a big market with pressure to win, and they have to be told "Sorry Gonzo, your numbers have been slipping. I'm going with the kids for awhile." or "Sorry Nomar, you're not getting it done out there. We're going with the kids for a while." Let them whine all they want; the ones who do it publicly will have revealed themselves to be NOT the clubhouse veteran leaders they're supposed to be. Or how about "Smalls, learn to catch the ball once in a while. You're sitting today."

Yeah, I have 0 sympathy for them either. I would have a my laptop opened to the lastnights box score and show Gonzo, well look you went 0fer, again. And Ethier will be a Dodger for the next few years while you're at home watching him play.

oml1200:

On Wednesday Night, after the Dodger Line-Up was announce and the announcer said "Manager: Grady Little", there were SEVERAL boos around the stadium.

I forgot to mention this and I haven't read the thread, to see if someone else had.

Knowing McCourt, he'll use that as a reason to can this moron.

OK, I knew the article was going to make me want to vomit, so I'm skipping it. I only have one thing to say about this:

If Grady Little is managing next year, it doesn't have to be bad. Colletti has seen, for two years, what kind of managing this guy performs. The only thing for it is for Colletti to build a roster that Grady can't sabotage. Don't sign/re-sign the old men! If we see Nomar playing every day and Gonzalez (or an equivalent) batting 5th five times a week, it's on Colletti this time.