Did JM hurt Frank?

[rahulsekhar]

Something occurred to me - JM never really seemed to have a great relationship with Frank, and Frank's comfort level seemed to be a lot lower in the JM years. That was always attributed to Frank aging and declining skills, but take a look at these splits

Pre JM (90-97)

.330 avg (only 1 year below .317) and 91-97 averages of 35HR / 107R / 118RBI. In the 2 years prior to JM, Frank averaged .348 / 37HR / 110R / 130RBI.

In JM's first year, Frank "slumped" to .265 / 29HR / 109R / 110RBI. In the JM years overall, he averaged .284 / 31HR / 92R / 105RBI. That also coincided with a shift towards him being somewhat more moody and his PR missteps.

Now with Ozzie, in admittedly a small sample size, Frank's at .298 / 12HR / 36R / 33RBI. And watching him, he looks a lot more like the machine of the early 90s.

We know that with Frank a lot of his success comes when he's comfortable. Could be that JM's tinkering and mismanagement played a major role in the "decline" of Frank (in quotes because he's still a great player, but not the mythical creature he once was).

Just a thought, but if we'd had the Frank of the 90's over the past 5 years, I'd bet we would be looking back on a couple more playoff appearances.

[johnny_mostil]

Originally posted by rahulsekhar
Something occurred to me - JM never really seemed to have a great relationship with Frank, and Frank's comfort level seemed to be a lot lower in the JM years. That was always attributed to Frank aging and declining skills, but take a look at these splits
...


Frank obviously despised Manuel. Manuel treated Frank like a malingerer and trashed him off the record on a regular basis. DHing seemed to push Frank down even more, probably because he had to spend hours sitting on the same bench with a man he hated.

[TDog]

People were complaining before the season started about the way Ozzie was treating Frank. Now I think players enjoy playing for Ozzie more than they ever did for JM. I don't think anyone can argue that the team is playing with a different spirit.

[Iguana775]

Originally posted by TDog
People were complaining before the season started about the way Ozzie was treating Frank. Now I think players enjoy playing for Ozzie more than they ever did for JM. I don't think anyone can argue that the team is playing with a different spirit.

The whole thing is that they seem to be having fun and playing as a team. That just didnt seem the case when JM was the manager.

[Whitesox029]

Did JM hurt Frank?
Does Koch suck?

[StockdaleForVeep]

Originally posted by Whitesox029
Does Koch suck?


:jerry

"Comeon fellas, i was manager of the year once"