Mid-Season Report Card (Part 3)

Here are the managers.

Managers. Damn, that's sad.

Manager Buddy Bell
GRADE: D

What an uninspired choice for manager of this team. It’s been over a month since his hiring and we’re still trying to come to grips with the fact that Bell will be in charge of this team for at least the next two years, maybe longer.

An 11-4 start was quickly forgotten after a 2-14 fade. And Bell has already opened himself up to second guessers against the Twins when, with a plethora of southpaw relievers at his disposal, several times opted to go with a righthander when the Twins bench is loaded with left-handed bats. We could excuse that if Bell had been in the NL before coming to Kansas City, but he was in Cleveland for crying out loud.

Or how about the time when he filled out his lineup card wrong and it cost the Royals a leadoff single? A boneheaded blunder to be sure. The problem here is, this isn’t the first time it’s happened to a Buddy Bell team. (See 6/2/97)

Royals fans were told that Bell would be the right manager for this team because he has experience and has learned from whatever mistakes he made in the past. At least they got the experience part right.

Manager Bob Schaefer
GRADE: D

The man who elevated Angel Berroa to the leadoff spot. And Greinke’s struggles began on his watch.

Manager Tony Pena
GRADE: F-

The reasons he quit aren’t important, we’re just glad he decided to leave. The worst manager in Royals history. And when you’re preceded by Bob Boone and Tony Muser, that’s saying something.



Pena was costing the Royals wins. Schaefer was never a serious candidate for the opening created by Pena’s departure. And Bell so far has made some boneheaded moves that will open his hiring up to questions.

Not an inspiring bunch. If this were the military, we’d say there isn’t a guy in this bunch that is officer material. I guess sometimes that’s what you get when you go for the youth movement.

We’ll wrap things up tomorrow with a look at what needs to happen in the second half.