(In addition to appearing at The Captain’s Blog, this post is also being syndicated at TheYankeeAnalysts).
Although every manager comes to Spring Training with at least a little bit of hope that they’ll be able to lead their team to glory, the landscape of postseason baseball is littered with many of their broken dreams. To illustrate this sad reality, a baseball card collage of the last manager to win a championship with each major league franchise is provided below (except for Ozzie Guillen, 2004 Topps traded set, and Bobby Cox, 1990 Topps, all cards are from the year of the last World Series victory).
If the card of your favorite team’s manager makes you nostalgic for another era, well, needless to say, it’s been awhile since celebrating a World Series title. At least that’s better than not even having a card about which to reminisce. That is unless your favorite team’s manager card is in black and white, which, of course, means you’re a Cubs fan.
Regardless of past history, Spring Training is always a time for new hope. After all, before Bruce Bochy added his picture to the head of the class of reigning champions, the Giants hadn’t won the World Series since 1954.
Another reason many teams (and their fans) enter Spring Training with new found expectations is because a new managers has been brought on board. Adding star players is always a boon for optimism, but there is something special about having a new sheriff in town that seems to bring hope to an organization.
This year, eight new skippers will be donning their team’s uniform for the first time, while four interim/new managers from 2010 will have the chance to conduct their first training camp. Not surprisingly, nearly all 12 of these new managers will be piloting some of baseball’s longest suffering franchises, at least in terms of how long it has been since last winning a World Series. On average, the 12 new managers will be seeking to erase almost 30 years of championship futility (23 years excluding the Cubs’ 102 year drought). So, optimism will certainly have to be at a premium.
Will one of these new leaders add their baseball card to the roll call of champions? Only time will tell, but at least in February, they all have a chance.
New Managers in 2011
| Team | New Manager | Years Since World Series |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | Kirk Gibson* | 9 |
| Atlanta Braves | Fredi Gonzalez | 15 |
| Baltimore Orioles | Buck Showalter* | 27 |
| Chicago Cubs | Mike Quade* | 102 |
| Florida Marlins | Edwin Rodríguez* | 7 |
| Kansas City Royals | Ned Yost | 25 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | Don Mattingly | 22 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | Ron Roenicke | 41 |
| New York Mets | Terry Collins | 24 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | Clint Hurdle | 31 |
| Seattle Mariners | Eric Wedge | 33 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | John Farrell | 17 |
*Managers hired during the 2010 season.
Still incredible to see that 102 there next to the Cubs..
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by The Captain's Blog, The Captain's Blog. The Captain's Blog said: Who was the last manager to lead each team to a WS? Here's a look via baseball cards. The one in B&W is the Cubs: http://t.co/EiMVNCb […]