Brenly's strategy to team management: "Be on time. Work hard."
And "The guy with the hot fiancee is my fifth starter even if he sucks."

Is my memory faulty or, at the time, wasn't the general consensus here that Brenly was the dumbest manager to win a world series?

While I may be wrong on the above, I do remember that his skills were not thought of highly.

Just from listening to him over the last few years on the WGN games I've caught, I think Brenly is certainly a terrible tactical manager.

That Len Casper hasn't knifed him is a testament to his professionalism.

I think in baseball you can have "skills" as a manager despite being "dumb", since there's so little actual in-game strategy that you're responsible for. If the manager keeps the players focused, defuses tensions in the clubhouse, and motivates everyone, he can afford to make a bullpen mistake every ten games or so. The other coaches on the team probably have more input into the details of the team's strategy, such as it is, anyway. The manager isn't the one responsible for coordinating all the scouting reports and telling the players what to memorize about the pitchers they're going to face. He really doesn't have that many responsibilities besides just being a leader and figurehead.

If you read TFA, you see that the key word in the headline is "seems." The author lays out the case for Brenly as quoted above, and then basically says "but ultimately, it's not really about qualifications on paper, and you don't know how good a fit a particular manager will be for a particular team until you try it."

Which I think is very true... writing an article with that as your conclusion probably leads readers unsatisfied, but it's true ;)

Is my memory faulty or, at the time, wasn't the general consensus here that Brenly was the dumbest manager to win a world series?

I have no idea how Brenly is at the day-to-day stuff that really makes up the bulk of the manager's responsibility. Nor can I say for certain that he's a tactical boob in general, or if maybe he was simply overcome by the moment of managing on the biggest state. But I can't imagine a worse performance in a World Series, win or lose, than what Brenly turned in during the 2001 WS. The incredible quantity of boneheaded moves he made in that series turned what should have been a comfortable 4-1 victory into a 7-game squeaker.

But I can't imagine a worse performance in a World Series, win or lose, than what Brenly turned in during the 2001 WS. The incredible quantity of boneheaded moves he made in that series turned what should have been a comfortable 4-1 victory into a 7-game squeaker.

Thanks. Mostly I remember Brenly for his "Bunting in a no-hitter is for communists" rant. I really don't know much about his techniques otherwise.

BH Kim, games 4 and 5 of the 2001 WS. For those who don't remember, Brenly left Kim in game four to complete a two-inning save, a completely defensible maneuver which went wrong when Kim gave up a two-out game-tying homer in the ninth to Tino. He then allowed a walk and single, but got out of the inning.

After God knows how many pitches (the ninth inning alone would have taken at least 20 high stress pitches, perhaps more like 30 considering how good those Yanks were at working the count), Brenly ran Kim back out there for the tenth. I suppose we should thank him -- it gave us all the Jeter--after midnight--year of 9/11--game-winning home run, which was one of a handful of the most electrifying sports moments I've witnessed.

But as bad as that was, I simply could not understand when Brenly brought out Kim to defend a 2-0 lead in the ninth the very next night. Perhaps he was trying to show his confidence in the kid. But that kid had to be gassed. I could not understand it at the time and I still don't -- and even though I was a neutral in that WS and should have been rooting for the Yanks just for competitive reasons, I was pulling so hard for Kim that it hurt. As baseball fans, we should thank Brenly for the Brosius home run and the rest of that unforgettable series, but that was the worst set of managerial decisions I can remember. Was there a single person watching those games who thought he was making the right decisions in the 10th inning of game 4 or the ninth in game 5? The word gets overused here, but I think those decisions were nearly "indefensible".

Back Nine,

If the bad managing had started there, that would be one thing. But Brenly also gave us:

Game 1: Though already contemplating bringing Schilling back on short rest for Game 4 start, Brenly allows Schill to throw 102 pitches. This despite having a 9-1 lead after four innings.

Game 2: Nothing egregious.

Game 3: Brenly starts his fourth-best starter, Brian Anderson (ERA+ of 90), in place of his third-best, Miguel Batista (139 ERA+ that year) since Anderson is a lefty and he wants a lefty because of New York's big lefthanded hitters and Yankee Stadium's short porch in right. Fine, but if you're still planning on starting Batista in NY, as Brenly did in Game 5, wouldn't you want your third-best starter to have maximum rest when the series returns to AZ and you might need Johnny Wholestaff in Game 7?


Game 4: Tony Womack leads off game with single against Orlando Hernandez, who despite postseason reputation was a largely ineffective pitcher in 2001. Brenly immediately gives Hernandez a free out by bunting No. 2 man Craig Counsell. The Diamondbacks don't score. Twice more in the first six innings Womack gets on base to start an inning, and twice more Brenly has Counsell move him over with a bunt. No runs score in any of these innings.
Despite that, Diamondbacks still lead 3-1 entering bottom of the eighth, at which point Brenly brings in the only reliever the national media says he can trust in BH Kim for two-inning save. Kim works perfect eighth, then blows game in the ninth. Undeterred, Brenly hauls him back out there for the 10th, which he loses on his 61st pitch.

Game 5: Bautista and Swindell shut down Yankees and Diamondbacks lead 2-0 after 8. Brenly then calls on Kim one night after throwing 61 pitches (more than half as many as the typical starter throws in an outing). He coughs up the lead again, and Yankees win in 12. As a benefit, since Kim can no longer be trusted due to these inexcusable failures, the Diamondbacks best reliever won't be seen again for rest of series.

Game 6: Diamondbacks take 15-0 lead after 4 innings behind Randy Johnson. In the history of major league baseball, no team has blown a 15-run lead (interestingly enough, the largest lead ever blown was 14-run lead earlier in the season by the 116-win Mariners). Though Brenly should be considering using Johnson in Game 7 if twice short-starting Schilling tires), Bob allows Big Unit to throw 104 pitches and complete 7 innings in 15-2 Diamondbacks' victory.


Game 7: Brenly does bring Johnson back (and Bautista, for 1/3 of an inning). Johnson defies his manager's idiocy by winning his third game of the series, with help from Yankee blunder in the ninth.

There were probably other smaller, more arguable tactical errors in the 7-game set. But I suspect you'd be hard-pressed to find a World Series-winning manager in history who made so many decisions that were obviously wrong not just after the fact, but well in advance.

In the college TV lounge where I watched the series the use of Johnson in games 6 and 7 was the most frustrating mistake, although it was really the icing on the cake. We were all begging Brenly to take Randy out when he was staked to that huge lead. When he refused we thought, "Well, that would have been a rather unconventional (correct) move. Can't really blame Bob. I guess that's the last we'll see of Unit." Then he still used Johnson in relief the next game. Ludicrous! Of course Randy pitched well even after 100+ pitches the previous game.

I've never seen a worse performance by a championship winning coach or manager in any sport.

wasn't the general consensus here that Brenly was the dumbest manager to win a world series

I'd say it's between him and Mayo Smith

I think Brenly is certainly a terrible tactical manager.

Go with your instincts.

Repeatedly bunting in front of the guy who hit 57 homers that season was just the most egregious of his many boneheaded moves in that World Series.

But I can't imagine a worse performance in a World Series, win or lose, than what Brenly turned in during the 2001 WS

John McNamara's efforts make Brenly look like a genius mastermind.

I believe Neyer wrote in one of his books that the 2001 Dbacks won despite their manager.
Brenly was awful in that WS, and he never improved after that.
Not to mention that the combo of Brenly/Colangelo/Joe Jr. sucked at assembling a team.