No other manager in history has brought four different franchises to the playoffs

Didn't Billy Martin do this? Or am I hallucinating, which is possible. As with Martin, it's a double-edged distinction; you have to get fired often to obtain it. Also, playoffs have kept expanding during Johnson's career.

No manager has reached the HOF with only one pennant – not even two pennants – without a much better playing career than Johnson. So it's true that if he wins a pennant, or better still a Series, this year, he makes a huge step towards the Hall.

Edit: Dick Williams managed four different franchises to the postseason, too. Perhaps there are others.
Second Edit: I guess Al Lopez didn't have a better playing career than Johnson. Nor did Wilbert Robinson. They did have the two pennants apiece, of course.

Dusty Baker has a chance to win his second pennant with a different franchise this year. He's already led three different franchises to the playoffs.

He has the good hybrid player/manager numbers to be considered; but I agree he needs another WS as a manager. If he overcomes the steroid test for that 1973 season

Didn't Billy Martin do this? Or am I hallucinating, which is possible. As with Martin, it's a double-edged distinction; you have to get fired often to obtain it. Also, playoffs have kept expanding during Johnson's career.

True - Martin led the Twins, Tigers, Yankees & A's to the postseason. (Actually, two of those were partially caused by labor strikes. The '81 A's had the weird split season, and hte '72 Tigers won by a half-game - with the half-game advantage coming as a result of the lost games at the start of the year).

Edit: Dick Williams managed four different franchises to the postseason, too. Perhaps there are others.

This is not true. Williams managed the A's, Red Sox, and Padres in the postseason, but the Expos fired him in Sept. 1981. The Angels & Mariners never came close under him.

Second Edit: I guess Al Lopez didn't have a better playing career than Johnson. Nor did Wilbert Robinson. They did have the two pennants apiece, of course.

Al Lopez also had 10 straight years finishing first or second in an 8-team league. Robinson is easily the worst pick for a manager in Cooperstown.

Ah, fair enough, I missed the Williams firing, Chris. Most of the way there, for Williams, then :)

Robinson is easily the worst pick for a manager in Cooperstown.

True, his HOF credentials are shaky -- he was just one of those guys universally beloved by the fans and the press of his day (when he managed Brooklyn, after all, they were popularly called the Robins), plus he was part of the legendary Orioles teams of the 1890s. And he was the ballplayer who caught the grapefruit thrown from the airplane.

He was enshrined in 1945, when the Old-Timers Committee went a little hog wild and elected 10 men: Roger Bresnahan, Dan Brouthers, Fred Clarke, Jimmy Collins, Ed Delahanty, Hugh Duffy, Hughie Jennings, King Kelly, Jim O'Rourke and Uncle Robbie. From that list, IMHO, only Delahanty and Kelly (and possibly Collins) were really inner-circle immortals.

Davey is unusual in getting fired despite continuing success in most cases. I know with Schott and Angelos he had personal conflicts with them. What's the story? Did he lose the clubhouse in any of those cases, or is he just a pain in the ass to management?

This came up in another thread but clashing with Schott and Angelos should be a feather in his cap, not a demerit. Those are two of the worst owners of the past 40 years.

Davey is unusual in getting fired despite continuing success in most cases. I know with Schott and Angelos he had personal conflicts with them. What's the story? Did he lose the clubhouse in any of those cases, or is he just a pain in the ass to management?

Davey has never had a problem in the clubhouse. Since his Mets days ended, his primary problem was picking really bad people to work for. Not only were Schott and Angelos the wrong kind of owners for Davey, but he also clashed with Kevin Malone when the Sheriff was running things in LA. I suspect Washington is a much better fit.

#7 I've never heard of Johnson losing a clubhouse. That said, I'm pretty sure Mets management thought the team was underperforming in 1990 and that a new manager was required to get more from their players.

#10, right, the Mets were the exception to his usual pattern, and not-coincidentally, by far his longest tenure.

Johnson has the great winning percentage for a modern manager in part because he was rarely given the chance to lose, but I'd support him as HOF. You might normally lose points for being unmanageable, but you kind of gain points when your managers are as the french call les incompétents.

I'm not sure he'll get much support because Larussa, Cox and maybe Torre will probably suck all the mangerial HOF interest for awhile.

Schott opposed that Davey Johnson was living with a woman he wasn't married with, if I recall correctly. Also, once upon a time she'd promised Ray Knight the job managing the Reds and Knight was available. So out went Johnson.

chris

that is correct. that and davey telling marge to keep her godd8mn dog from sh8tting on the field. that didn't go over well.

Is there a Keltner List equivalent for managers?

I think Johnson is borderline - if the Nats win the NL, which looks strongly possible, I'd be inclined to vote him in.

He's borderline right now- sitting with Leyland and Piniella somewhere behind the big three of Larussa, Torre and Cox. However, if he has a period of sustained success with the Nationals, he could move up and into the discussion. As the lead states, he's strenghtening his HoF credentials but I don't think he's there yet.

I don't care if he goes in the HOF. I was hoping the M's would hire him for the last five years.

Thanks for sharing this story on BTF. I like reading the comments.

Schott opposed that Davey Johnson was living with a woman he wasn't married with, if I recall correctly.

You are correct; he later married her.

Also, once upon a time she'd promised Ray Knight the job managing the Reds and Knight was available. So out went Johnson.

Right; she announced the season before he was fired that it would be his last season, and hired Knight as his bench coach with the understanding that Knight would take over. Schott was rather, uh, erratic.

Schott was rather, uh, erratic.

she was good at first, but then she went too far