“But he’s prepared for everything. He has the feel for the game, and he also takes all the sabermetrics and all that stuff and combines it into what he wants to have available.”
“You wouldn’t think it of ‘Gibby,’ but that’s part of his repertoire of a manager,” Williams said. “He has an idea of what he wants to do and has an idea of what the other club is going to do, and he reacts accordingly. I think it worked very well.”
...Mark Weidemaier, a longtime Dodgers scout, served in that capacity for the D-backs.
“He has tremendous recall. Excellent powers of observation,” Weidemaier said.
“That smart. That cerebral. Ultra-prepared. Reminds me of (Tony) La Russa in that regard. As far as the pre-game preparation, as far as knowing the scouting reports, having read them, understood them, studied video, incorporated that with the reports . . . I mean, this man is not going to leave any stone unturned. His ability to prepare the players, to get the mind set, the positive imagery, the positive thinking, looking forward to thriving in the moment and not feeling pressure but looking at it as an opportunity to excel, I think he’s a master. He’s got a special talent.
“I’m going to go out on a limb and say he could potentially be the Phil Jackson of major league baseball.”
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1. asdf1234 Posted: November 17, 2011 at 05:35 AM (#3995430)...
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If he wins the Executive of the Year award, if there is such thing, these articles will income.
Having said that, I look at that roster and I don't know how the hell the Diamondbacks did it, and for that I'd look Gibson's way. It seems like he squeezed an awful lot of Ws out of that team.
Geoff Blum
Sean Burroughs
Zach Duke (acquired for Cesar Valdez)
Wily Mo Pena
Melvin Mora
David Hernandez (acquired for Mark Reynolds)
Kam Mickolio (acquired for Mark Reynolds)
J.J. Putz
Joe Paterson (Rule 5)
Andy Tracy
Xavier Nady
Henry Blanco
Willie Bloomquist
Cody Ransom
Micah Owings
Armando Galarraga (acquired for Kevin Eichhorn and Ryan Robowski)
Russell Branyan
Robby Hammock
Kip Wells
Josh Wilson
Ron Mahay
Dbacks midseason acquisitions:
Angel Berroa
Michael Restovich
Ryan Langerhans
Jason Marquis (acquired for Zach Walters)
Brad Ziegler (acquired for Brandon Allen and Jordan Norberto)
Daryle Ward
Lyle Overbay
Tommy Manzella
Aaron Hill (acquired for Kelly Johnson)
John McDonald (acquired for Kelly Johnson)
Collin Cowgill (rookie)
Paul Goldschmidt (rookie)
Wade Miley (rookie)
Coming in 2013 from Pendant Publishing: Randomball: The Art of Taking a Flyer on Dozens of Guys Who Are Past Their Prime by Kevin Towers as told to Leigh Montville.
He's writing article about how Gibby's smarter than we think he is,
Magruder,
He goes way too far by including a comparison to Coach Phil Jackson.
In related news, Jeff Moorad's Wikipedia page is looking a bit odd, with that big picture of Jimmy Wales looking anxiously at you, since Moorad and Wales look a lot alike [the main difference being Moorad's huge forehead].
these weren't "acquisitions", like Collmenter they are products of the "barren" farm system Josh Byrnes was responsible for..
I remember a story of him arriving in LA and some teammate doing a little shaving cream in the cap/glove routine during spring training (gotta get your dugout pranks in midseason form, too!) -- and Gibson flipping out over it.
That doesn't preclude him from being smart, of course, but neither do I think of intensity being paired with cerebral.
It's not like said controversial hire distinguished himself in his year in office.
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