Babe Ruth was devastated by the fact that he was never named the manager of a Major League club. Ninety-nine percent of baseball fans think they could do a better job than most of the guys who have the job with their favorite club.
Today, Jim Riggleman, resigned as manager of the Washington Nationals because he didn't like the pace of negotiations for a new contract. Riggleman's lifetime record is 662-824. That's exactly one full Major League season under .500. He was paid more than the salary of the President of the United States with a thousand times less the responsibility.
Jim Riggleman is today's Stuck on Stupid Sports Award winner.
*Corrects POTUS salary
- Comment (25)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (2)
- Pages:
- 1
- 2
Comments:
May '11
Re: Stupidity
If Riggleman would have hung on for another year he would have had 2 of the best young talents in baseball in Strasburg and Bryce Harper. Great players can make an average manager look like genius.
Re: Stupidity
I'm a Cardinals fan but I live here near the Nats stadium. And I disagree with your post.
I was surprised by his decision, considering it happened on his 11th win in 12 games, but if he felt it was in his best interest to leave, that's fine. He'd long said he hoped to have the extension finalized by Father's Day. The talks hadn't even begun. That's just disrespectful to him.
The deal is that the management felt he was a placeholder. He didn't want to be interim. He wanted to be the real deal manager. I would have been happy with it but more importantly, I respect him for not taking this treatment forever. It had been going on for a really long time. He'd given his timeline and it wasn't met. He showed that his word was his word.
May '10
Re: Stupidity
Maybe Riggleman crunched the numbers and decided he could quit now like a "winner," or stick around awhile longer until finally getting axed!
May '10
Re: Stupidity
First of all "disrespect" is overused and misused. Being forced to ride the back of the bus because of your skin color is disrespectful. Giving a job to your wife's niece idiot first cousin by marriage instead of an able disabled veteran is disrespectful. Wanting to wait until the end of the year to negotiate a contract with a man wearing knickers and managing a little boy's game (162 games below .500) doesn't quite measure on the "disrespect" scale.
Oh, and it's not like he's ever, like, actually won anything. He won 90 games with the Cubs in 1998 and finished 67-95 the following year. At age 58 and making $600K (which you forfeit) and walking away from one of only 30 jobs like it when one out of 10 can't find work.... that's stupid.
Re: Stupidity
EJHill
First of all "disrespect" is overused and misused. Being forced to ride the back of the bus because of your skin color is disrespectful. Giving a job to your wife's niece idiot first cousin by marriage instead of an able disabled veteran is disrespectful. Wanting to wait until the end of the year to negotiate a contract with a man wearing knickers and managing a little boy's game (162 games below .500) doesn't quite measure on the "disrespect" scale.
"man wearing knickers"? "managing a little boy's game"?
Oh dear. Oh dear. We have far bigger problems than the original post indicated.
Who can give EJHill some remedial baseball therapy. Anyone have a copy of a George Will book around?
This is an emergency!
Back to the original post, though, I've given it more thought and I do think other teams should avoid hiring someone who quits in such a fashion. At least at the MLB level. He didn't keep up his end of the contract. Uncool.
May '10
Re: Stupidity
My copy of Men at Work is autographed. (I was on crew for the only non-studio production of This Week with David Brinkley) The problem with you Cardinal fans is that, like your manager, you believed every word of it.
And, yes, the knickers are ridiculous. Cornelius McGillicuddy, Sr. managed in a suit and tie. He, too, had a sub-.500 record but did win five World Series titles with the Philadelphia A's.
Riggleman is no Connie Mack, though. He should be grateful that God blessed him with enough talent to enjoy a life without work. As the original Big Papi, aka Willie "Pops' Stargell once said, “Nobody ever said, 'Work ball!' They say, 'Play ball!' To me, that means having fun.”
Nov '10
Re: Stupidity
nice logo!
Oct '10
Re: Stupidity
I don't like it when players refuse to play because they want their contract renegotiated, and I don't like this. Quitting on a team in the middle of a season is rarely a good career move.
Edited on June 24, 2011 at 4:08pmJun '10
Re: Stupidity
I find the move stupid on his part... if only for financial reasons... but I tend to side with Mollie here.
Then again, if it makes Mr. Met sad... it can't be a good thing.
May '10
Re: Stupidity
This seems the perfect example of self-defeating. And what a personal betrayal of the players he is charged with leading. I think EJ's post is spot-on. Public ridicule is every bit a part of the free market as his decision to leave. Bring on the consequences.
May '10
Re: Stupidity
I think it is a bit of a stretch to say Mr. Riggleman is stupid. We do not have all the information he has, so from the outside his may look like a bad decision. He may have had other information about his future with the club and decided to use an 11 and 1 stretch to push for resolution. He probably figured it was better to go out on his own terms than to wait for an 8 game skid and be fired. His way cost him a chunk of change, but I assume he took that into account knowing his own financial situation. He was not a great manager as EJHill points out, but the Nats is not a premier job either at this point.
I doubt Riggleman manages anywhere else after this, but he probably will turn up as an analyst on radio or TV.
May '10
Re: Stupidity
I agree that quitting in the middle of a season is a career limiting move. However, I think we read too much into professional sports contracts. I think the nature of contracts varies among the different sports. Also, I think coaching or managerial contracts differ quite a bit from player contracts. I am sure there is somebody on Ricochet that knows much more about the ins and outs of pro sports contracts. If one party chooses to walk away, I would guess the contract speaks to that. Typically if a manager or coach is fired in baseball, they get paid the balance of their contract anyway. If an NFL player is released from the team, they do not see any more money from that team.
I have a contract with my employer. It allows me to leave or my company to let me go at any time. Why do we think pro sports contacts are different?
Sep '10
Re: Stupidity
He was paid approximately five-times the salary of the President of the United States
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POTUS's salary: $400,000/year + $50,000 expense account (source)
Jim Riggleman's salary: $600,000/year. (source)
That's quite an approximation.
Sep '10
Re: Stupidity
It's pretty obvious the Nationals organization was undermining Riggleman in the clubhouse and jacking him around in contract negotiations. I'm disappointed in him for leaving this way, but this wouldn't happen in a well-run organization.
Re: Stupidity
Very well put, River.
This is a symptom of a much larger problem -- a frustrating one for those of us who cheer on the Nats.
Oct '10
Re: Stupidity
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
Very well put, River.
This is a symptom of a much larger problem -- a frustrating one for those of us who cheer on the Nats. · Jun 24 at 7:54am
It could be worse. The Nats are organizational geniuses compared to my Mets.
May '10
Re: Stupidity
The POTUS comparison was made from memory. Should have realized that it probably had increased quite a bit since I became aware of the amount decades ago. That reference has been fixed. Thanks. Everybody needs an editor.
But Riggleman's situation reminds me of the ill-fated strategy of ML Umpires Union chief Richie Phillips. Unhappy with the fact that MLB had not yet started negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement, Phillips had the idea that all of his members should resign en masse on September 2, 1999. The commissioner saw that as an opportunity to get rid of a lot of bad umpires and gratefully accepted 22 of the resignations. It eventually led to the union being dissolved and a new one with new leadership put in its place.
Sep '10
Re: Stupidity
The difference is that the umpires foolishly thought that MLB wouldn't accept their resignations and they'd all be welcomed back with open arms when the two sides came to terms.
Riggleman seems to have decided that, if the Nats weren't willing to commit to him for the long term, it wasn't worth his while to remain in their employ any longer. I could be wrong, but my guess is that Rigs was perfectly willing to walk away yesterday and wasn't sitting by his phone waiting for RIzzo's call after he left the ballpark, and the TwitPix appear to back me up on that.
Jun '10
Re: Stupidity
The comparason of Riggleman to Phillips is not the best. Phillips had a reputation of forgoing the negotiations and jumping straight to nuclear option. It worked for him... for a while. Riggleman had a reputation as a good soldier. I am sure he gave quite a bit of thought before deciding to risk it all on the little leverage he had.
If Tony LaRussa decides to leave the Cardinals after this year, though Riggleman wouldn't be my first choice(Jose Oquendo would be my 1st choice) I wouldn't mind at all having him manage the Cardinals.
Edited on June 24, 2011 at 6:21pmAug '10
Re: Stupidity
Out here in LA, the whole town is caught up in following the shenanigans of a greedy old gangster from Boston who fled here to live the high life, squire-ing his dessicated moll about the tony Westside.
He lived a life of rapacious criminality, a Midas in reverse, everyone he touched- he took their gold. In his wake lie only the bereft and the benumbed, and the reporters who cover them.
But Johnny Law has found him out, and now he must give an account for his sins. The forensic accountants have already begun his autopsy.
I speak of course of the notorious outlaw Frank McCourt. From my beloved Dodgers he has woven a tale of woe that leaves his namesake the author stupified with jealousy.
So who's this Whitey Bulger fella?