Ron Gardenhire - Twins Hall of Fame

Dano564

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Well, the Twins "Hall of Fame" has officially become a joke in my opinion.
You have now entered a manager who took a playoff level team and did almost nothing with it, who then managed the team for 10 years without winning a single playoff game.

Mind numbing how this is hall of fame worthy.
 

2nd most wins of any Twins manager. Won the division 6 out of 13 years. Remember it’s the Twins Hall of Fame, not Baseball Hall of Fame.
 


Well, the Twins "Hall of Fame" has officially become a joke in my opinion.
You have now entered a manager who took a playoff level team and did almost nothing with it, who then managed the team for 10 years without winning a single playoff game.

Mind numbing how this is hall of fame worthy.
It's not that serious. Did Gladden make it too?
 



Dazzle Man made it as an analyst, not a player. Which is ironic because I think he’s a better player than radio guy.

Win Twins!!
He's terrible on the radio. But why is it one or the other?
 

Well, the Twins "Hall of Fame" has officially become a joke in my opinion.
You have now entered a manager who took a playoff level team and did almost nothing with it, who then managed the team for 10 years without winning a single playoff game.

Mind numbing how this is hall of fame worthy.
They weren't in the playoffs the year before he became manager. Additionally it was a distinct possibility the franchise was going to be contracted.

One of only 2 Twins managers to win a post season series. Also 3rd base coach on the 1991 team.
 

At least they did pick a weekend when the Saints are at home so Toby can see the old man get inducted.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Saints switch the Saturday night game to a day game that weekend.
 

I never thought Gardy was the greatest manager alive but he was a solid skipper for a long time and well-liked by pretty much everyone. I have no issue with him going into the Twins HOF. As other posters mentioned, it's not the baseball HOF, different set of standards. Congrats to Gardy.
 



Big news is Caesar Tovar finally going in. One of the keys to those mid-60's and early 70's teams. Played all 9 positions in a game and struck out Reggie Jackson. His grandson is a good player at Cretin.
 

Hey, we were too dumb to fire you until 10 non-playoff win seasons.

Wow, that's embarrassing.

Tell ya what....

Congratulations!
You're in the Twins Hall of Fame!


The Twins weren't exactly going head to head against the 1988-1990 Oakland A's during his tenure here.

Twins were 85-77 in 2001.
In Ron's first year he got them to 7 more wins.
That was the peak except for the 2006 season where they had 96 wins.

(A year when he had two starting pitchers with ERA's under 3.00) (And with that didn't win a playoff game).

It took him 4 consecutive 90 loss seasons for him to get fired.
As an overall manager, his last 6 full seasons (including the Tigers) all exceeded 90 losses (averaging over 99 losses during those 6 seasons).

It's truly remarkable. Very hard to find a manager who has more horrible seasons that Ron achieved.

He's the Rich Kotite of baseball.
 
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What moves would you have liked to see Gardy do differently that would have led to more playoff wins?
 

Hey, we were too dumb to fire you until 10 non-playoff win seasons.

Wow, that's embarrassing.

Tell ya what....

Congratulations!
You're in the Twins Hall of Fame!


The Twins weren't exactly going head to head against the 1988-1990 Oakland A's during his tenure here.

Twins were 85-77 in 2001.
In Ron's first year he got them to 7 more wins.
That was the peak except for the 2006 season where they had 96 wins.

(A year when he had two starting pitchers with ERA's under 3.00) (And with that didn't win a playoff game).

It took him 4 consecutive 90 loss seasons for him to get fired.
As an overall manager, his last 6 full seasons (including the Tigers) all exceeded 90 losses (averaging over 99 losses during those 6 seasons).

It's truly remarkable. Very hard to find a manager who has more horrible seasons that Ron achieved.

He's the Rich Kotite of baseball.
Rich Kotite? Really?
 



What moves would you have liked to see Gardy do differently that would have led to more playoff wins?
The overall failure to win a single play-off game in 18 tries is embarrassing, no doubt. However, in most of the series the Twins were not the better team. There was also a fair amount of bad luck/chokes by dependable players.

2004 ALDS Game 2: If Koskie's double in the 8th doesn't bounce out of play, they probably win the game (and likely the series).

2004 ALDS Game 4: Juan Rincon melts down and blows a 4 run lead.

2006 ALDS Game 1: Torii Hunter stupidly plays a single into a triple trying to be hero and the Twins lose.

2009 ALDS Game 2: Joe Nathan blows a 2 run lead in the 9th and then Phil Cuzzi screws over Joe Mauer in the 10th.
 

The overall failure to win a single play-off game in 18 tries is embarrassing, no doubt. However, in most of the series the Twins were not the better team. There was also a fair amount of bad luck/chokes by dependable players.

2004 ALDS Game 2: If Koskie's double in the 8th doesn't bounce out of play, they probably win the game (and likely the series).

2004 ALDS Game 4: Juan Rincon melts down and blows a 4 run lead.

2006 ALDS Game 1: Torii Hunter stupidly plays a single into a triple trying to be hero and the Twins lose.

2009 ALDS Game 2: Joe Nathan blows a 2 run lead in the 9th and then Phil Cuzzi screws over Joe Mauer in the 10th.
Gardy wasn't 0-18, that's the current run. His team won a series in 2002.
Regardless, there's very little a baseball manager can do to influence those games anyway.
 

Gardy wasn't 0-18, that's the current run. His team won a series in 2002.
Regardless, there's very little a baseball manager can do to influence those games anyway.
The managers shares some blame. Like Rocco taking Berrios out in the 5th inning against the Astros for Cody Stashak, but in general, you're right.

The one blame I'll give Gardy in the above games is pinch hitting Jason Kubel against Rivera in 2004 game 2. There was a runner on 3rd and one out. Kubel was a rookie and looked like he was going to wet himself. He had zero chance of driving that run in. He should have let the original hitter (I believe Lou Ford) take his chances.
 

What moves would you have liked to see Gardy do differently that would have led to more playoff wins?

So if the argument is that managers don't control much, why are we throwing him and his near 0.500 record in the Twins Hall of Fame?

Didn't want anything significant.

This is the ultimate Minnesota style celebration of mediocrity.
 

So if the argument is that managers don't control much, why are we throwing him and his near 0.500 record in the Twins Hall of Fame?

Didn't want anything significant.

This is the ultimate Minnesota style celebration of mediocrity.
Again I'm not saying Gardy is anything special, I'm saying it's the Twins hall of fame and it's really not some amazing exclusive club. Settle down.
 

So if the argument is that managers don't control much, why are we throwing him and his near 0.500 record in the Twins Hall of Fame?

Didn't want anything significant.

This is the ultimate Minnesota style celebration of mediocrity.
Were you this upset when the Vikings put Denny Green in the ring of honor?
 

The managers shares some blame. Like Rocco taking Berrios out in the 5th inning against the Astros for Cody Stashak, but in general, you're right.

The one blame I'll give Gardy in the above games is pinch hitting Jason Kubel against Rivera in 2004 game 2. There was a runner on 3rd and one out. Kubel was a rookie and looked like he was going to wet himself. He had zero chance of driving that run in. He should have let the original hitter (I believe Lou Ford) take his chances.
I could see the argument for the Kubel one. The problem with moves like the Berrios one is people only have the ability to judge them in hindsight, and only bring them up when the end result is bad. Decisions can't always be judged by the results anyway.
 


I could see the argument for the Kubel one. The problem with moves like the Berrios one is people only have the ability to judge them in hindsight, and only bring them up when the end result is bad. Decisions can't always be judged by the results anyway.
My problem with Rocco is that he treated a play-off game the same as a Thursday afternoon game in May. I don't care what your analytics said, Berrios was locked in that day. He's too much of a robot for me. Gardy was the opposite though still had his flaws.
 

Manufactured outrage is so popular these days.
I think most of us have that player/coach that we don't like but the rest of the fan base does. If they ever put Nick Punto in the Twins HOF, I will protest! But in general no one cares who's in a team's HOF/Ring of Honor. It's not that serious.
 

Well, the Twins "Hall of Fame" has officially become a joke in my opinion.
You have now entered a manager who took a playoff level team and did almost nothing with it, who then managed the team for 10 years without winning a single playoff game.

Mind numbing how this is hall of fame worthy.
Second most wins, better career winning percentage than Tom Kelly, six division titles if you're being honest, besides the injury riddled starting rotation in 2006, name a Twins team that was actually better than the opponent that eliminated them?
 

Second most wins, better career winning percentage than Tom Kelly, six division titles if you're being honest, besides the injury riddled starting rotation in 2006, name a Twins team that was actually better than the opponent that eliminated them?
This exactly, people love to complain about losing playoff games to the Yankees, but they were always the better team. 2006 and 2020 are series we should have won.
 

The overall failure to win a single play-off game in 18 tries is embarrassing, no doubt. However, in most of the series the Twins were not the better team. There was also a fair amount of bad luck/chokes by dependable players.

2004 ALDS Game 2: If Koskie's double in the 8th doesn't bounce out of play, they probably win the game (and likely the series).

2004 ALDS Game 4: Juan Rincon melts down and blows a 4 run lead.

2006 ALDS Game 1: Torii Hunter stupidly plays a single into a triple trying to be hero and the Twins lose.

2009 ALDS Game 2: Joe Nathan blows a 2 run lead in the 9th and then Phil Cuzzi screws over Joe Mauer in the 10th.
The Mauer play You could literally see the chalk from the line spray up.
 

This exactly, people love to complain about losing playoff games to the Yankees, but they were always the better team. 2006 and 2020 are series we should have won.
2006 was the team, But Lariano got hurt, Radke was hurt too and pitched Game 3 with a busted shoulder, respect him for gutting out, but anyone with a brain knew we were fucked when Zito outdueled Santana in Game one and Boof fucking Bonser was pitching game 2. Ironically I think the only two guys who hit well in games one and two were Rondell White and Phil Nevin. 2020 showing was embarrassing, Rocco should have been taken out back and shot for taking Berrios out of game one
 

Baseball managers contribute less to team wins than any other pro sport. That's probably why they're also paid less than their counterparts in the other sports.
 


For all his flaws, Denny is the best coach the Vikings have had in 40 years.
 




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