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Heading into the season, Minnesota Twins’ manager Ron Gardenhire was considered to be on the hot seat due to the poor performances of his team the past two years. Many critics were saying that change was needed and that Gardenhire had lost the faith of his team and his message and coaching style were beginning to fall on deaf ears. It isn’t unheard of to think that Gardenhire would receive some heat because of the Twins’ poor performance because when it boils down to it, the manager typically receives the brunt of the criticism when his team fails. Whether or not the criticism is justified is irrelevant in many fans’ and team executive’s minds. If the team falters, the coach is the first to be blamed and removed.
In the case of Gardenhire, the fact that the Twins’ fans and executives believed he was the problem behind the teams lackluster 2011 and 2012 seasons is, in my opinion, ludicrous. Gardenhire was instrumental in the Twins’ division titles in 2002-2004, 2006, 2009 and 2010. Add those numbers up and Gardenhire has won six division titles, Manager of the Year in 2010 and a total of 941 wins compared to 859 losses during his 12 year tenure. In addition, 195 of those 859 career losses have come over the past two seasons.
For most organizations, those numbers would give a manager some wiggle room and staying power when their team fell on hard times. Certainly the Twins have shown faith in Gardenhire after not firing him this past off-season, but the team has done itself a grand disservice by not offering Gardenhire an extension before the 2013 season.
When Gardenhire was winning division titles, he was the beneficiary of coaching a great group of players which made him look like an awfully good manager. If you can remember, however, Gardenhire also got the most out of some not-so-talented teams and led them to division titles. Lately, Gardenhire has been the beneficiary of coaching an underwhelming and extremely less talented bunch than the teams he was accustomed to in the 2000s. The interesting part is how analysts and fans are quick to give Gardenhire credit when his teams played so well, but are also quick to criticize him when they do poorly.
In reality, the manager can only do so much with what he is given. During the 2000s, the Twins gave him some talented rosters and a deep farm system and what did he do? He won six division championships. Now that the organization has neglected its farm system and has had to focus on restocking it, what has he done? He almost lost 100 games in back-to-back seasons; but does that mean Gardenhire is a bad coach or has forgotten how to coach? I don’t believe so. Gardenhire hasn’t forgotten how to coach; the organization temporarily forgot how to build a consistent winner.
For example, if you were to put Phil Jackson, arguably one of the greatest basketball coaches in history, on last year’s historically bad Charlotte Bobcats team and let him coach through these past two seasons and he wound up losing 120 out of 148 games, would you consider him a bad coach? Would you say he lost his ability to coach? The answer to that is no. Coaches can only do so much with the deck that they are dealt. In Gardenhire’s case, he has gotten the most out of what he has been given despite what his record may indicate.
Everything is a “what have you done for me lately” mentality with sports and unfortunately, Gardenhire hasn’t done much lately; however, this is not the time to panic and make a brash decision. If Gardenhire were to be let go, he wouldn’t be out of a job for more than a day. Gardenhire’s problem has been his loyalty to his underwhelming assistant coaches which finally got a much overdue face-lift this off-season, not his ability to coach.
This season, although it’s early, may be one of Gardenhire’s best coaching years when it’s all said and done. It isn’t like the Twins are currently overflowing with talent; instead, they are overachieving and igniting a dormant fan base. Are we now going to praise Gardenhire for the team’s performance? Time will tell, but one thing is for certain: Gardenhire deserves a contract extension based on his proven track record and deserves to be treated like what he is, one of the best managers in baseball.
Brian Wille is a Minnesota Twins writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @BeeWill15 or “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
