Punzel: Melvin lands his target, another 'boring' guy

Dennis Punzel  —  10/31/2008 5:58 am

MILWAUKEE -- When Doug Melvin went off in search of the next manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, one of his main criteria was to find somebody who's boring. From that standpoint, he may have come up with the perfect guy in Ken Macha.

The Brewers Thursday introduced Macha as their new manager, succeeding interim manager Dale Sveum, whose tenure lasted 16 games after he succeeded Ned Yost in September.

Among the things Melvin was looking for in his next manager was somebody who had major league managerial experience and had experienced winning; someone who could offer a fresh perspective on the players and someone who didn't have much else going for him. Macha, it seems, fit the bill across the board.

"He's somebody with a winning background who is a baseball lifer," Melvin said. "I'll have a good relationship with him because our backgrounds are somewhat similar because that's our whole life. We're pretty boring people. Baseball is all we do. I go to a few independent movies once in awhile, I read a book, but it takes me about two years to read a 200-page book. My wife gets on me about that.

"We're pretty boring people, but we do love baseball and we have a passion for the game."

Melvin went on to tell the story about his first day in professional baseball in 1972. He reported to the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league camp and was sent out on a rainy day to pitch batting practice in a batting cage. The first player he threw to was Ken Macha.

"We really didn't know each other," Melvin said. "He was a couple levels ahead of me as a player, he was a much better player than I was. It's pretty ironic to how things can turn. I remember it to this day, looking down that batting cage and he was gripping that bat. I was scared to death. I was throwing behind a pitching screen, inside a batting cage -- which I'd never done in my life -- and I said if I hit this big donkey in the head it scared the heck out of me."

Macha may have avoided any knockdown pitches that day, but he had no such luck Thursday. Much of his 40-minute press conference was spent answering questions about reports that he had a strained relationship with his players during his four years as manager of the Oakland A's.

Several A's players, including current Brewers catcher Jason Kendall, were openly critical of Macha's lack of communication and his failure to support them. Strained relationships between Macha and his players as well as A's general manager Billy Beane led to his firing despite averaging 92 wins over four seasons and compiling a .568 winning percentage. The only managers in Brewers history with a better percentage are Harvey Kuenn (.576) and Sveum (.583).

Macha, even without the benefit of a batting helmet, didn't duck any of the questions hurled his way.

"The job of a manager is really not to be buddies with all of the players," said Macha. "You have to make very difficult decisions over the course of a year. My decisions as far as playing people and not playing people really have a direct impact on how much money they would make over the course of their career. Sometimes players think it's personal, but it really isn't.

"All the years as a coach and then as a manager in the major leagues, I had very few problems with players. At the time a lot of those things were written, it was a very frustrating time for the Oakland A's because they'd just been swept by the Detroit Tigers. If you go back and talk to those players now, they might have a little different take.

"The bottom line is this, the manager is responsible for wins and losses. The amount of respect that you get from the players is showed by the intensity in which they play. You take a look at our teams in Oakland and they always played better as the season wore on."

Melvin said he has no concerns about Macha's ability to relate to players. While he did not talk to Kendall about Macha, he did talk with pitcher Jeff Suppan, who also played for Macha and offered a positive review. He also got a glowing review from Boston manager Terry Francona, who served as Macha's bench coach in Oakland after being fired by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Melvin cited Francona as an example of a manager who has found greater success his second time around on the job. As he looked at this year's playoff teams, Melvin noted that the managers included veterans like Francona, Joe Torre, Charlie Manuel and Lou Piniella. Only Tampa Bay's Joe Maddon, in his second season, was relatively inexperienced and he had spent years working at many positions with the Angels.

"They've been around," said Melvin. "That's one of the things I looked at, experience. Once you get to this level that we did last year, it just seemed like that experience is what keeps it at that level or takes it to the next level."

Macha believes his experience in Oakland will make him a better manager in Milwaukee. For one thing, he won't have to constantly answer to the general manager. While Beane is notorious for meddling with his managers, Melvin takes a more hands off approach.

"I think you learn something new every day," Macha said. "One of the things I'm going to enjoy here, I think, is the relationship with Doug. He's been very honest with me, straightforward. He's more of a delegator. He'll let me go out and do my job as a manager, and I'll be very grateful for that."

Macha received a two-year contract from the Brewers. He acknowledged that had it not been for some of the questions about his dismissal in Oakland, he might not have gone without a managing job for two years.

"I would think that the questions that were being answered and asked here today probably had a little bit to do with it," he said. "Having been in the game and having the record that I did have managing not just in the big leagues, but in the minors as well, and the players that were developed while playing for me, that was puzzling to me."

Melvin, who nearly hired Macha six years ago when he ended up hiring Yost, is grateful Macha was back on the market, for whatever reason. Being fired, Melvin knows, is no disgrace in baseball.

"Terry Francona extensively talked to me about his second time around," Melvin said. "He was the manager of the Phillies and got let go and talked about how much he learned and how much he was better. I have the utmost respect for Charlie Manuel. He got let go by Cleveland and got a job with the Phillies and won the World Series. Walt Jocketty, my good friend with the Cardinals, let Joe Torre go when he got his first GM job, and Torre went on to win umpteen World Series.

"I got let go myself. I'm a big believer in second chances."

Dennis Punzel  —  10/31/2008 5:58 am