Next He'll Take Credit for Switching Stan Musial to the Outfield
USS Mariner called Mike Hargrove "delusional" today for his advocacy of going north with 22-year-old pitcher Brandon Morrow on the basis of eight innings of spring training relief work.
Hargrove, speaking to the Tacoma News Tribune, defended his stance, saying that people called him an "idiot" for wanting to go north with Manny Ramirez when he managed Cleveland in '94.
Good point, Hargrove. Except that you are completely full of shit, as anyone with a keyboard and an AOL account could discover. One USS Mariner commenter, msb, did, finding this from the 3/31/1994 Cleveland Plain Dealer (we confirmed that it's genuine):
[John Hart] is the Indians' general manager. There has been speculation that Hart wants Ramirez, 21, to make the big-league club because of his offensive potential, while [Mike Hargrove] prefers a platoon of Wayne Kirby and Ruben Amaro because they would provide better defense to a team that led the American League in errors last year."There is no power struggle," said Hart. "I will never ram any player down a manager's throat. Ultimately, it is my own belief, that [Manny Ramirez] can play up here. But that's not my call. If Mike wants Ruben Amaro, he'll get Amaro. If he wants Manny, he'll get him. But as a general manager it's my job to say that if Manny makes the club, he's not coming up here to sit."
Ramirez, incidentally, drove in 60 runs in less than 300 at bats that year, the Indians were 66-47 when the strike ended the season. But just think how well they could've done if Hart had let Hargrove go with the veteran leadership of Wayne Kirby and Ruben Amaro!
We love ya Mariners, we'll root hard for you all year long--if you win a division with Hargrove at the helm, that's the greatest season in team history.
