Don’t blow it again, Pirates: say no to Van Slyke! Hire Barry Bonds for the manager job!
Van Slyke acknowledges that he may not be an ideal candidate, what with no managerial experience on any level. But that doesn’t matter, because his philosophy is sound:
This is pretty brilliant when you think about it. Van Slyke is freely admitting that he has no experience and going one step further in saying that, if he were hired, the team should not expect positive results from anything he himself does.He still may not get the job, but man, if he does, he’s gonna have some awesome job security.
Andy Van Slyke, in town with fellow alumnus Dave Parker for a season-ticket holder event, took the opportunity to inform president Frank Coonelly about his interest in the club’s managerial opening.
“I think it would be absolutely arrogant for any manager to come in here and think he’s going to be the difference. [As if] by his mere presence, he could be the one to turn it around. I don’t care if Casey Stengel stepped out of the grave and walked into spring training, any manager would need a pitching staff with an ERA and numbers that [the Pirates’ staff] didn’t have this year. Everything begins and ends with pitching. Until that aspect improves dramatically ... it’s an unfair expectation for anyone to expect different results here.”