Gästebuch » In the aftermath of Chicago’s collapse last season

MESA Marcus Stroman Jersey , Ariz. (AP) —Cubs manager Joe Maddon went looking for a deeper understanding of the players who dominate the major leagues these days.Maddon’s search took him to “Managing Millennials for Dummies,” and the book reinforced what he already felt about the people he worked with every day.“The big takeaway is that they’re no different than anybody else,” a chuckling Maddon said. “When you break it down and you go back to your own childhood we all had inefficiencies as young people. The biggest takeaway I think are two things; that the propensity to be inclined to utilize technology, which is wonderful because I’ve done that anyway, and then, they as a group like wanting to know why.”Millennials make up the vast majority of the majors today, and their influence is felt all over the sport.They were the earliest adopters of the advanced statistics that have become commonplace throughout baseball, and they inform much of what they do on the mound or at the plate. They want to know the reasoning behind what their coaches want them to do.“I’ve learned this generation is nothing like the generation I grew up in,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Nothing like it. You have to learn and have an open mind to find out what makes these kids tick, how they grew up. They’re so diverse and their way of communicating is different in Southern California, kids in the South, kids in the East. It’s just taking the time to get to know them and how to communicate.”The millennial generation became a hot topic in Chicago when the Cubs fired hitting coach Chili Davis after they struggled to score in the final few days of last season, culminating in their 2-1, 13-inning loss to Colorado in the NL Wild Card Game.Davis told the Chicago Sun-Times that he needed to make some adjustments to how he delivers his message to millennials, and he planned to know more about his potential players before he accepted another job. He was hired as hitting coach for the New York Mets in December.“You learn from every place you go,” Davis said during spring training. “You know, there’s a lot of different personalities to try to connect with. And sometimes you connect with most of them, you hope you connect with all of ’em — that’s a rarity. But you know, I had great kids in Boston, I thought I had some really good kids over in Chicago last year and I’m really enjoying the guys I’m around this year.”Defining a generation “is an art and a science,” said Kate Turkcan, who is the head of youth insights for Kantar Consulting. Turkcan said millennials were born between 1979 and 1996, and centennials — the next major generation for baseball — began in 1997 and ended between four and eight years ago.Turkcan, who has worked with universities and companies like Samsung Devon Travis Jersey , Coca-Cola and Target, said the millennial stereotype of entitled young person is misguided.“They’re not asking why to be difficult. They’re asking why because they’ve grown up in a generation or in a world where you need proof for everything, you need back up,” she said.“They’re taught critical thinking skills … they’ve been taught you don’t take anything at face value and I think even coming from someone who’s experienced, like a coach or like a manager, it’s not that they’re doubting, but it is that they’ve always been taught like you don’t just take anything. You ask why. … You want to get really to the root of the issue.”Maddon, who turned 65 on Feb. 8, is the oldest manager in baseball, followed by the 64-year-old Yost and San Francisco skipper Bruce Bochy, 63. Maddon is nearly 30 years older than Rocco Baldelli, who became the game’s youngest manager when he was hired by Minnesota in October.Despite his age, Maddon has been known for his ability to relate to his players. The Cubs declined to offer him an extension after the tough finish last year, so Maddon’s ability to get the most of the younger millennials on his roster could help determine his future.That’s just fine with Maddon, who thinks his style works nicely for baseball’s most important generation at the moment.“Quite frankly, when I started doing this in the mid-80s, I thought it was important to tell my players why,” Maddon said. “You want to know why, I don’t feel offended. I think sometimes it’s, when people ask you why there’s a defensive component to that that some people don’t like. I don’t mind it. So when they ask me that, why, I should be prepared to tell them why.” The Orioles will hire a new boss eventually, but it’s November now and they haven’t yet. Today’s stuff: Kline on the way up, Andreoli on the way out, and another reminder the O’s were bad."Hello Roy Halladay Jersey , friends.There are now 146 days remaining until the next Orioles game. They still do not have a president of baseball operations. They will probably not have one by tomorrow when free agency officially begins and any team can sign any player on the market.In a sign that even after a 115-loss season I can still have foolish hope, I genuinely believed that the Orioles would find a new boss by now. They have not done so and according to a report earlier in the week they are not close to doing so. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. I am smarter than to have ever thought they might decide something within four weeks.I shouldn’t say that the Orioles have done nothing at all. They are, slowly but surely, parting ways with some people who’ve lingered through multiple front offices, including yesterday evening’s news that the team decided not to renew the contract of John Stockstill, who has been in the front office since 2005. It does look like the new hire, whenever they make it, is going to have a lot of open positions to fill. That’s good in the sense that they can put their stamp on the team - as long as their vision is good - but it’ll be a lot of work to do before they can, well, get to the real work of making the O’s better.Nonetheless, here we are, with the calendar turned to November and the Orioles still adrift with no leadership whatsoever. They are not the only team in this position. The Giants are also still out there searching for a new head of baseball operations. It appears that San Francisco considered a Dodgers executive as a candidate, so waiting for the end of the World Series to really get moving in earnest may have been necessary. Is that also the case for the O’s? Who knows?For now, it’s fine, I guess. The Orioles aren’t going to sign any free agents who matter this offseason. Doing that after a 115-loss season would be nuts. The caretaker skeleton crew is apparently up to the task of maintaining the 40-man roster, with the last couple of days seeing the addition of Marylander Branden Kline and the subtraction of why-was-this-guy-ever-here outfielder John Andreoli. Other decisions remain to be made when the 60-day disabled list players come back onto the 40-man roster, since there is no disabled list over the offseason. The good news, such as it is, is that the Orioles have a number of talentless filler players with no real upside on the roster, so it won’t be very hard to dump those guys and whoever does end up taking over eventually isn’t all that likely to miss a single one of them.Around the blogO’sphereOrioles lose Andreoli on waiver claim (School of Roch)I wouldn’t say they’ve “lost” him, exactly...Remember the Orioles for what they were (Fangraphs)The headline made me think this article would be about how the Orioles were good not too long ago. Instead, it includes this true sentence: “The Orioles were worse than the projections at every single position.”Small checkpoints of Orioles offseason don’t measure up to significance of pending decisions (Baltimore Sun)In short, nothing matters until the Orioles bring in a new head of baseball operations.Branden Kline’s impressive comeback continues with ascension to 40-man (Steve Melewski)I don’t think there’s anything Melewski loves more than a minor league grinder who’s on the cusp of making it to MLB. Best of luck to the local guy, Kline.Orioles likely to use Rule 5 draft again (Baltimore Baseball)With the first pick of every player left off of a 40-man roster, the eventual new boss of the Orioles may find some temptation in the Rule 5 draft. Just don’t pick multiple jabronis http://www.bluejaysfanproshop.com/authentic-curtis-granderson-jersey , okay?Birthdays and anniversariesIn 1960, Orioles shortstop Ron Hansen received the American League Rookie of the Year Award, the first time anyone from the franchise had ever done so. Fellow Orioles Chuck Estrada and Jim Gentile also received votes.In 1979, Edward Bennett Williams completed his purchase of the Orioles. He remained the owner until his death in 1988.There are a few former Orioles with birthdays today. They are: 2012 infielder Steve Tolleson, 1993 starter Fernando Valenzuela, and the late Jim Pyburn of the 1955-57 Orioles.Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Your birthday buddies for today include: Revolutionary War-era ally Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte (1720), pornography purveyor Larry Flynt (1942), one-armed Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen (1963), and actress Toni Collette (1972).On this day in history...In 1512, Michelangelo’s painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was first unveiled to the public.In 1604, Shakespeare’s Othello was performed for the first time at Whitehall Palace in London. Exactly seven years later, his play The Tempest had its premiere performance in the same place.In 1765, the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act, taxes and other restrictions levied on the North American colonies. This act gave rise to one of the slogans preceding the American Revolution, still in use to this day on District of Columbia license plates: “No taxation without representation.”In 1938, “the match of the century” horse race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral took place at Pimlico in Baltimore. In an upset, Seabiscuit was the winner.In 1955, war broke out between North and South Vietnam. The conflict lasted for nearly two decades, much of which included American involvement.**And that’s the way it is in Birdland on November 1 - or at least, unless something happens later, which it probably won’t, but hey, you never know. Have a safe Thursday.