Former Milwaukee Hitting Coach Interviewing in Cincy
By
Amanda
Posted at 11:06 am
GM wants Yount back, a story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday, mentioned in passing that Butch Wynegar is in the running for the Reds' hitting coach job.
In search of a hitting coach to replace Wynegar, who apparently is in the running for the vacancy in Cincinnati, Melvin interviewed Jim Skaalen, the Brewers' minor-league hitting coordinator for the last seven seasons.
Of course, he'd be the obvious choice, given how the Brewers performed better than the Reds last year. Or, rather, how the Brewers did more to exceed pre-season expectations than the Reds did. Or, most importantly, because he was drafted by the Twins in 1974, and it is our destiny to have in the Reds organization every person who ever had anything to do with the Twins.
The good news is that, if he's hired, FSN could start filing a pre-game feature with him and the bench coach called Bucky and Butch, which would spawn a cult following and bring in millions in revenues.
I think the Cards leading the series might be making me a little loopy.
Butch Wynegar? Well, I can follow the Reds’ line of thinking on that one like a road map: “What the heck, we have a former backup catcher who couldn’t hit a lick as a manager, we might as well have another one as the hitting coach. It’s working for the Cardinals, they have a former backup catcher who couldn’t hit a lick as their pitching coach and they’re winning the World Series.”
I am, like, really, really glad I don’t have a dugout to punch light bulbs in.
If they insist on a former catcher who couldn’t hit, they even have one of those who actually played here and is currently out of a job (I think), they could hire Lloyd McClendon. And I do think they should shake the former Reds players tree here. Dave Collins is currently unemployed, having left the Rockies recently to look for work closer to home (home, for Collins, happens to be Cinci). Frank Robinson’s also unemployed, having recently been shafted by the Nationals.
Come to think of it, they should fire Narron and hire Collins as the manager. Then let Collins hire his own hitting coach.
HMZ
The Brewers did not exceed preseason expectations… a lot of publications picked them as the surprise winner of the division. No one picked the Reds (except for me, but I was drinking koolaid). The Reds definitely exceeded preseason expectations more than the Brewers did.
He’s right, RHM. The Brewers did not exceed expectations, but you’ll probably try to act like you were just being sarcastic. Whatever.
Get out. You guys are too much.
Earlier in the thread concerning the possibility of Butch Wynegar being hired as the Reds’ hitting coach, I wrote:
“If they insist on a former catcher who couldn’t hit, they even have one of those who actually played here and is currently out of a job (I think), they could hire Lloyd McClendon.”
I was wrong about McCLendon’s employment status – he served as the Detroit Tigers’ bullpen coach this year. However, today, McClendon was hired as hitting coach of the Tigers – replacing yet another former catcher, Don Slaught, who resigned six days ago after a year on the job.
HMZ
Good of you to own up to your Hard Facts reporting miscues, HMZ, even though you’d apparently gotten away with it.
Well, I did qualify my belief that McClendon was unemployed with the “I think” because I hadn’t checked, I’d just apparently missed it when the Tigers hired him as their bullpen coach.
Anyway, I just thought it ironic that right after my disparaging comment about former catchers who couldn’t hit, the Tigers, who just went to the World Series, made McClendon their hitting coach.
Today, of course, it got worse, with the Tigers getting former Yankee outfielder Gary Sheffield, while the Reds got former Yankee outfielder Bubba Crosby. But at least Sheffield isn’t in Chicago (a prominent rumor last week), where he’d be hitting some of his customary 30-to-40 homers a year out of the launching pad that is GABP as a member of the Cubs.
HMZ