MANAGER MEANS ONLY 5 PER CENT TO TEAM: O'DOUL
"Francis J. O'Doul, San Diego manager, generalizes the art of managing, thus:
'Some fans expect miracles of managers like they do of a football coach. There are no trick plays, no short cuts. Everything is standardized. In a certain situation, you do a certain thing. Fundamental baseball is the same, whether it's in the majors or Class D.
'For every tough manager who wins a pennant, I can show you an easy manager who did just as good. I guess I'm an easy manager. There is no fool-proof formula. Unless you have the players, the bat boy could do no worse than a $20,000 manager. An ordinary smart bat boy knows when to bunt, when to pull in the infield, when to fill an open base. High school kids know that.'
By this time O'Doul knew he was talking himself out of the manager's guild.
'Don't get me wrong,' Lefty amended. 'A team needs a manager like Boy Scouts need a scoutmaster. Somebody has to be in charge. What I'm saying is the difference between a winning manager and a losing manager is about 5 per cent- if they both have teams of equal ability.
'The small difference is in guessing right. Guessing when to yank a pitcher. Guessing when to put in the right pinch hitter, and even then it's mostly luck. In the long run, the 5 per cent edge comes from knowing your players, knowing their personal problems, getting next to them so they'll put out for you, and keeping discipline, but not like a cop.'
For all his protestations that baseball strategy is standardized and conventional, O'Doul does admit room for the unexpected. Once in a while he defies conventions by playing baseball backwards, so to speak. More so than any other manager.
'What's the word I'm reaching for?' he appealed. 'Intuition. That's it. Thanks. Intuition means the right hunch, depending on which side of the bed you tumbled out that morning. I win some games on intuition. About 1 per cent of the 5 per cent.'"
-Will Connolly, San Francisco Chronicle (Baseball Digest, February 1953)
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