Being mentioned on the Score, as well as one of the Chicagoland papers supposedly that Thome could be considered to replace Walker

Edited October 18, 201114 yr by fathom

Nice. I wouldn't have the heart to blame him for any failures no matter how lost our hitters might look.

 

It would be ironic to have a hitting coach that is arguably still a better hitter than half of our lineup.

Ugh. Please no. Just hire Manto or Laker and get it over with.

Ugh. Please no. Just hire Manto or Laker and get it over with.

It would be quite odd to have a hitting coach who had a legitimate shot at outproducing quite a few players being paid to hit on our roster, but f*** if I wouldn't want Jim back in that capacity.

 

Sh*t, if Robin Ventura can manage the team with zero managing experience, I'm sure Thome can teach hitting with 3.5 decades of hitting experience.

Ugh. Please no. Just hire Manto or Laker and get it over with.

 

This.

 

Thome doesn't seem all that scientific. Can you imagine him trying to help fix Beckham?

 

Please no.

At least we'd have someone that was incredibly respected...but I just don't know enough about hitting to know whether he would be a good coach or not.

It would be quite odd to have a hitting coach who had a legitimate shot at outproducing quite a few players being paid to hit on our roster, but f*** if I wouldn't want Jim back in that capacity.

 

Sh*t, if Robin Ventura can manage the team with zero managing experience, I'm sure Thome can teach hitting with 3.5 decades of hitting experience.

 

I'm sure he can. And just like Robin, I'd rather have a guy who has taught or coached professionally before do it instead. Just like Robin, if Jim wants to get into coaching, he should start out at a lower level for a while to see if he is good at it, or not.

This.

 

Thome doesn't seem all that scientific. Can you imagine him trying to help fix Beckham?

 

Please no.

Thome has a unique style but unlike say, Thomas, he's never been described as being particularly abrasive personally, and I can't recall hearing hitting coaches complain about him like we can think of with Frank.

 

He's a guy who has been hitting in the modern era, is one of the guys that modern statistics love because of his OBP and power numbers, and has probably gone through a large number of hitting coach styles in that time.

 

I'm less inclined to immediately cast chagrin on this idea than I am with, for example, Frank. If I were putting together a coaching staff and he were interested, I'd at least sit him down and chat.

I'm sure he can. And just like Robin, I'd rather have a guy who has taught or coached professionally before do it instead. Just like Robin, if Jim wants to get into coaching, he should start out at a lower level for a while to see if he is good at it, or not.

This is where the experience argument makes a lot more sense to me...

 

Managing a game you have been a part of for your entire life is one thing, teaching someone a very particular and technical skill without any experience is quite another.

 

But again, I am too ignorant on the subject to really have a strong opinion.

I'm sure he can. And just like Robin, I'd rather have a guy who has taught or coached professionally before do it instead. Just like Robin, if Jim wants to get into coaching, he should start out at a lower level for a while to see if he is good at it, or not.

I was being sarcastic and still lamenting Robin Ventura as our f***ing manager when we could have had Davey Martinez.

This is where the experience argument makes a lot more sense to me...

 

Managing a game you have been a part of for your entire life is one thing, teaching someone a very particular and technical skill without any experience is quite another.

 

But again, I am too ignorant on the subject to really have a strong opinion.

You and I never agree on anything in baseball do we?

 

I think the experience one impacts a manager's job a lot more than a hitting coach's job because the manager is much more about dealing with personalities than the hitting coach's job. Both the manager and the hitting coach have a technical side (actual moves, actual mechanics), but a manager has to massage egoes and deal with crises in a way I don't think a hitting coach must do.

he can be activated to replace dunn when dunn retires in june

 

I am not entirely joking

I think whether you don't want him or wouldn't mind him as the hitting coach, there's nothing that says whether he'll be any good at it or not. Just because Thome has a certain hitting style doesn't mean that he'd coach others to hit that way. You could weight the pros and cons and have long discussions about it, but in reality there's zero information on how he'd coach.

 

Personally, I wouldn't mind it. But that's based on the fact that I think he'd be respected and he's been one of the better hitters in recent history.

I was being sarcastic and still lamenting Robin Ventura as our f***ing manager when we could have had Davey Martinez.

 

Damn sarcasometer is on the fritz again today...

Being mentioned on the Score, as well as one of the Chicagoland papers supposedly that Thome could be considered to replace Walker

No to Thome as hitting coach.

There was also a lot of talk when he was here of Thome working with Konerko in particular on hitting.

This Reinsdorf loyalty is getting a bit out of hand.

 

Here is the Sun-Times article:

 

Jim Thome could join Mark Parent on White Sox’ coaching staff

 

Like Robin Ventura, Mark Parent has no experience as a major-league manager, but one veteran minor-leaguer who played for Parent this season believes he will be a big-league manager.

 

“I told my dad during the season, Mark is going to manage in the big leagues someday,’’ said outfielder Mike Spidale, a 29-year-old former White Sox draft choice out of Nazareth Academy who batted .326 for the Phillies’ Class AA Reading club this season.

 

“I’m ecstatic that he got the opportunity this year to be a big-league coach. He’s earned it, and he’s going to do a good job.’’

 

Parent, a 13-year backup catcher in the majors, is expected to be named Sox bench coach next to Ventura, who was named manager 12 days ago.

 

“I loved him,’’ Spidale said. “Probably my favorite manager in 12 years of [professional] ball. You can tell right away when somebody knows what he’s doing. He’s an ex-catcher, so he knows all aspects of the game, but more important than that, he’s a real good motivator.’’

 

As a Detroit Tiger in 1996, Parent was managed by Sox farm director Buddy Bell, who’s playing an important role in helping Ventura assemble his staff.

 

Class AAA Charlotte manager Joe McEwing is expected to become the third-base coach.

 

Sox farm-system hitting instructors Jeff Manto or Tim Laker are thought to be the top candidates to replace Greg Walker as hitting coach, but don’t rule out the Sox making a play for a bigger name such as Jim Thome.

 

Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf loves Thome, 41, whose playing career likely has come to an end after 21 seasons and 604 home runs. The two share the annual habit of meeting for dinner to talk about life and baseball after the season, and a major-league source said Reinsdorf was eager to move this year’s meeting up.

For a more needle-filled comparison, Mark McGwire hasn't yet been treated as the enemy in St. Louis as a hitting coach, and he not only never coached anything else, he took 5 years away from the game to hide in a hole surrounded by steroid investigators.

For a more needle-filled comparison, Mark McGwire hasn't yet been treated as the enemy in St. Louis as a hitting coach, and he not only never coached anything else, he took 5 years away from the game to hide in a hole surrounded by steroid investigators.

Yeah, I mentioned McGwire in another thread....No experience and he was dropped in to coach hitting? He doesn't come across as a guy you would expect to coach anything let alone hitting.

The teacher should work in player development, this seems to be Laker.

 

At the MLB level is more about preparation and approach.

 

 

Yeah, I mentioned McGwire in another thread....No experience and he was dropped in to coach hitting? He doesn't come across as a guy you would expect to coach anything let alone hitting.

Very similar to Thome's general style too...with you know the "massive increase in muscle mass" exception. Lotta home runs, lotta strikeouts, very unique hitting style, big uppercut swing, lotta walks, weak on batting average.

 

I probably didn't think Mac was a very good choice as hitting coach for them, but hey, they were the #6 offense in the NL Last year and the #1 offense in the NL this year. Yeah, they added Berkman, they had issues with Rasmus, but thems the results.

Another inexperienced coach? And one who is a natural hitter anyway? Please no. I love Thome, but we already hired a green Manager, we need to surround him with some experience of some kind.

 

This coaching staff "search" is getting so far out of hand it's almost funny at this point...

 

I can't wait to see what player movement will be like come December. I have a feeling there will be some multiple meltdown threads at some horrible trades.

Thome would help in general preparation for the Vets, but I still think there are better options internally.