{"id":7929,"date":"2010-05-17T07:01:24","date_gmt":"2010-05-17T06:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/?p=7929"},"modified":"2010-05-18T18:10:54","modified_gmt":"2010-05-18T17:10:54","slug":"weekly-hit-ground-ball-hillman-heads-to-the-hills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/?p=7929","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Hillman heads to the hills"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-7400\" title=\"WhgbHlSq\" src=\"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/wp-content\/WhgbHlSq.jpg\" alt=\"WhgbHlSq\" width=\"200\" height=\"225\" \/>Beyond the basic nine innings of play, any baseball game carries with it\u00c2\u00a0many storylines.\u00c2\u00a0 Some are obvious to the onlooker; some only become apparent once the action has come to a halt.<\/p>\n<p>As I watched Kansas City Royals closer Joakim Soria pitching in the ninth inning with a 6-4 lead against the Cleveland Indians on Thursday, there was a sense that the potential victory would be worth more to the team than just an extra \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc1\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 in the win column. \u00c2\u00a0A demoralising seven-game losing streak needed to be snapped and reigning Cy Young winner Zack Greinke was in line for his first win of the 2010 season at the eighth attempt.<\/p>\n<p>So when Soria threw a perfect pitch on a 3-2 count to Austin Kearns, knee high on the outside corner, only for the home plate umpire to mystifyingly call it a ball, manager Trey Hillman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s show of disapproval in the dugout was entirely understandable.\u00c2\u00a0 The game should have been over; instead Jhonny Peralta was stepping up to the plate as the potential tying run. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the kind of thing you come to expect when things are going against you and things had been going against the Royals for a long time.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Too long for Hillman.\u00c2\u00a0 <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Peralta scorched a 2-2 pitch back towards the pitcher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mound, but before Royals fans could groan in despair at another promising position being thrown away, Soria had stuck his glove in the air and somehow snatched the comebacker out of the sky.\u00c2\u00a0 In one heart-stopping moment, the game was over.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And although we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know it at the time, so was Hillman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tenure as manager of the Royals.<\/p>\n<div style=\"float:right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=trey hillman&amp;iid=8522722\" target=\"_blank\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/c\/b\/d\/3\/MLB_Royals_vs_f850.jpg?adImageId=12878868&amp;imageId=8522722\" border=\"0\" alt=\"MLB: Royals vs Tigers APR 14\" width=\"234\" height=\"351\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script>Royals General Manager Dayton Moore informed Hillman prior to Thursday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s game that he was being sacked.\u00c2\u00a0 The former minor league manager in the Yankees organization, who enhanced his reputation by leading the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters to a Japanese title in 2006, decided to take to the Major League dugout one final time without telling anyone else of his fate.\u00c2\u00a0 He finished a winner, but it was an all too rare feeling.<\/p>\n<p>And so the first managerial casualty of the 2010 MLB season was thrown to one side, discarded and immediately replaced by Ned Yost.\u00c2\u00a0 Yost himself was unceremoniously dumped from his previous job with the Milwaukee Brewers with less than two weeks of the 2008 season to go, his team having lost four in a row and seeing their grip on the NL wild card under threat.\u00c2\u00a0 Both men know how it works: if the team is in trouble then someone has to carry the can and that someone is inevitably the manager.<\/p>\n<p>Hillman was one of the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcfavourites\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to be the first victim of this ritual sacrifice.\u00c2\u00a0 The Royals went 75-87 in 2008, his first year with the club, and moved backwards last year with a 65-97 campaign.\u00c2\u00a0 A poor start to 2010 was always likely to place his employment in jeopardy and a poor start was always likely considering the roster he had to work with.<\/p>\n<p>Not that Hillman was an innocent victim.\u00c2\u00a0 He made some questionable calls with his lineups and use of the bullpen this year and his manner often wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t conducive to building up good will to recover from his mistakes.\u00c2\u00a0 In fact, Hillman blotted his copy book right from the outset with the Royals. As <a href=\"http:\/\/joeposnanski.com\/JoeBlog\/2010\/05\/13\/the-firing-of-trey-hillman\/\" target=\"_blank\">Joe Posnanski notes<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153One of the first things Trey Hillman did as new manager of the Kansas City Royals was call together a team meeting at home plate after a spring training game. He then yelled at his players in full view of the public \u00e2\u20ac\u201d while people were filing out of the stadium \u00e2\u20ac\u201d for some base running blunders they had made. Now, some people LOVED that. It showed guts. It showed that he was serious about discipline. Dayton Moore would say that he watched Hillman pull that Herb Brooks stunt and thought, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be one of the great ones.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fine but \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 many of the players lost respect for him. They thought he was showboating \u00e2\u20ac\u201d he certainly could have yelled at them behind closed doors. They thought he was compensating \u00e2\u20ac\u201d he was ACTING the way he imagined a big league manager acts rather than BEING a big league manager. Mostly, they thought he was small-time. A Little League coach. And whatever point he was trying to get across, well, it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take. The Royals were a dreadful base-running team all year\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It was Hillman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcPhil Brown\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 moment (technically it was Phil Brown\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcTrey Hillman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 moment as the Royals manager did it first, but never mind).\u00c2\u00a0 The ex-Hull City manager memorably embarrassed his team by berating them on the pitch at half time in their Boxing Day 2008 game against Manchester City.<\/p>\n<div style=\"float:right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/view.picapp.com\/default.aspx?term=phil brown&amp;iid=3257613\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/2\/e\/8\/d\/bf.JPG?adImageId=12878906&amp;imageId=3257613\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Football - Manchester City v Hull City Barclays Premier League\" width=\"234\" height=\"264\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"http:\/\/cdn.pis.picapp.com\/IamProd\/PicAppPIS\/JavaScript\/PisV4.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script>As with Hillman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s act, some claimed it was a great move at the time, but the players disagreed.\u00c2\u00a0 The resentment towards Brown festered and although they narrowly avoided relegation in 2009, the damage had been done.\u00c2\u00a0 Brown was ultimately placed on \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcgardening leave\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 as Hull were relegated back down to the Championship this season with veteran midfielder George Boateng <a href=\"http:\/\/www.metro.co.uk\/sport\/football\/823299-george-boateng-phil-brown-to-blame-for-hulls-relegation\" target=\"_blank\">stating<\/a>:\u00c2\u00a0 &#8220;the team felt disrespected that day &#8230; we were sixth in the league and we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel like we deserved to be treated like that, like a bunch of kids&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s natural to roll your eyes and mock those poor millionaire players having their feelings hurt and their egos bruised; however, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not something that a manager can laugh off so easily.\u00c2\u00a0 Even if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a case of masculine pride, it matters a great deal to the manager\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s future.\u00c2\u00a0 He can come up with clever tactics and deliver Churchillian speeches, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the players that play the game and if they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t respect the manager, he will struggle to be successful.<\/p>\n<p>Even if you have the players\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 respect, success is also dependent on the quality of the roster you are managing.\u00c2\u00a0 No one expects Yost to magically turn the Royals into playoff contenders for that very reason.<\/p>\n<p>Jim Tracy received the National League manager of the year award in 2009 due to the way the Rockies turned their season around after he replaced Clint Hurdle.\u00c2\u00a0 Tracy deserved credit for getting the team playing again, but Colorado\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s charge to the NL Wild Card was only possible because they already had a talented roster in place.\u00c2\u00a0 The same can be said for Spurs\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Harry Redknapp, who took over a team with 2 points from 8 games at the start of the 2008\/09 season and has now led them to a fourth-placed finish this season.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a notable achievement, but Redknapp didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take over a poor team.\u00c2\u00a0 Spurs were an expensively assembled squad who were woefully underperforming, knowing that their then manager Juande Ramos was a lame duck who would get the blame.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, one key difference between baseball and football managers is that the former largely has to work with the roster given to them, while the latter generally controls the ins and outs.\u00c2\u00a0 So all eyes now fall on General Manager Dayton Moore.\u00c2\u00a0 He assembled this poor Royals team, a few honourable exceptions (Greinke, Soria, Billy Butler) aside, and he was the one who placed faith in Hillman to be his manager.\u00c2\u00a0 Judging by Posnanski\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s post, the Royals ownership made him take action against Hillman and if things don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t improve over the next year or so, Moore will be clearing his desk too.<\/p>\n<p>One piece of advice for him: don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t march your manager out onto the field and start laying into him.\u00c2\u00a0 That approach only leads to trouble.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p><strong>This week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s early MLB game schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve got eleven early games to enjoy this working week.\u00c2\u00a0 Highlights include probable starts on Tuesday\u00c2\u00a0by Yovani Gallardo, Justin Verlander, Josh Johnson and David Price, plus Adam Wainwright, Ricky Romero and the Reds&#8217;\u00c2\u00a0impressive rookie Mike Leake on Thursday.\u00c2\u00a0 All times are in BST.<\/p>\n<h3>Monday 17 May<\/h3>\n<p>No early games<\/p>\n<h3>Tuesday 18 May<\/h3>\n<p>17.35. Milwaukee at Cincinnati (Yovani Gallardo &#8211; Homer Bailey)<br \/>\n17.37. Minnesota at Toronto (Carl Pavano &#8211; Shaun Marcum)<br \/>\n18.05. Chicago White Sox at Detroit (John Danks &#8211; Justin Verlander)<br \/>\n18.10. Arizona at Florida (TBA &#8211; Josh Johnson)<br \/>\n18.10. Cleveland at Tampa Bay (David Huff &#8211; David Price)<\/p>\n<h3>Wednesday 19 May<\/h3>\n<p>No early games<\/p>\n<h3>Thursday 20 May<\/h3>\n<p>17.05. Kansas City at Cleveland (Luke Hochevar &#8211; Mitch Talbot)<br \/>\n18.05. Cincinnati at Atlanta (Mike Leake &#8211; Tommy Hanson)<br \/>\n18.05. Chicago Cubs at Philadelphia (Ryan Dempster &#8211; Joe Blanton)<br \/>\n18.40. Florida at St. Louis (Nate Robertson &#8211; Adam Wainwright)<br \/>\n20.35. Detroit at Oakland (Dontrelle Willis &#8211; TBA)<br \/>\n20.40. Toronto at Seattle (Ricky Romero &#8211; Jason Vargas)<\/p>\n<h3>Friday 21 May<\/h3>\n<p>No early games<\/p>\n<p><em>All the above games can be followed via various resources on MLB.com (Gameday, At Bat with Gameday Audio and MLB.tv), while ESPN America\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s MLB schedule can be found <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.espnamerica.com\/portal\/content\/index-mlb?open&amp;action=viewschedule\" target=\"_blank\"><em>here<\/em><\/a><em>. A complete schedule of MLB games can be found on MLB.com.\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Kansas City Royals parted company with manager Trey Hillman last Thursday, an ending sealed from the start. Also, a full preview of this week&#8217;s schedule of &#8216;early&#8217; MLB games<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[82,25,70,114,553,66],"class_list":["post-7929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-hit-ground-ball","tag-bst-guide","tag-espn-america","tag-gamedayaudio","tag-kansas-city-royals","tag-mlb-2","tag-mlb-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7929"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7931,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7929\/revisions\/7931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}