Meet Macha

Yesteday, the Milwaukee Brewers announced Ken Macha as their new manager.

Doug Melvin, who knows what it's like to be fired in the sometimes unfair world of major-league baseball, saw no reason to hold that against Ken Macha.

"I got let go myself," said Melvin, the general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, who was dismissed from that same position after a relatively successful run with the Texas Rangers.

"I'm a big believer in second chances."

To the Brewer blogs!

Brew Crew Ball

Of the three finalists, Macha is by far my favorite. We may have been able to do better, but if we're choosing only from experienced big-league managers with recent success, there aren't many guys I'd rather have.

Right Field Bleachers

Macha’s last gig came as manager of the Oakland Athletics where he led the team to a 368-280 regular season record over four seasons (2003-2006). The A’s also won two AL West titles under Macha during that period.

Congrats, Ken. I’m glad to have you aboard.

Now let the offseason begin!

There is also this roundtable post with the writers at RFB and their reaction to the move.

The Brew Town Beat has this:

I like the move on the surface, but there are a few interesting back stories to keep in mind.

I like the move because during his time in Oakland, Macha never finished lower than second place, and twice he won the AL West. By no means were those A's teams chalked full of All-Stars, but he did have a very good starting rotation.

Macha is a low key guy who has a reputation for being a good bullpen manager, something desperately needed here - although it should be noted that having a rotation of Mulder, Zito and Hudson all in their prime makes anyone look like a genius when it comes to handling bullpens.

View From Bernie's Chalet

Ken Macha Named New Brewers Manager: "The Manager's Job Is Not To Always Be Buddies With The Players"

That quote above was how Ken Macha answered the first question asked of him at the press conference today when Doug Melvin announced him as the 16th Manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. Let me just say WOW, what a breath of fresh air! I could never imagine Ned Yost saying something like that. Macha also talked about things like OBP, putting the best lineup on the field and if players are not producing, they won't play. He seems to be quite the opposite of Ned Yost and that is going to be a great thing for the Brewers.

Chuckie Hacks

I found it sort of fascinating to browse through the "Fire Ken Macha" blog that Woz linked to below.

If you scroll through the posts on that blog, a couple of the complaints lodged by these particular A's fans (at least I presume they were fans in between all the bitching) struck me as familiar.

1. He left marginal pitchers in the game too long, only to get rocked.

2. He didn't manage his bullpen well.

3. He didn't communicate with his players (sweet quote from Adam Melhuse, backup catcher, with whom Macha apparently just stopped speaking altogether).

4. He was too rigid in his lineups.

5. He went with the starting catcher too much.

Before getting all caught up in Macha's perceived warts and thinking we've got Ned Yost, version 2.0, we should probably try to exercise a little perspective here. Consider the source. These guys hated Macha and blogged with a pretty clear agenda, which had to slant their world view just a little bit. We're all told that Billy Beane-ius ran that team anyway, which is what led Macha to the door. Maybe this is what all fans complain about when they want their manager gone.

The Bucky Channel

He turned down a chance to manage the Milwaukee Brewers in 2003, but now they are apparently good enough to take a job with for 2009. I'm not really holding a grudge or anything, I just think that should be known. Regardless, I think the hiring of Ken Macha is a pretty good move.

It appears as if Macha was really the guy Melvin wanted all along. Personally, I would have been happy with any of them. Bob Brenly won a World Series with the Diamondbacks, but now he'll go back to the booth at WGN. I wonder how bitter he will be in those broadcasts against the Brewers. Willie Randolph really never had a chance, but I was kind of pulling for him, if I had to pick one of them. But again, I'm alright with Macha.

Melvin wanted to offer the job to Ken Macha in 2003, but Macha was instead offered the job with the A's, as he was already their bench coach. In his four years there, he went 386-280 and reached the 2006 ALCS, after which he was promptly fired.