I believe it was the great 20th century philosopher Michael Gerard Tyson who once quipped: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
At the time still classified as the baddest man on the planet, Tyson was responding to an upcoming challenger, who opined that he had a strategy for how to beat the heavyweight champ.
I used to think of that quote often back in the day when someone took an important role with the Yankees and suggested they had tactics for dealing with George Steinbrenner. Then rather than imagining what the relentless threats, taunts and second-guesses were like, they were actually experiencing those punches to the mouth and learning nothing really prepares a human for that.
I am thinking about it again with Aaron Boone taking over as Yankees manager without even the background of having coached or managed previously in the minors or majors.
Now, this is the best time in at least five decades to be named Yankees manager, in part because Boone gets the more patient, thoughtful Hal Steinbrenner as boss rather than his father, The Boss, plus a well-run baseball operations department and a team ready to win with more talent coming.
But Boone still — no matter how much he has thought about what the punches to the mouth will feel like — really doesn’t fully know. So I reached out to three men who — like Boone — took a first managing job without any in-uniform experience other than playing to see what was important for Boone to know.
A.J. Hinch is now the manager of the champion Astros, but he came from the front office to take his first job with the Diamondbacks and did not survive it, in part, because so many were not yet ready for that kind of route. He actually played at age-14 on a Team USA with Boone and it was Boone’s father, Bob, who at that point helped transition Hinch from shortstop to catcher, where he would play as a pro.
Brad Ausmus was fired after last season from his first job with the Tigers while Craig Counsell has been among the most successful at going from no coaching or managing experience, and is well regarded as the Brewers skipper. Each spoke by phone and offered insights that I believe form The Five “S’s” that are key for Boone to know:
1. Scope
Counsell and Hinch, in particular, focused on how many people and entities a manager interacts with daily. Hinch said nothing truly prepares you for “the enormity” of the job.
“It doesn’t mean it’s bad, but you just have no idea how much responsibility and how many people are pulling at you daily,” Hinch said. “The Xs and Os are the most public part of the job, but so much of your day is filled with managing the people above you, below you, the players, the medical people, the media and all sorts of other people. You really can’t know it unless you have managed or been on a coaching staff and seen it.”
2. Strategy
All three said, yes, action during the game and the need for decisions come quicker than the perception that baseball is a slow-paced game. But they all also said this is probably the easiest element, since if you were a thoughtful player, you have been thinking ahead about strategy while playing so nothing is new.
“What happens in the games is really the least of your surprises,” Counsell said.
Yet, each also said that a neophyte must get an experienced bench coach because it is “good to have a sounding board who has been through it, and not just for the on-field stuff and really not just in a bench coach but in all of your coaches,” Ausmus said.
3. Self-confidence
There was consensus that players will see through a phony, that the authenticity that got you the job has to be displayed to players as well. As Hinch said: “The two biggest things you have to learn is that it is all about the players and be yourself. I would have told my younger self that, in particular. Because the initial reaction with no experience is to want to share all your knowledge and expertise to prove you are capable of the job. That is just a distraction from the responsibility, which is to get the most out of the players. First-time managers are always fighting for their legitimacy rather than just being themselves.”
4. Sympathy
This does not mean weakness. All three men said you don’t want to crumble if, say, a starter fights you on wanting to come out of the game. But that it was important to be empathetic and try to understand what the player is feeling.
For a specific example, Counsell said: “Frankly, sending guys down in spring training is an incredibly difficult thing to do. The difference between the big leagues and Triple-A is great and for a guy who thinks he played well in spring that is tough to take. It is a hard conversation. It affects you emotionally. You just don’t have these conversations in any other job. You might have been on the other side of that and that knowledge should be used to deliver the message. It’s a challenging part of the job.”
5. Steadiness
Consistency of message is vital, all three said. It is important not to tell a player something for expediency or to avoid discomfort in the moment that would expose a lack of honesty or consistency later. Hinch said it was integral to have a reason for everything you do and never make a move to appease a constituency, only do what you believe is correct — a philosophy Hinch explained that was bestowed on him by Hall of Famer Tony La Russa.