Can a DC playoff run put Davey Johnson in the Hall of Fame?

There's some real excitement about the youth in Washington.
Bryce Harper is super cocky and talking like he belongs in the same conversation with Albert Pujols (even though he is currently tied with ME in all MLB statistical categories.)
Stephen Strasburg could be heading a rotation with Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmermann.

Ryan Zimmerman is the veteran leader of the team and he's only 27.

If the Phillies age catches up with them, the Braves don't improve, the Marlins implode and the Mets continue being the Mets... the Nationals could become winners sooner rather than later.

And who can benefit the most with this wave of youth and hope?
69 year old Davey Johnson.

If he leads the Nationals to the playoffs, he might have a decent argument for the Hall of Fame.

As of this writing, he is 38th all time in wins for a manager. A .500 season would put him ahead of Billy Martin and just behind Whitey Herzog.

He took over the Mets in 1984 and led them to their first winning season since 1976. Yeah he benefited from the arrival of Dwight Gooden. But it was JOHNSON'S idea to bring him right up from A Ball before he turned 20.

He was the first National League manager to win 90 games in his first five seasons.

OK, he only won World Series title with all of that talent. But Johnson's mentor, Earl Weaver, only won one World Series with all of HIS talent! And he's in the Hall of Fame.

Whitey Herzog only has one World Series title.
Same with Leo Durocher.

He turned the Reds around and brought them to the 1995 NLCS. (The Reds were in first place when the strike ended the 1994 season.)

He was dumped by Marge Schott because he wasn't married and living with his girlfriend. (Interesting morality, Marge. Living unmarried? Bad. Hoarding Nazi memorabilia and defending Hitler? Not so bad.)


He went to Baltimore and led them to their only playoff appearances in Camden Yards.

He had three straight seasons in the League Championship Series.

He butted heads with Schott and Peter Angelos who let Johnson walk even after winning the 1997 manager of the year. (The Orioles haven't contended since.)

His two seasons in Los Angeles were not memorable, but he was stragely out of managing in the bigs for a decade.

And here he is now, being handed a potential franchise pitcher and player like he had with Gooden and Strawberry with the Mets.

And only 9 managers with 10 or more seasons have a better winning percentage than Johnson.
He already turned 3 franchises around from losers to playoff teams.
And he has a ring.

If he brings October baseball to the Nation's capitol for first time since 1933, then a Cooperstown berth should at least be discussed.

I suggested that Terry Francona should manage the team. But Davey Johnson is in town and has his eyes focused on the playoffs.

Who knows?
It could be his ticket to immortality.

Mr. Francona Goes To Washington (at least he should)

Terry Francona has had a rough few months. In the first week of September he looked like he was going to coast to his 6th playoff berth in 8 years in Boston. He was the dignified leader of the only 2 World Series titles the Red Sox have had since selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees. I thought he was going to be the manager for the next 10 years, being like Tom Kelly. He was a steady manager with multiple titles who gave the team an aura of class and professionalism.

On August 31st, the Red Sox beat the Yankees 9-5 and had a game and a half lead over the Yankees. Their 83-52 record was the best in the American League. If they weren’t World Series bound, they were simply going to be formidable.

After that day, the Red Sox lost 20 of their last 27 games. They finished in third place on the last day of the season. They never won back-to-back games the rest of the season. Francona was out as manager. It was revealed that the clubhouse was a mess on his watch and his own personal life was in disarray with a pending divorce.

He was passed over for both the Cardinals and Cubs managing job. Can you blame him that he wants to take a year off?

You’ve earned it Tito. I would argue that he never has to manage another ballgame in his life and he won’t have to answer to anyone.

But no doubt he’d rather go out like Tony LaRussa than have Carl Crawford’s failed dive for that ball be his swan song.

Well, Mr. Francona (he has earned the respect to be called Mr. Francona), get your life back in order. Fix your family situation. Relax and spend the summer away from the press.

Then in 2012, get your butt to the Nationals!

Davey Johnson, a fine manager in his own right, is in charge in Washington. But he is not a long-term solution. He was an emergency stopgap when Jim Riggleman suddenly thought he was Earl Weaver and wanted a mid season extension.

The Nats had a nice September (17-10) and finished just under .500 (80-81). That was the team’s best season since they broke even in 2005, their first year in the capital. They haven’t had a winning season since 2003 when they were the Expos.

But there is talent in place. Obviously Ryan Zimmerman, Danny Espinosa and the safe and sound from his ordeal Wilson Ramos are in place.

Young pitchers like John Lannan, Jordan Zimmerman, Drew Storen, Henry Rodriguez and Ross Detwiler all have talent.

And oh yeah… by 2012 Stephen Strasberg would be recovered and allowed to pitch without kid gloves. Plus Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon will be in all likelihood on the big league squad. If the projections are any indications, a nice nucleus in Washington would be adding a Franchise pitcher and two franchise players.

And by then would age catch up with the Phillies?
Would Ozzie’s mouth catch up with him in Miami where Jeffrey Loria can’t stop firing managers?
Would the Mets still be a mess?
Would the Braves not be clicking?

By 2012 the National League East might be a winnable Division for a young talented team getting an influx of top tier talent.

A winning season would be the first Washington fans had seen since 1969.
And when you consider most baseball fans in DC grew up Oriole fans, they haven’t had a good team to root for since 1997.

Using my “You don’t follow a team before you are 7 years old” rule, no baseball fan 21 years old or younger in Washington or Northern Virginia who was an Oriole fan before the Nats arrival has ever rooted for a winning team.

So imagine what it would be like if the Nationals became a good team (which it looks like they are about to be!)

They will probably need a solid manager to hold the reigns.

That could be Mr. Francona.
And the bar is a little lower than in Boston.

It’s a perfect fit.
And it could be the perfect ending for a manager who deserves one.

Unlike Riggleman, the Nationals didn't quit

The Nationals have had a hell of a week.
They swept the Mariners in a dramatic series at home in DC. And the euphoria of that series lasted about a nanosecond as Jim Riggleman, he of a career of mediocrity, suddenly felt he was entitled to an in season contract negotiation.

Say what you want about Riggleman and I have nothing personal against the man, but he quit on the team.

And off they went to Chicago where interim manager John McLaren was promptly thrown out in HIS first game. (The team was running out of managers.)

Friday night's game was one of the wildest and strangest regular season games you will ever see as the White Sox kept tying the game on the brink of losing. And yet the National never quit despite blowing several late leads and won it in the 14th.

After a loss yesterday they were losing late before Danny Espinosa homered in the 7th and the Nats held on to a 2-1 win.

They could have easily been swept and nobody would have batted an eye.
The team could have wandered into Chicago in a daze and nobody would have been surprised.

Instead they showed some guts and not only stayed above .500 but are now just 3 games in the loss column out of a playoff spot.

Davey Johnson, a man who was ACTUALLY screwed by two organizations after leading the Reds and Orioles to the LCS and getting let go, is getting into a good situation:

A tough young club who doesn't quit.

Their old manager did, but not the team.