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italyprof · 03-14-2017, 04:55 PM

Many here have had the experience: a good team on paper, but midway through the season it is underperforming and you start to get messages from players about how bad the clubhouse atmosphere is.

It is always hard to figure out what the problem is, who is at the center of the trouble, or why this is happening. You end up third or fourth.

It just happened to me in a historical league - my NY Yankees had done well in 1968, coming in a strong second place behind a Boston team that could not seem to lose a game in the last month.

We had Johnny Edwards catching, with a young Thurman Munson backing him up, Cater at first, Beckert at 2B, Kessinger at SS and a not quite ready Graig Nettles at third. An outfield of Brock, Willie Davis and Bobby Murcer. A good rotation of Mickey Lolich, Mel Stottlemyre, Jim Nash and Gary Nolan. Not a great bullpen but we have Lindy McDaniels.

No bench though: when injuries hit we tanked. So I traded some good prospects - we had Ted Simmons, for example but with Munson to take over at C he could be great trade bait. Okay, so I strengthen the bench getting Dick Schofield, Dick Green, Ken Berry and I upgraded at 1B with Deron Johnson, which gave us Danny Cater as a backup at first, third and the outfield and a good pinch hitter.

We also had drafted Andy Messersmith who now slid into the fifth rotation position. Hard team to beat I thought for 1969.

We never got out of the starting gate. Slow start, and the griping started. But this time I was able to identify it and there might be one clue to at least one of the factors leading to clubhouse dissension.

Cater, Schofield, Berry and Green all complained, as well as Johnny Edwards who could not stand the griping.

So you have all players who were pretty decent, and all starters and regulars, but not top flight, in fact B-quality. But all think they belong as starters and not bench players.

That may be a factor in this phenomenon: that out of control griping may come from having regulars who should not be on the bench, but who may not be good enough to start for your team if you have better.

So here is my bet: I traded all of the above, including Edwards, and got players like Ted Kubiack, Bill Sudakis, a young Cesar Geronimo who won't be ready to start for a couple of years yet, and strengthened our not great bullpen with Mike Marshall.

So hopefully, players who don't have the same expectation to play every day but will get some playing time at various positions will work better for clubhouse chemistry than having two real starters at each position which backfired.

I don't claim this is the only or even main cause of clubhouse conflict, but it might be a clue as to how to avoid one cause of it. Any thoughts or similar experiences out there?

03-14-2017, 04:55 PM	#1
italyprof All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 1,024	About the whole morale thing Many here have had the experience: a good team on paper, but midway through the season it is underperforming and you start to get messages from players about how bad the clubhouse atmosphere is. It is always hard to figure out what the problem is, who is at the center of the trouble, or why this is happening. You end up third or fourth. It just happened to me in a historical league - my NY Yankees had done well in 1968, coming in a strong second place behind a Boston team that could not seem to lose a game in the last month. We had Johnny Edwards catching, with a young Thurman Munson backing him up, Cater at first, Beckert at 2B, Kessinger at SS and a not quite ready Graig Nettles at third. An outfield of Brock, Willie Davis and Bobby Murcer. A good rotation of Mickey Lolich, Mel Stottlemyre, Jim Nash and Gary Nolan. Not a great bullpen but we have Lindy McDaniels. No bench though: when injuries hit we tanked. So I traded some good prospects - we had Ted Simmons, for example but with Munson to take over at C he could be great trade bait. Okay, so I strengthen the bench getting Dick Schofield, Dick Green, Ken Berry and I upgraded at 1B with Deron Johnson, which gave us Danny Cater as a backup at first, third and the outfield and a good pinch hitter. We also had drafted Andy Messersmith who now slid into the fifth rotation position. Hard team to beat I thought for 1969. We never got out of the starting gate. Slow start, and the griping started. But this time I was able to identify it and there might be one clue to at least one of the factors leading to clubhouse dissension. Cater, Schofield, Berry and Green all complained, as well as Johnny Edwards who could not stand the griping. So you have all players who were pretty decent, and all starters and regulars, but not top flight, in fact B-quality. But all think they belong as starters and not bench players. That may be a factor in this phenomenon: that out of control griping may come from having regulars who should not be on the bench, but who may not be good enough to start for your team if you have better. So here is my bet: I traded all of the above, including Edwards, and got players like Ted Kubiack, Bill Sudakis, a young Cesar Geronimo who won't be ready to start for a couple of years yet, and strengthened our not great bullpen with Mike Marshall. So hopefully, players who don't have the same expectation to play every day but will get some playing time at various positions will work better for clubhouse chemistry than having two real starters at each position which backfired. I don't claim this is the only or even main cause of clubhouse conflict, but it might be a clue as to how to avoid one cause of it. Any thoughts or similar experiences out there?