Faceball

I successfully defended my doctoral dissertation last week and will turn in official copies of the dissertation next week, so my blog will get back on track soon.  In the meantime, enjoy Smile If You Bunt.  I think Bob Geren looks close to perfect—he varies the lineup and gets the platoon advantage often, but he rarely does the little things that throw away valuable outs, like bunting and stealing bases.  Another former Athletics coach, Ron Washington, is similar but bunts and steals much more often than I would have guessed.  (Too bad there's no way to compare managers from past years—I'd like to see the faces for Ken Macha and my favorite manager, Davey Johnson.)  John Gibbons and Bobby Cox probably pinch-hit too much but otherwise look good; the Red Sox are obviously better off with Francona than Little.  Who would you hire to manage your team?