No Cupids Were Harmed In The Plugging Of This Book

Did you know that Valentine's Day cards have already hit the shelves?

I know, I know. Like there's a guy that exists who buys a Valentine's Day card before February 13th. Silly marketing gurus.

But before you know it, you're going to have to get your girl or guy a Valentine's Day gift. Why not consider curling your significant other up with a good book to get them through those warm summer nights after new Met Jay Marshall gives up a grand slam to Alfredo Amezaga.

I have a suggestion for you: How about Evaluating Baseball's Managers, 1876-2008 which you can pick up here. It's kind of like sabermetrics for managers, combined with lots of background and insight about managerial tendencies. The book goes in-depth for 89 managers, but particularly of interest to me were some of the things the author, Hardball Times writer Chris Jaffe, had to say about the managers that have worn the blue and orange. And I noticed a theme among some of them. Consider:

Casey Stengel:

"If the Yankees were an ideal situation for his management style, the Mets were the club least suited to it."

Joe Torre:

"Torre’s first managerial assignment with the New York Mets best exemplified his ability to get the most out of his teams. If the 1996 Yankees were the ideal setup for a manager, the 1977 Mets were the worst."

Art Howe (considering how I still pull my hair out over Howe playing his infield in down by seven runs in a late inning blowout, I had considerable interest in what Jaffe had to say about Howe's Met tenure):

"New York appears to have been a bad fit for Howe."

Well, there you have it. The New York Mets ... connecting fathers and sons as a bad fit for generations.

The Mets were actually a good fit for others, namely Gil Hodges, Davey Johnson, and Bobby Valentine. Thankfully, the book covers those three along with the three above and 83 others. So don't forget to make your better half happy and pick up this book.

Makes a great Valentine's Day gift