Where have the Legends gone?

[jaybird2001wi]

This question has often made me wonder, why have all the Legends in Stat categories and most living Hall of Famers never been a Manager/General Manager of any Major League club? The only player that comes to my head that has Managed and is part of any of the elite classes I will be mentioning is Frank Robinson.

 

The following categories will be examined: 500 home run club; 3,000 hit club; 300 win club; and living Hall of Famers.

 

Living but inactive/retired members of 500-home run club:

Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Sammy Sosa, Frank Robinson, Mark McGwire, Harmon Killebrew, Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Willie McCovey, Ernie Banks, Eddie Murray, Rafael Palmeiro

Dead but members of 500-home run club with Managerial Exp:

Ted Williams

 

Total number of players with Managerial experience in 500-home run club: Two (Williams, Washington Senators; Robinson, Cincinnati/Montreal/Washington)

 

Living but inactive/retired members of 3,000 hit club:

Pete Rose, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Carl Yastrzemski, Paul Molitor, Willie Mays, Eddie Murray, Cal Ripken Jr, George Brett, Robin Yount, Tony Gwynn, Dave Winfield, Craig Biggio, Rickey Henderson, Rod Carew, Lou Brock, Rafael Palmeiro, Wade Boggs

 

Total number of players with Managerial experience in 3,000 hit club: One (Rose)

 

Living but inactive/retired member of 300 win club (Pitching):

Greg Maddux (he now has the most wins of any living player in history, by the way), Roger Clemens, Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Don Sutton, Phil Niekro, Gaylord Perry, Tom Seaver.

 

Total number of pitchers with Managerial experience in 300 win club: None

 

Of the Living Players of the Hall of Fame with Managerial Experience: Three (F. Robinson, Yogi Berra and Tony Perez)

 

With all of these figures in mind, why exactly do players with legendary stats and other accomplishments seem to "vanish" after a decade of retiring? I know Willie Mays makes some appearances during Giants games and Hank Aaron was a front office man for the Atlanta Braves for awhile, but it seemed like a "cushion job" simply because he was a legend.

 

Do Major League teams chose to refrain from hiring these guys or do these players mentioned above just chose to decline any offer and decide living in the limelight for a couple decades was enough and it is time to hang it all up? I know Yount has been a bit conservative when approached by people with offers and he often chooses to stay home and spend time with his kids. Molitor can be described the same way. Gwynn has chosen to give back to the community by managing college kids and I believe he may be doing it for free on a "volunteer" basis.

 

My thinking is maybe teams learned from the Ted Williams experience in Washington where he proved he was a better player than manager. It always seems like the "everyday guys" get hired as Managers and General Managers.

[billyhallfan]

some of the guys you listed are in some sort of broadcasting...

 

Gwynn coaches SDSU and Broadcasts for the Padres.

[GormanHarvey]

This is an interesting question you pose...

 

Not that this is really related because these guys aren't legends or managers, but I did notice yesterday that the Nationals have 2 former Brewers on their coaching staff: Pat Listach at 3rd base and Marquis Grissom at 1st base

[endaround]

Lots of them have coaching jobs, broadcasting jobs or front office jobs

[MJLiverock]

I would imagine it is some combination of they don't want to do it after years of travelling as a team member and not needing the pressure of going through all of a season. They probably don't need the money that bad and want to relax after 20+ years of road trips.

 

The other factor is as you said the more common player tends to make a better coach or manager in most sports. I think it has to do with talent. The superstars have an ability that just flat out can't be taught and it makes it hard for them to teach other players and or put up with the inferior players. Sveum talked about how hard he had to work at hitting but compared to someone like Manny Ramirez, who probably can't explain why he can hit so well. Ted Williams tried to teach people but so much of his ability was just inate it is hard to pass along.

[pitchleague]

MJLiveRock is on the right track. Many HOF caliber players were so good at the game that it drives them nuts trying to teach "imperfect" players who are no where close to their talent.

 

Eddie Murray (Orioles 1b dude, not the former Lions kicker) was that way when he was the hitting coach for the Indians many years back. He ended up quitting because he would go home every night so frustrated that the players couldn't do things that were automatic for him (i.e. picking up the pitch based on the ball rotation--from the bench.)

 

Some people just get frustrated because they don't understand why another person can't do something that comes so easy for them.

 

The "want to get out of the limelight" argument has wheels, too, I think. I know that I'd want a break from all that publicity--as a teacher, summer time is a great time to be an "anonymous" person, rather than being a "celebrity" all the time with students and their hugging, saying hi, asking questions, etc. Being "on" all the time gets to be a drag after a while.

[TheCrew07]

Part of the reason why great players don't make great coaches is that they never really had to struggle... they had great talent and work ethic so don't really understand what average players go through. I coach with a guy like this, who was a tremendous athlete and fierce competitor but when he tells a kid to do something and they don't execute it drives him insane because it was so easy for him. He doesn't know how to teach the game because it came so naturally to him.

 

This is why I cringe when people want Molitor or Yount to come back and coach, it rarely works out that great players are also good coaches.

[Bikeage77]

TheCrew07 wrote:

This is why I cringe when people want Molitor or Yount to come back and coach, it rarely works out that great players are also good coaches.

The other reason, is pretty every manager ends up getting fired. I don't want to see my childhood heroes getting ragged on by the media, the fans, etc.

[joepepsi]

I think if you picked any group of former players you'd find most of them 'seem to "vanish" after a decade of retiring'.

 

Another thing to consider, the great players often have really long careers, playing to age 40 or beyond. Dale Sveum's last season as a player he was 35. Billy Castro, 31. Willie Randolph, 37. Ken Macha, 30. Doug Melvin was 26 when he hung it up as a minor leaguer.

 

Factor in the superstars are filthy rich and probably not as willing to go to the minors to coach, then work their way back up. In fairness you'll see a lot of former stars as Spring Training instructors.