I've known Lyons was an idiot ever since they showed video of Maddux pitching to Bonds way back when they first entered the league. Lyons goes "I don't want to start a big controversy, but Maddux looks bigger."

At first I thought he was making a really funny joke, then I realized that he was serious.

What makes these guys think Girardi is a stats type manager? Anybody, please supply some evidence.

Has anybody said that Girardi is a stats type manager?

 Lou knows when pitchers suck, doesn't need a fantasy term of WHIP to tell that.

Fanyasy term? Please.  WHIP is as simple as it gets.

 even know that former favorites Choi, B. Hill, Ben Grieve,Mark Belhorn all suck as hitters, but hey their OBP was really good.  Big Deal.

Choi was an above average hitter in 03. Hill did indeed suck, but he was a better option than, say, Neifi.  Bellhorn had a great year for the Cubs in 02, and a bad one in 04.  He didn't suck as a hitter.  Grieve only had 36 ABs for the Cubs, so I think it's pointless to bring him up.  Nonetheless, he was about average in his short time here.

As far as hitters go, he knows when a hitter sucks, even though he has a good OBP

Ok, do you have evidence to back up this claim?

Your arguments are completely ridiculous.  First off, WHIP is no more a fantasy stat than batting average or ERA.  OPS, WHIP, VORP, EqA, BABIP, RC/27 may be difficult for you to understand, but they're valuable analytical tools that enable one to gain a better understandind of a player's ability.  Anti-sabermeticians continue to argue that these measurements don't mean anything next to a gut feeling or a knack for putting the right team on the field, and that's complete bunk.  Nobody's arguing that experience and situational knowledge of the game aren't important and that the human element of the game isn't as valuable as the statistical one, but a failure to utilize higher level statistical analysis of the game is the equivalent of going through life with one eye shut.  And just so you know, digging a little deeper into the numbers will tell you why all those former players you named really suck, regardless of their 'great OBP's' (which isn't even accurate if you do a perfunctory check of their career statistics).

Also, the rational members of this forum have never proclaimed Joe Girardi to be the 2nd coming of Miller Huggins.  We're angry because of what the Piniella hiring represents, or more accurately, what it doesn't.  This managerial vacancy offered a golden opportunity to move this team back in a positive direction, setting a tone for the next several years that would provide some optimism for a rebound from the running in place doldrums that signified the post-2003 Dusty-era.  Instead, we get a 63 year old retread who seems more burned out than Dusty did in the last few months.  Read the Tampa Bay blogs about 'Sweet Lou''s final days, and we're not getting a recipe for success.  Did anybody want this hiring besides Jim Hendry? This isn't like the Dusty hiring at all.  When he came aboard, most of us felt he was the right man for the job, and his first season seemed to prove us right.  There was so much hope and enthusiasm at the beginning of his tenure, and I just don't see that now.  I hope my dire forecast is wrong, but I just don't see this franchise doing anything right now but running in place and perhaps regressing further.  Forgive me if I'm wrong but hasn't the biggest problem over the last couple of seasons been our pitching? I'm glad to know that Larry Rothschild will be coming back to ensure this doesn't change.  

Finally, please explain to us why Lou is the 'best choice'? Seriously, I'd love to read a detailed analysis of his skills and a well-researched comparison to ten of the other most prominent managerial candidates available.  

All coaches have (had) one year contracts.

and any player with great ability SHOULD get better as they enter their fourth/fifth/sixth year. Especially when they have Greg Maddux sitting next them.

That being said, his ERA and walks have both increased the last two years. Something I do NOT want to see.

At best, the guy has gotten no better other than what age/maturity has given him. He may have even gotten worse overall.

Z has regressed every year since 04.