New Look Back at Riggleman Management of Wood

Great Washington Post story looking back at Jim Riggleman's handling of Kerry Wood, his subsequent ligament blowout, and how it's affected Riggleman's handling of Stephen Strasburg.

Short story: Wood doesn't blame Riggleman but instead his own delivery, Riggleman says they knew he had some ligament issues but were pressing to win.

about 2 years ago 08Cubs 22 comments 0 recs |

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What surprises me is that Riggleman is still a manager at the Major League level.

Riggleman says the importance of pitch counts wasn’t well known when he managed the Cubs in 1998. (Not true.) Wood was kept under the 100 pitch limit in the minors. Riggleman and McPhail really thought Wood could go significantly over that limit all of a sudden and his arm wouldn’t suffer the consequences? How come these two have jobs in the majors? Explain that to me again, please?

by Fraggin Judge on Mar 15, 2010 10:59 PM CDT reply actions

Actually...

… Riggleman has a point re: 1998. The Cubs had 19 starts that year where a starter went 120 or more pitches.

Eight other teams had more than that (four AL, four NL). The most pitches a Cub starter threw in a start that year was 136. 12 other teams had a starter go more pitches than that at least once.

So it appears Riggleman was about middle-of-the-pack in handling starters in 1998.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Mar 15, 2010 11:03 PM CDT up reply actions

Some time between 1998 and 2003 things changed pretty drastically.

Prior’s series of 130+ pitch outings in 2003 would have been somewhat abnormal in 1998, but they were mindblowingly out-of-the-ordinary by 2003.

MLBMilestone.com - following the numbers to Cooperstown

by D98 on Mar 17, 2010 10:06 AM CDT up reply actions

Riggs also took a really bad Cubs team on paper in 1998

and got them to the post season. He played what he had, and if you dont believe me look at this stellar roster

Pitchers
51 Terry Adams
47 Rod Beck
54 Mark Clark
44 Tony Fossas
31 Kevin Foster
30 Jeremi Gonzalez
44 Chris Haney
49 Felix Heredia
52 Matt Karchner
53 Kurt Miller
38 Mike Morgan
45 Terry Mulholland
59 Rodney Myers
35 Bob Patterson
41 Marc Pisciotta
56 Justin Speier
49 Kennie Steenstra
48 Dave Stevens
36 Kevin Tapani
44 Amaury Telemaco
46 Steve Trachsel
58 Ben Van Ryn
33 Don Wengert
34 Kerry Wood

Catchers
7 Tyler Houston
8,15 Sandy Martinez
9 Scott Servais

Infielders
24 Manny Alexander
4 Jeff Blauser
8,15 Gary Gaetti
17 Mark Grace
19 Jason Hardtke
18 José Hernández
50 Jason Maxwell
12 Mickey Morandini
11 Jose Nieves
15 Kevin Orie

Outfielders
37 Brant Brown
6 Glenallen Hill
1 Lance Johnson
10 Terrell Lowery
25 Orlando Merced
20 Matt Mieske
40 Henry Rodriguez
21 Sammy Sosa
28 Pedro Valdes
25 Derrick White

Unofficial Self Appointed President of the Castro Blocker Fan Club

by Cubbie-Tim on Mar 15, 2010 11:12 PM CDT up reply actions

Wow, Cubbie-Tim...

It’s a miracle in itself that they even sniffed the post-season with that cast of characters. They rode the rookie of the year performance by Wood, the 19 win season by Tapani, Grace being Grace, and Sosa hitting out of his mind. I remember Riggs rode Mullholland and Beck like a dead horse down the stretch cause he didn’t have any confidence in anybody else in the bullpen to get the job done.

by montecarlo on Mar 16, 2010 2:57 AM CDT reply actions

And that "riding"...

… likely ruined Beck’s career. He was hurt by the end of the season and probably should have had surgery in the off-season. Instead he tried to pitch through it the next year and wound up having the surgery anyway — that forced the Cubs to go after a “veteran” closer because they were, at least for two months, contending (they were nine games over .500 in early June 1999).

Rick Aguilera was terrible and that team quit on Riggleman.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Mar 16, 2010 7:57 AM CDT up reply actions

wow montecarlo

compared to the other teams in the playoffs that year, we were a laugh.

you are right, we had a few select who, but over all that team was not that good on paper

Unofficial Self Appointed President of the Castro Blocker Fan Club

by Cubbie-Tim on Mar 16, 2010 8:04 PM CDT up reply actions

Riggleman was (and is) a mediocre manager-nothing more, nothing less

But blaming him for his handling of Wood is terribly unfair. I vividly remember that summer and, if anything, it seems that most people-fans and press, etc., thought that the Cubs were too CONSERVATIVE in their handling of Wood. Pitch counts, while starting to gain more attention, were simply not looked at as strictly as they are today.

The real problem, as Cubbie-Tim correctly points out, was that the MacPhail had, as usual, assembled a mediocre team that unexpectedly stayed in the wild card race late into the season. Riggleman had to do whatever he could to win and satisfy the increasingly impatient (with good reason) fan base.

MacPhail has always been my main problem with those Cubs teams. He brought an increasingly outmoded, small market mentality to a major market team. He cut corners on everything from front office staff to scouting and hoped for miracles from mid-level (at best) free agent signings.

by bluekoolaide on Mar 16, 2010 12:03 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs

The question that has to be asked

Is whether he was hired specifically for that small-market mentality. Was MacPhail constrained by the Trib squeezing every nickel until the Indian screamed and the buffalo crapped or was he brought in as GM because the Trib knew that’s how he’d approach the job?

"Who ever heard of the Cubs losing a game they had to have?" -Frank Chance
"If [Ruth] had [called his shot], I would have knocked him down with the next pitch." -Charlie Root

by Clutch16 on Mar 16, 2010 12:18 PM CDT up reply actions

It's a little of both, I think.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Mar 16, 2010 12:21 PM CDT up reply actions

I've read in more than one place...

…that the Tribsters were supposedly consistently surprised by the low budgets that MacPhail submitted-the implication being that the money was there is only he had asked for it. Maybe this is just a case of them throwing him under the bus but I tend to doubt it.
Of course the paranoiac in me has always wondered if MacPhail, presumably having a percentage of profits generated, had a vested interest in keeping the budgets lower than they should have been,

by bluekoolaide on Mar 16, 2010 8:04 PM CDT up reply actions

I think, again, it's a little of both.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Mar 16, 2010 10:45 PM CDT up reply actions

I think that a bit of the penny-pinching was to serve MacPhail's ego.

He got all kinds of plaudits for his “miracle working” in MIN with a tiny budget, and it’s tough to completely change your MO, even if that means passing on every single impact FA during his time as GM.

When the salary structure of the league is unfair in your favor, undue prudence with dollars is more vice than virtue.

MLBMilestone.com - following the numbers to Cooperstown

by D98 on Mar 17, 2010 10:10 AM CDT up reply actions

You make some good points.

I could forgive his mediocre free agent signings if he had actually been able to develop talent (like he had in Minnesota) but he seems to have lost that knack once he took over the Cubs.

by bluekoolaide on Mar 17, 2010 8:23 PM CDT up reply actions

LOL... Now THAT made me laugh...

until the Indian screamed and the buffalo crapped

"Why people who have not committed any punishable offense, listen to Country and Western music is absolutely beyond me" - John Cleese

by Endrick on Mar 16, 2010 12:30 PM CDT up reply actions

In the modern era...

Thomas Jefferson is getting a nervous look on his face.

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is." -- Yogi Berra

by vonde6 on Mar 16, 2010 3:36 PM CDT up reply actions

I'm going to defend Rigs a bit.

He may not have the pedigree that a lot of big name managers do, but he’s a straight shooter and no one is more prepared for a game.

I'm singing, "GO CUBS GO! GO CUBS GO!" -- DrCrawdad on Jun 12, 2009 7:23 AM CDT

Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true! -- Homer J. Simpson

by Shanghai Badger on Mar 16, 2010 2:00 PM CDT up reply actions

In addition to what Tim said.

That 1998 team – overacheivers.

Look at the rotation – not how you remember, but look at the actual stats.

I'm singing, "GO CUBS GO! GO CUBS GO!" -- DrCrawdad on Jun 12, 2009 7:23 AM CDT

Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true! -- Homer J. Simpson

by Shanghai Badger on Mar 16, 2010 2:08 PM CDT up reply actions

the 1998 Cubs team was fun, no doubt

but it was a team of over acheivers, leading to locking up Gary Gaetti (for example) up for another year. The following year the team came back to earth

Unofficial Self Appointed President of the Castro Blocker Fan Club

by Cubbie-Tim on Mar 16, 2010 8:12 PM CDT up reply actions

Gary Gaetti-Don't get me started!

A classic MacPhail signing if there ever was one. Here you had a fortyish third baseman who, admittedly, caught fire the last few weeks of ‘98 which was enough to convince “Andy the Clown” that he’d be a nice, low priced option the next year.
As soon as he was signed to be our starting third baseman in ’99 I knew we were in trouble.

by bluekoolaide on Mar 16, 2010 9:54 PM CDT up reply actions