Yosty! A Retrospective
October 30, 2009As KL mentioned in Thursday's Mug, October 29, 2009 marked the seven-year anniversary of the hiring of former Brewers skipper Nedgar "Ned" Yost III. If Yost was known for anything during his extended run as Milwaukee's manager (besides, of course, his gross mismanagement of the bullpen and the fact that he started managing with two hands around his neck when the goin' got tough), it was his penchant for saying things that defied reason, logic, data, and, in general, good sense. Over at the Buffet, we called these headscratchers "Yostys!"
In remembrance of Ned's hiring, here's a sampling of my favorite Yostys! I've left out/forgotten a lot, so please chime in with your favorites in the comments.
This first one came as J.J. Hardy was in the midst of a particularly cold stretch last August. Ned was asked if J.J. could be considered a streaky player:
"I don’t sense any inconsistency," Yost said. "When he was 0 for 28, I didn’t know he was 0 for 28. I don’t follow the day-to-day."
And, really, why would he be expected to follow the "day-to-day"? It wasn't like he was sitting in the dugout watching every pitch of every single game, or anything.
Following the Prince - Manny tickle fest in Cincinnati:
"It’s a little bit rude when your neighbors are fighting next door for you to go knock on the door and ask what happened."
People these days. I know that when my neighbor threw his wife through the bay window, I went back to my Cheerios and crossword puzzle. I wouldn't want to get a reputation as a Nosy Nellie.
Here's Ned on Rickie Weeks' struggles in the '08 season:
"I wouldn't say he has underachieved," said Yost. "He has never been a .300 hitter (in the majors), so who says he is underachieving? He's working his way up. He's getting better in all phases of his game. For me, he has never underachieved because he never achieved up here. How can you say he has underachieved?"
You walk a fine line when you defend your players against any and all criticism: take it too far -- say, by arguing that one of your players isn't underachieving because he's always sucked -- and you end up criticizing the player yourself.
Following the Brewers fourth-straight loss to open September 2008, Ned attempted to calm the natives:
"Every game's important so you feel like you have to win every single game, but you don't worry about it, you don't dwell on it," manager Ned Yost said. "I mean, we have a four-game lead in the wild card and we come back and try to win a game tomorrow, and that's the extent of our focus."
I'll let Three Dog Night handle my response to that quote.
Here's a quote that came after Tony LaRussa duped Yost into a beanball war with a week left in the '07 season:
"These kids need to know at a time like this their manager is behind them," said Yost, who has been ejected from three of the last four games and six total this season.
They might not realize he's sticking up for them, since he's watching most of the games from the clubhouse, but, still -- good to know. (Also: I think the players would rather know their manager isn't going to put petty machismo over a pennant race, but what do I know?)
And, last but not least: Ned said a lot of wrongheaded things during his reign. The following (said after the Brewers dropped a doubleheader to the Phillies in September '08) was not one of them:
"Everybody's frustrated," Milwaukee manager Ned Yost said. "The off day will help us."
He was right, as it turned out: he was fired the next day.
What else ya got?
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