Three Outstanding Managers

Joe Torre, is joined by Bobby Cox and Tony LaRussa as the newest members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Each won more than 2,000 games in careers that spanned more than four decades. Torre became the fifth manager to win at least four World Series titles. Cox led Atlanta to an unprecedented 14 straight division titles, including the 1995 World Series championship. La Russa (below) grabbed championships with Oakland and St. Louis and is credited with creating the modern structure of bullpens.  
No problems with those results -- and I was impressed that all three skippers' credentials were strong enough to earn unanimous votes (keep in mind, this was a panel of 16, not several hundred). But those left on the outside -- especially Marvin Miller and George Steinbrenner -- deserved more support. While each had many detractors and critics, no one can dispute their place as movers and shakers, with Miller properly and legally establishing the true market value of a player's services and Steinbrenner reactivating the Yankee brand and being a pioneer in maximizing revenue from regional cable TV -- a move copied by every other franchise. That looks a heck of a lot stronger than the resume of, say, a Joe Cronin.

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