12/21/24
August 12, 2010
Mariners Fire Manager Wakamatsu: The last-place Seattle Mariners have fired manager Don Wakamatsu. The team entered the season with postseason hopes but was 42-70 this season under Wakamatsu. Triple-A Tacoma manager Daren Brown takes over as interim skipper. Wakamatsu, the first Japanese-American manager in MLB history, was went 127-147 since his November 2008 hire.
...and a counterpoint to the Joe Posnanski article.
Some day Wakamatsu is going to be a great manager for a stable, contending team with experienced players. He's great with the media, presents a friendly face to the public and doesn't screw up too badly with his lineups and pitching. What he didn't do well was deal with a dysfunctional clubhouse, and the Mariners this year lead all teams in headcases having career-worst years.
posted by deflated at 12:02 PM on August 12, 2010
A long look at the events that led to his firing (and whether Junior was partly to blame). Joe Pos weighs in.