Don Mattingly Goes From Fan Favorite to the Hot Seat with Dodgers' New Additions - Joe Chacon's Blog

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Don Mattingly Goes From Fan Favorite to the Hot Seat with Dodgers' New Additions Stuck

Posted on September 5, 2012 at 05:46 PM.

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What a difference a year makes.

A year ago the Los Angeles Dodgers didn�t have any real expectations. The franchise was the laughingstock of Major League Baseball and fans were staying away from Dodger Stadium in droves. Every now and then we hear a little rumbling about a campaign to keep fans away from attending games to get back at ownership, but this was the first time where I actually saw it work. I have never seen Dodger Stadium as empty as I had throughout the 2011 season.

Don Mattingly was praised last season for keeping the team moving in a positive direction. The way he kept the team from self-destructing during a very volatile time drew the envy of many from around the league. The starting lineup resembled a team Roger Clemens and the Sugar Land Skeeters could face. Yet, the team did okay. They failed to make the playoffs, but the leadership of Mattingly and the buzz of a potential new owner gave fans hope heading into the offseason.

The 2012 season started off great for the Dodgers. Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier got off to great starts and it wasn�t rare to be searching the internet and come across an article that stated Kemp would be the first 50/50 player in history. There were also predictions that Ethier would get to 150 RBI. A month into the season both Kemp and Ethier cooled off. Kemp was hampered by a hamstring injury and Ethier slowed a bit after his massive contract extension.

New Dodger�s ownership has redefined my understanding of the word massive. The team�s recent acquisitions of Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto have added a quarter of a billion dollars onto their payroll. These kind of moves are extremely rare in sports, especially in baseball after the normal trade deadline. Immediately after the trade was made the Dodgers and their new All-Star lineup went on a tear and racked up 12 runs per game en route to a ten game winning streak � except for the fact that that didn�t really happen. That�s what fans expected. Instead they are playing a very lackluster style of baseball.

Now that the Dodgers have their offensive weapons in place, the expectations of one man goes through the roof � Don Mattingly.

This reminds me of how I felt towards Vinny Del Negro when the Clippers traded for Chris Paul and to a greater extent the expectations Mike Brown will have from Laker fans with a starting five that consists of Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Metta World Peace, and Dwight Howard.

The acquisitions the Dodgers have made recently are both a blessing and a curse for Mattingly. Prior to the moves Mattingly couldn�t really do any wrong. Fans know the talent of players he was working with and they have been appreciative of the production he has pulled from those players. He now has arguably the best starting lineup in all of baseball and all of a sudden I�m hearing more and more complaints about him not utilizing the players correctly as well as miscues he has shown in his management of the game.

The lack of talent can sometimes mask the inadequacies of a manager. I have a good feeling about Mattingly and I do believe he is the man to lead this team to a World Series, I�m just not so sure it is going to happen this year. Heck, I�m not even sure the Dodgers are going to catch the San Francisco Giants in the National League West race. What I do know is that players have responded very well to the direction of Mattingly. I can�t even recall a major clubhouse incident that has taken place since Mattingly took over the team.

Los Angeles is definitely in a win now mode. Should the team not make the playoffs this year I�m sure there will be some buzz surrounding the ability of Mattingly to manage. Regardless of the outcome this season I know Mattingly will be back for 2013. If this Dodger team stumbles out of the gates in 2013, it wouldn�t surprise me to see Mattingly get the hook.

Joe Chacon is a Staff Writer for Operation Sports and a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.

Comments

# 1 seeuatthemovies @ Sep 5

I'm a long suffering A's fan so seeing a trade like that occur where we weren't the ones getting fleeced seems bizarre. Growing up, Mattingly was one of my favorite players so I've been rooting for him to get the job done in LA. Outside looking in, I don't see this really working out in his favor though. The high priced trio was moved because they weren't really producing in Boston. Right now it appears that LA grossly overpaid, but Mattingly will be the one it costs the most.

# 2 ewig @ Sep 6

This team is in a win-now mode, but now isn't this year...otherwise they would have done more to shore up the pitching. Win-now starts next year, when this lineup will have had a chance to work together over the spring, and Ned Colletti will have beefed up the pitching staff.

# 3 dodgerblue @ Sep 6

There are too many things that have gone wrong with the pitching staff for a championship this season. Bills, Lilly, now Jansen are down and early season success by Capuano is fading. They have some offense now with the deals but pitching is the big issue and a difficult ending schedule with Wash, Cincy, and Stlouis. You can't buy a championship, you need to have all the right pieces.

# 4 Joe Chacon @ Sep 6

Good stuff guys! Thanks for contributing.