Bud Black: the right man for the San Diego Padres - MLB Feature
Bud black is the second longest serving manager for the San Diego Padres. He has been associated with them for the last six seasons and by exercising a club option, Padres have made sure that he will be with the ball club for at least another three.
Born in San Mateo, California, Bud started his Major League career in 1981. He attended the Lower Columbia College for the first two years and then transferred to the San Diego State, playing ball for university in his junior and senior years.
As a player, he continued to play for 15 seasons. His first team was Seattle Mariners for who he played a single season in 1981. He then played for Kansas City Royals, a team with whom he enjoyed a successful seven year stint, including winning a World Series
Championship in 1985.
In all, Bud played for six different ball clubs and hung his shoes up in July of 1995. His last Major League team was Cleveland Indians. Black was mainly a starting pitcher and had a 121-116 winning career.
The Padres have shown great belief in his abilities. He is very much a part of the team’s plan in the near future and the management expects him to carry the team forward. Josh Byrnes, the general manager, who has known him for a long time, is aware that
Bud can build an environment where success can be achieved.
"He's gifted at creating an environment that's fun and inclusive," Byrnes said. "He creates an expectation of success and no excuses. People know what's expected of them. He's bright and engaged and helps us make decisions."
As a manager, he has only been associated with the San Diego Padres. His experience has been a mix bag as he has only had two winning seasons. The first such season was in 2007 and then in 2010, when Bud received the National League’s Manager of the Year
Award. He so far has a 464-509 record.
Bud understands the dynamics of the game and is a gifted leader in Josh Byrnes’ opinion. "Buddy has a keen insight into team dynamics and creates a great environment for the players and coaching staff," Josh Said. "He is a gifted leader with a terrific mind
for the game."
The 2012 season saw Padres have a 76-86 record though the team did rebound and had a .570 winning percentage in the last 86 games. The cause of the ball club was not helped by injuries to several players, particularly in the pitching staff.
Its most certainly a tough job to keep the club bound together in face of such difficult circumstances but Bud Black was always up to the task and showed his team the way. In the last 75 games, the team used 15 starting pitchers, still managing a 42-33 record
after the All-Star break.
When Bud was named the Manager for the Padres, his previous assignment was as a pitching coach of the current Los Angeles Angels. He was the only pitcher in the 30 MLB teams to be working as a manager in 2007. Since that time, only John Farrell has added
his name to the list in 2010.
Bud himself is aware that the pitchers were not generally expected to be managers. “I think, a lot of times, once they get out of their playing career, the focus of uniform personnel who are ex-pitchers sort of channels to the pitching coach side,” said
Black. “Not the managerial side.”
Bud Black has been an inspirational manager for the Padres and one can expect him to do much better than the recent results suggest, particularly with a side healthy throughout the season.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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