Jason Varitek
Around the Cage: Players to managers
June 22, 2009 | MLB.com | By Doug Miller
Who should follow the path from playing field to dugout?
Mike Scioscia was known as a tough catcher and one of the best blockers of home plate in baseball long before he won a World Series title as the manager of the Angels.
Terry Francona was an up-and-coming big league outfielder in the 1980s before he blew out his knees, but history will remember him as the skipper who brought a long-awaited championship to Boston in 2004.
And Ken Macha, now at the helm of the Milwaukee Brewers, didn't find much success playing professional baseball in America, but became a well-respected player, not to mention childhood hero of Ichiro Suzuki, in Japan.
The bottom line is that some baseball players become managers, transferring their knowledge, people skills and rekindled inner fire to a younger generation.
So who will the next crop be? Which of today's players will become tomorrow's managers? And why do former players make good skippers?
These were the latest Around The Cage questions posed by MLB.com's beat reporters to a host of hardball luminaries in the clubhouses, offices and broadcast booths of the Major Leagues.
Popular choices among current big league players for future managerial success include Mets infielder Alex Cora and a trio of catchers: Jason Varitek of the Red Sox, Brewers backstop Jason Kendall and Dodgers veteran Brad Ausmus.
Check out a quick rundown of more of the answers from Around the Cage:
Which current player do you think would make a great manager?
CC Sabathia, LHP, Yankees: "I always said Alex Cora. He's smart and he knows the game. He's very involved and likes to know what's going on during the game. I always said that I thought he would end up being a manager."
Jason Bay, LF, Red Sox: "If you ask anyone, they're going to say Jason Varitek. The old saying is that a lot of the old catchers make good managers, because they manage the game when they're playing. Based on what he knows and all the studying he does, I think it's a natural fit."
David Eckstein, 2B, Padres: "I think Henry Blanco would make a great manager. He has great insight, has the ability to communicate with everybody and knows both sides of the game with offense and defense and especially pitching. If you watch him, he's very under control. He's very focused and very intense about the game. He's not a loud guy. And I think that's important for a young player, especially a young pitcher. It's almost like a father figure. I think that a manager has to have the ability to talk to players and be able to ask the tough questions. Henry has that."
Bert Blyleven, TV commentator (and former pitcher), Twins: "We've got a guy here, Mike Redmond. I think Mike Redmond would make a very good manager, just because of being a catcher. I think, historically, a lot of the better managers have been guys that weren't stars of the game. They were guys that really had to bust their tail end to get to where they're at. Catchers, they're in everything. They call all the pitches. They watch the defense. They're the only players that can see the whole field. I think that's probably a guy that I'm thinking of right off the get-go."
Joe Kerrigan, pitching coach, Pirates: "One name that comes off the top of my mind is Jason Varitek. I think a lot of people would agree with that today. He's got the personality to deal with this generation's personality. He's got knowledge of the game and he's got the understanding of how to deal with people. I think that guy would be a lot of people's choices if you asked a player today who would qualify, maybe five, 10 years down the line as a manager. Varitek would probably be on most people's lists."
Jim Tracy, manager, Rockies: "I would have to go as far as to say I managed a guy by the name of Alex Cora that I would say would be an incredible big league manager someday. He's brilliant. He's ahead of everything that our eyes are seeing on the field. He's two steps beyond what's taking place."