I missed this in yesterday's Chron: Carney Lansford wishes his successor good luck, because he's going to need it. Baggs talked to Lansford, too, and got quotes like this:
"A major league player should not be as poor at [situational hitting] as we were in my two years. Do I take it personally? Of course I do. I know it cost us games. I'm a human being. I'm not a machine. But I'll sleep good at night knowing I took my best shot."I recommend reading both articles. It was kind of weird that Lansford took time to talk to both reporters on the day of his father-in-law's funeral. He must have really needed to get all that off his chest. Or he must have really needed to defend himself publicly as he starts to search for a new job, which he said he doesn't need. Or both.
When the Giants trot out their next hitting coach, expect to hear all sorts of talk about the new guy's track record in doing this or that (especially if it's Hensley Meulens and his work with Eugenio Velez, which we've already started to see floated in the press -- and which is basically a bunch of hand-waving, as I noted two days ago). Whatever the Giants say, remember Lansford's words: "I wish I had more offense to work with, but I had what I had. I don't know what I would've done differently."
