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Andrew Zarzour figured some heads might roll after the Phillies' disappointing season, especially when the Baseball News Network gave the club a score of 5 out of 100 for its 2006 effort. Ouch! Had it been that bad?
Sure enough, a few days after the World Series, the Phillies fired their manager. It didn't take long for GM Pat Gillick to bring in a replacement, however. Zarzour was intrigued by the pick, 55-year-old Korean-born Tetsui Suzuki. He came highly regarded by his peers but with little manager's experience in the Major Leagues thus far. His only stints have come in an interim role with Cincinnati and Detroit several years earlier when those clubs cut their managers loose mid-season. He's been around the game forever, though, since moving to the states as a high-schooler in fact.
Zarzour liked Suzuki, whom many called "Teddy", the first time he met him. He seemed eager to connect with his players, something the old manager lacked. The more Zarzour thought about it, the more he felt like the old manager had lost this team early on in the season and never really did much to win the players back. Hopefully, the mood around the clubhouse would be more upbeat this coming season, and that would result in better effort overall by more people.
"Over the next several weeks and months we plan to go over our entire organization with a fine-tooth comb, top to bottom," Gillick had said in the press conference announcing Suzuki's hiring. "We're going to look at everything and examine what is working and what is not. Obviously, a lot of things didn't work well for us this season. We are committed to getting the right personnel on board for 2007 to make us a championship contender in the National League again."
Suzuki seemed a better fit for a young team like what the Phillies possessed. He was more of a teacher and less of a "good ol' boy" who gave preference to the older guys.
"For me, it all begins with pitching," Suzuki told the press at his introductory news conference. "We've got a lot of great young arms here already. But you can never have enough. I'd like to see if we can add another front-line starter or two, maybe a veteran guy who can show some of these younger guys the ropes. And we've got to stock the bullpen full of guys who can hold leads and keep us in it when we're behind. Nothing kills a team more than blowing a game late because of wild, out-of-control pitching."
The more Suzuki talked, the more Zarzour and many of his teammates liked what they heard.
"I like speed and defense," the new manager said. "Can you fly around the bases and can you use your glove? I like to be the kind of team that always puts pressure on the opponent where they are always worried that you're up to something. Hopefully, we can build an aggressive offensive team, mixed with good contact, power and savvy base-running. We've got to improve offensively. I believe we were last or near last in a lot of offensive categories this past season. That can't happen again. Of course, if we have the stellar pitching I want to have, we can still win games even when the offense is in a slump..."
It was only early November but Zarzour now couldn't wait until Spring 2007...
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