[Paulie123]

The Oakland Telegraph
3 September 2031
Beane and D'Manager tensions erupt in public as A's lose to Seattle
By R. G. Bargy, disagreements correspondent

Oakland's GM Paulie Beane and field manager Phil D'Manager have always had a working relationship punctuated by what they term "creative tension discussions" but what you and I would call "arguments". Generally, the frequency of their arguments has ebbed and flowed in inverse proportion to the team's level of success. The A's sensational success over the last decade has meant the two men have kept a lid on them to an extent, and avoided much vitriol and animosity. But last night it was different. The A's are going great guns, they're 84-49, the best record in all of baseball, and 17 games clear in the American League West. Yet there it was, in full public view down on the field: a standing row between them at the end of the 2nd inning.

In hindsight, there was a clear hint beforehand that something might be up. Beane travelled with the team to Seattle for the game. Normally, he studiously avoids watching games even on television, let alone attending matches, let alone attending matches away from home. The division of responsibilities between the two men has been well-established, and wildly successful, for many years. Beane deals with all the team's rosters, transactions and financial matters. Beane sets the depth charts and lineups. D'Manager is responsible for all the in-game substitutions and strategy.

Last night's dispute centred over D'Manager's other responsibility, which is, or rather was, to tweak the lineup and fielding positions as necessary when a backup comes in for a starter. Yesterday, the regular shortstop, fast-improving club stalwart Liam Brown, needed a rest, so infield backup Max Scherzer Jr took his place in the lineup. Scherzer is a dynamic, gold glove standard defender at third base. He has all the tools to play shortstop, but virtually no practical experience at the position. Rather than shuffle the versatile Juan Jimenez from third to shortstop, and play Scherzer at third, the obvious move, D'Manager in his wisdom decided to keep Scherzer at short.

Big mistake. In the bottom of the 2nd, with the A's leading 1-0, all-star pitcher Carl Bates gave up 6 runs. The problem for D'Manager was, they were all unearned, after Scherzer made two bad errors. A visibly irate Beane thumped the window of his executive box at Safeco Field, nearly smashing it with his bare hands, and stormed down to pitchside. After relief pitcher Gonzalo Avila finally got the A's out of the inning, Beane and D'Manager argued furiously in the dugout, fingers pointing, cheeks all red, spittle flying all over each other's faces. Snapping a baseball bat with rage as he left the playing arena, Beane stormed off, and then failed to reappear in his executive box. When the A's next came out to field in the bottom of the 3rd, suddenly Jimenez had moved to shortstop and Scherzer was at third. Oakland's lineup rallied superbly, with first baseman Luis Trujillo going 4-5 with a home run and 5 RBIs, but the damage had been done, and they went down 7-6. What should have been a sauntering 6-1 victory was a horrible loss.

Oakland released a statement after the game, farcically claiming that some of Beane's and D'Manager's antics had "been largely theatrical to entertain the fans, honest." But the statement also made clear that from now on, Beane would have the final say on the lineup and fielding positions for each game, with D'Manager focusing fully on in-game strategies and substitutions only. Has the two men's relationship suffered irreparable damage from this episode?