(USA Today Images)
This is Royals manager Ned Yost’s world, and baseball fans are living in it this month. He is going through such a good fortune right now with his team in the World Series. He is 8-0 in the postseason in his managerial career.
This is bizarre in so many ways. Remember rumors were circulating he would be fired in mid-season after the Royals struggled in the first few months of the season. The Royals almost lost their wild-card playoff game to the Athletics until they rallied in the eighth, ninth and 12th inning to win it.
Yost is known as a dunce by baseball fans and in the media. He gets mocked when he tells his players to bunt often, and his pitching decisions often lack logic. Twitter and TBS analyst Pedro Martinez roasted the beleaguered Royals manager for inserting Yordano Ventura for James Shields rather than using his best reliever in Kelvin Herrera to protect a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning of the wild-card game. That decision blew up on the Royals manager as the A’s took a 7-3 lead.
Fortunately for the Royals manager, no harm, no foul as his players bailed him out in rallying to win that game. Since the eighth inning of the wild-card game, he has lived a charmed life. He is four wins away from winning the World Series.
Everyone has gone out of their way to ridicule Yost throughout his good run. Critics have said the team has won in spite of him. There are folks that say the Royals are so good that they are Yost proof. There are folks that mock him for going undefeated in the postseason. There are people that think he is lucky.
He hasn’t received credit for the Royals’ postseason success. It’s been about his players. That’s the way the Royals manager likes it. He knows it’s about the players, not him.
Still, the derisive comments have to hurt Yost. No one wants to be mocked when they are winning. He has held up well. It’s easy for him to do when his team is playing for something important. He knows he doesn’t have time for critics.
It would be sweet for Yost if he says “SUCK IT!” to Martinez and his critics if he wins a championship this season, but that’s not how he is wired. He is not self-absorbed to do stuff like this.
His temperament has been an asset to the Royals. He does not care about credit. The players appreciate it, and that’s why they play for him. They know he has their support.
He never will be a perfect manager. He probably won’t be in the class of Bruce Bochy, Buck Showalter and Tony La Russa. It’s a fair assessment that he is winning because he has a great roster, which his players make him look good. That shouldn’t be a crime for any manager. Managers or coaches win when they have best players. That will never change.
As great as Bochy, Showalter and La Russa are, they will be the first to tell you they need players to win for them to be successful.
While America is rooting for the Royals because of their underdog status, I am rooting for them because of Yost. It would make these people squirm just to see him win it all. It would reveal what type of people they are to make fun of Yost when he wins it all.
Yost is an easy guy to root for when he has handled his good fortune with class. He does not say much. He gets out of the way. He heaps praise on his bosses and players for his team’s success. He does not give anyone the vibe that he knows more about baseball than others as managers like Joe Maddon and Joe Girardi like to display.
There should be a movie about him if he wins a championship. His run makes it such a good story. It would be interesting to find out how he handles success and adversity.
Being Ned Yost is cool right now. He is four wins away from winning a championship. He is living the dream right now.
He hopes no one wakes him up anytime soon.
Sure, critics can make fun of him, but they can only wish they are living the life he is living right now.
Contact or Follow Leslie Monteiro: @LightRodWriter
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Leslie Monteiro
Leslie is a contributor for Lightning Rod Sports. He covered high school sports in Bergen County out in North Jersey, and has written op-ed columns on sports such as Bleacher Report and NY Sports Digest.
