Old-School Manager Stays Out Of Order

"He's different from a lot of managers in that regard," Rodriguez says. "He totally trusts his people."

Numbers Cruncher

This is an unusual arrangement. Most managers love the power that comes with making out the daily lineup, especially in this age when every decision is dissected for the next 12 hours of talk radio. Some spend days trying to find the perfect combination in a batting order. Arizona Manager Bob Melvin writes out lineup cards for each game of an upcoming series before the series even begins. Buck Showalter of the Texas Rangers ponders a string of scenarios that involve each of the other team's relief pitchers and the potential innings they might come into games. Houston's Phil Garner draws little fields on pieces of paper, then starts filling names in each of the positions.

Robinson used to be like this. He agonized over his first lineup as player-manager for the Cleveland Indians in 1975 before deciding to bat an aging outfielder named Frank Robinson second and use him as designated hitter. It became a move of genius when the designated hitter slammed a home run in his first at-bat.

But the times have changed. Baseball has become a game of matchups now. There are too many numbers available to ignore them. Who hits best against right-handers? Who is a good grass-field hitter? A road hitter? A dome hitter?

Robinson scowls.

"The announcers on TV are always going, 'He's 2 for 3 against this pitcher.' I don't think it means anything until you get 75-100 at-bats against a pitcher," Robinson says. "The one thing I look for is a lot of strikeouts. If a guy has a lot of strikeouts against a pitcher, that means he doesn't give you anything against that guy. He won't be able to move the runners over. He won't be able to get a hit."

But even then he doesn't want to see the statistical evidence of his hitters' strikeout numbers. He taps his forehead.

"I've seen it," he says. "I know."

So it is up to Rodriguez to provide the numbers. The two men first met in the late 1990s, when Rodriguez was managing in the Arizona Fall League and Robinson was the instructional league's director of operations. They were reunited in 2003 when Robinson managed the U.S. Olympic qualifying team in the 2003 Pan American Games and Rodriguez was the third base coach. A few months later, when Rodriguez was fired by the Diamondbacks, he phoned Robinson, looking for job leads. Little did Rodriquez know the lead would become his hiring as Robinson's bench coach in Montreal with the Expos.

His job was to supply his boss with information, and he did this diligently. Rodriguez kept copious notes, flooding Robinson with more facts and statistics than the manager could ever know what to do with. Eventually, he started bringing by lineup suggestions. Robinson was impressed, so much so he gave Rodriguez the job of making up the lineup every day.

"I make sure it's okay," Robinson says about the lineup. "It's not official until he hands it to me. He will write it up, then show it to me and he's got a good feel for what things I like. Occasionally I'll say, 'Move this guy to second,' and, 'I'll put this guy seventh,' " Robinson says.

Both men admit this rarely happens. Almost always, when Rodriguez brings the lineups, Robinson will grab the card, study it, and grunt, "Okay."