Two thoughts about Ron Gardenhire's managerial career on the heels of La Velle E. Neal's story on his future:
*Gardenhire is three victories away from 1,000 in his career as a manager -- a feat that would make him 1 of 60 managers in MLB history to reach that milestone. (Sort by wins on that link).
Just how impressive is that feat?
Well, per that link (sorted by games), there have been 680 men credited with managing at least 1 MLB game. There are 390 who have managed at least 162 games, the equivalent of one full current season. So it's fairly select company, which goes on the plus side for Gardenhire.
Being around long enough is a testament to longevity, and Gardy's stay has not been without its faults. His winning percentage of .516 is just 103rd all-time, even though he is 60th in victories.
*Because there has been so much talk this week of coaches missing time on the field, we wondered about Gardenhire and just how much time he has missed because of ejections.
Gardenhire has been ejected 67 times in a career that spans 1,934 games. That means he has missed at least a portion of 3.5 percent of the career games he's managed because of an ejection. We don't have the energy to look up exactly when Gardenhire was ejected in each game, but let's say halfway through as an average -- 4.5 innings missed for each one, or the equivalent of 33.5 total full games.
The all-time ejection leader is Bobby Cox, who retired with 158 in 4,508 career games. That means Cox was ejected in 3.5 percent of his games as well. It would be hard for Gardy to catch him, but he is at least on the right pace.
