This morning, one thing led to another, and I was looking at Buster Posey's game log for 2009. It happens more often than I'd like to admit. If you'll recall, that was when Posey was called up on September 1 and didn't get a single at-bat -- not even as a pinch hitter -- for 10 days. He didn't get a start for 24 days.
That month was when I was first convinced Bruce Bochy was the worst manager possible for the San Francisco Giants.
Well, ha ha, it's not like you pay for this stuff. And on that note, ESPN released the results of a poll of 50 scouts, front-office executives, big league coaches and media analysts (along with of 117 players who were asked a separate question) about the managers they'd like to play with, and Bochy fared very, very well. Here's each category, with how he ranked:
Best overall manager: 1st
Best at handling a pitching staff: 1st
Best tactician: 2nd (to Joe Maddon)
Best at relating to players: 3rd (behind Terry Francona, Maddon)
Best at using the entire 25-man roster: 1st (tied with Buck Showalter)
Best leader: 1st (in a landslide)
Manager you would like to play for: 2nd (to Maddon)
Most creative: Did not rank
Best at developing young players: Did not rank
Most likely to succeed: Wasn't asked in the poll ... but 1st.
Those rankings are fantastic, considering they nail the two biggest quibbles I have with Bochy. He's not exactly adept at working the younger players into the lineup (though Joe Panik and Matt Duffy are making me reconsider that), and he's not exactly a fount of new ideas.
He is pretty good at using the 25-man roster, mind you, because there's usually someone hurt hiding on it, which makes him use the whole 24-man roster. And there was that one time when he used Eli Whiteside to pinch-run for Posey in a tie game ...
However! Things are different now and we can mostly agree that Bochy is pretty much the best manager and a future Hall of Famer. This poll of current MLB players confirms what you already suspected.