Managerial Style

Russ Smith at Splice Today, after some kind words about Tim Marchman with which I wholeheartedly agree, wonders what it might look like if managers went all Connie Mack on us, sartorially speaking:

I really think it’d be swell to see managers in Sunday church threads, making their way to the mound with a tie blown by the wind. The Cardinals’ Tony LaRussa would, guaranteed, be dressed like a mafia thug; Tampa Bay’s Joe Maddon might warm to the idea and sport a boater; old-schooler Jim Leyland of the Tigers would, it says here, set the pace for sartorial dominance, perhaps with a three-piece blue pinstripe suit, marred only by a few stray ashes of his last cigarette. Francona, no clotheshorse, is the logical candidate for the American League’s schlub award, but at least he’d be good-natured about it.

I’m not sure how I’d feel about that. Sure, anything that spares me Bobby Cox’s gut straining to escape a uniform top is certainly a good thing, but I just can’t imagine what a manager’s Oxford’s or wingtips would look like after walking around on floor that looks like this for three hours.