Mackanin's first two stints as an interim manager, with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2005 and the Cincinnati Reds in 2007, saw him lose his job at season's end. The third time proved to be a charm: He was give the Phillies job permanently in September after taking over on an interim basis in June.
His interim stint in Pittsburgh spanned only 26 games to end the year - the then-lowly Pirates won 12 of them - before Jim Tracy was tabbed as the team's new leader a week after the season's end.
With Cincinnati, he took a team that was 31-51 when Jerry Narron was fired and led it to a 41-39 record. The Reds replaced him with Dusty Baker after the season, though, and Mackanin again "put that warrior face back on and plugged along and hoped that something good would come of it," Shane said.
It wasn't until no one expected it that Mackanin was afforded his chance. Sandberg abruptly quit 74 games into a miserable Phillies rebuilding season this year. A young and inexperienced team, playing with renewed energy under Mackanin, finished three games under .500 in the second half, a minor miracle considering the roster and the team's major-league-worst 63-99 record for the season.
New Phillies president Andy MacPhail lifted Mackanin's "interim" label in September, signing him to a one-year contract with a club option for 2017. MacPhail had yet to hire general manager Matt Klentak, thus the short-term commitment.
Mackanin has quite a challenge ahead of him in his first full season as Philadelphia Phillies manager. As baseball fans know, the Phillies are moving forward with a massive rebuilding effort. That means Mackanin's roster will be filled with young players looking to find their way at the major-league level, and some older players who are struggling to hang on.
It's a job designed for a patient individual, because the mistakes will be frequent and frustrating all season long. However, it does seem that Mackanin has a system in place that should in theory limit mistakes being repeated. Because if they don't, everyone pays!Mackanin is fining his players 50 cents for every little mistake that's made during training camp. And it's not just the players making the mistakes who are fined either, it's everyone in camp.
"It's a way to be picky about little things, like you made it into second base, but you should've slid. You hit a double, but you coasted into second when you should've come around hard in case the guy bobbles the ball. Fifty cents. It allows me to be a real [jerk] about things like that. What, are you going to complain about 50 cents?"
The money shouldn't be an issue, but personal pride should be. That's exactly what Mackanin is playing into here. No one wants to be the reason why the whole team is being fined, regardless of the amount. The fine is secondary to the flack players will catch from their teammates, so that should guarantee sharper focus and better attention to detail.
"When I announce the fines and this week you have $2.50, a half-dozen players get on that guy," Mackanin added.
With that said, even with sharper focus and better attention to detail growing pains in the form of mistakes are bound to take place with such a young roster. According to Mackanin, those mistakes have added up quite a bit, with close to $1,000 in the fine jar already. But continually driving home fundamentals and execution every single day could ultimately pay off for the Phillies.
Or it could be the Phillies way of financing their rebuilding effort. With an abundance of youth and inexperience around him, Mackanin may be using the tip jar to finance his hidden island getaway.
It's good to see his desire to motivate and cultivate a climate and culture of accountability and conscious performance.
The Phillies are 14-7-2 in spring training and open the season April 4 in Cincinnati.
The material in this post is adapted from various sports news sources, including this blog.
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