Davey Johnson

Sometimes things don’t always work out between owners and managers.

David Allen “Davey” Johnson (born January 30, 1943) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He played for the Baltimore Orioles (1965–1972) and was the head coach for the Orioles (1996–1997). He also managed the New York Mets, Washington Nationals and several other MLB teams.

Johnson was the starting second baseman for the Orioles when they won four American League (AL) pennants and two World Series championships between 1965 and 1972. He made four All-Star Game appearances and received the Rawlings Gold Glove Award three times. Johnson won the American League’s Manager of the Year Award in 1997 when he led the Baltimore Orioles wire-to-wire to the American League East Division Championship. He won the same award in the National League in 2012 when he led the Nationals to the franchise’s first division title since 1981.

His biggest success as a manager was when he led the Mets to the 1986 World Series title.
The ball club captured the National League (NL) East under his watch in 1988. The teams he piloted in the three years from 1995 to 1997 all made it to their respective League Championship Series – the Cincinnati Reds in 1995 and the Orioles in both 1996 and 1997. He later managed the Dodgers and Nationals.

Johnson rankled Mets management with his easygoing style. Years later, he summed up his approach to managing by saying, “I treated my players like men. As long as they won for me on the field, I didn’t give a flying fuck what they did otherwise.” When the Mets struggled early in the 1990 season, starting the season 20-22, he was fired. He remains the winningest manager in Mets history and was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame with Frank Cashen, Darryl Strawberry, and Dwight Gooden on August 1, 2010. Johnson and Schott had never gotten along, and relations had deteriorated to the point that he had nearly been fired after the 1994 season. Also, Johnson and Orioles owner Peter Angelos never got along. In fact, the two men almost never spoke to each other. On October 1, 2012, Johnson led the Nationals to the franchise’s first division title since 1981 (when they were the Montreal Expos), eventually achieving a franchise-record 98 wins—the most wins in baseball that year. Read more

Vince Lombardi

(June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970)

Professional football coach Vince Lombardi became a national symbol of single-minded determination to win. In nine seasons as the head coach of the previously moribund Green Bay Packers, Lombardi led the team to five NFL championships and to victory in the first two Super Bowls.One of my favorite quotes–”It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.”

Life is full of bumps. “Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense” –Winston Churchill

There are so many people who I have met and experiences that I have had that I hope I can communicate some of that wisdom to others. Stay Inspired.

Stephen Covey says, “Begin with the end in mind. Think about what you want written on your tombstone“. I hope that they will engrave, ‘Brooks was a man of integrity’ on my grave. B. Robinson certainly is a CLASS ACT and a very hard act to follow.

There have not been many success stories as a head coach, but enough to make me feel complete. Two of the most significant experiences was last year when we came back from a 9 run deficit with 2 outs at the end of the game. Then in the championship game, in spite of our lost, receiving the Gatorade Shower and the opposing team players saying, “That is the happiest LOSING team I have ever seen!” Play every game as if it were Game 7.

You’ve got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend. When I was down you just stood there grinnin’. You’ve got a lotta nerve to say you got a helping hand to lend. You just want to be on the side that’s winnin’. You say I let you down, ya know its not like that. If you’re so hurt, why then don’t you show it? You say you’ve lost your faith, but that’s not where its at. You have no faith to lose, and ya know it.

I know the reason, that you talked behind my back. I used to be among the crowd you’re in with.

Do you take me for such a fool, to think I’d make contact. With the one who tries to hide what he don’t know to begin with? You see me on the street, you always act surprised. You say “how are you?”, “good luck”, but ya don’t mean it. Positively 4th Street. Bob Dylan Listen

People Who Switched Careers After 50 and Thrived!

Just a few examples:

Colonel Sanders
Ronald Reagan – Win one for the Gipper
Tim Zagat
Grandma Moses
Tina Turner

Betty White: This superstar wasn’t a household name until the age of 51 when she began playing “The Happy Homemaker” Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1973-1977).

Regis Philbin was on the small screen on many occasions before his big rise to fame with Kathie Lee Gifford in 1988. When the pair launched Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, Regis was 57.

Sharon Osbourne: Although husband Ozzy Osbourne had been famous since the late 60s as lead singer of The Black Sabbath, his wife wasn’t a household name until The Osbournes premiered on MTV in 2002.

Morgan Freeman didn’t become a superstar until playing chauffeur Hoke Colburn in “Driving Miss Daisy” at the age of 52 (although he was 50 when he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the film “Street Smart”).

Although Tommy Lee Jones has been on the big screen countless times for decades, he didn’t achieve household recognition until his role in “The Fugitive” at the age of 53.

Although Chris Gardner made it big in the business world years earlier, he did not become a household name until the release of the autobiographical movie, “The Pursuit of Happyness,” starring Will Smith

Julia Child didn’t start cooking until the age of 40 and she didn’t have a television program until “The French Chef” aired in 1963 when Child was 51.