Today's article is titled with the Latin expression of a fundamental tenet of the medical world: "First, do no harm". This principle easily extends to other fields. Looking over the teams that have exited the playoffs, most likely would have performed better if not for managerial error. Only the Yankees seem to have lost merely due to underachievement by their players. Arizona's loss was also largely based upon player problems rather than managerial error, though Bob Brenly did little to help his team overcome their troubles.

In Atlanta, Bobby Cox limited his team's already weak offense by populating his infield based on players' defensive skills rather than their offensive upside. A few more runs in each game easily should have given them the edge over the Giants. Oakland failed to set up their rotation in a way that would take full advantage of the Twins' weaknesses.

Poor bullpen management hindered both losing teams in the League Championship Series. However, most of the managers in the playoffs are automatically counted as some of the best in the game because their teams made it to the postseason.

The first job of a manager should be to protect his players from injury. Players should learn fundamentals, including safe methods of play in the minors, but if they reach the majors without those skills, he should make sure his coaching staff provides them with the proper instruction. Pitch counts should be monitored and relief pitchers properly rotated to prevent overwork. Players should know they'll receive substantial fines if they continue embracing unsafe practices such as sliding headfirst. An injured player doesn't help your team. Occasionally exceptions can be made if a game is necessary to win a close division race at the end of the year or in the playoffs since a World Series win is the ultimate goal. I realize that winning games early in the year puts a team in competition for the postseason, however a manager should be looking at what's best for winning throughout the season and not just on a game-by-game basis.

Managers should surround themselves with coaches that improve the team and compliment any weaknesses they may have. Detroit hired Kirk Gibson as bench coach for Alan Trammell. Like Trammell, Gibson has no managerial experience. Gibson also has no coaching experience. Outside of his experiences as a player, Gibson's primary asset is a familiarity with the club based on the time he's spent covering the club as a T.V. and radio journalist over the last five seasons. When the Tigers hired Trammell, I expressed the opinion that he'd need a bench coach with a strong managerial background in order to have any chance at success. Selecting Gibson as his bench coach practically insures that he will fail.

The truly amazing aspect of Gibson's hiring is that he's far more qualified as a hitting coach, while newly-appointed hitting coach Bruce Fields managed in the Tigers' minors for the past eight years. I've also previously highlighted several aspects that indicate Fields isn't the most qualified hitting instructor.

Bullpen coach Lance Parrish also managed a year at AA, but neither he nor Fields is in an ideal position to offer in-game strategy notes. Juan Samuel is staying on as the third base coach; he was also a part of the Phil Garner staff. Detroit is still looking for a pitching coach. The mistake with the bench coach likely means the Tigers won't win for the next couple seasons. Picking a bad pitching coach could set them back for much longer, as Trammell needs someone to instruct him on proper pitcher care.

I prefer to see minor league managerial experience over major league coaching work on prospective major league managers' job applications. Ideally I'd like the candidate to possess experience in both areas, however it's much easier to pick up on the atmosphere of the majors, especially if they've been a major league player, than to have to go through trial and error on strategy issues at that level. If an organization feels obligated to hire a coach without minor league managerial experience, they should at least choose a bench coach. This logic is the same as that which argues that Governors and Vice Presidents make better Presidential candidates than U.S. Senators because of their executive experience.

Former major leaguers, particularly those who had highly successful careers, possess valuable qualities. Nonetheless, teams frequently ignore the fact that they aren't automatically gifted with the skills of managing simply because they've been around the game for a long time.

Although I've referred to in-game strategy a couple times in this article, I'm not strongly in favor of the manager making a lot of moves. However, it is important for them to know when it is appropriate to make changes, how to construct a lineup, configure a pitching rotation, run a bullpen, etc. A good deal can be learned about these things by observing others, but hands-on experience is necessary for a manager to refine their skills.

However, as I indicated in the discussion of the Tigers, a manager doesn't need to be able to do everything himself. A manager can be quite effective if he delegates authority well. The manager and the bench coach should share responsibility for pre-game strategy, in-game strategy, motivation of the players, and communication with the media. We've long been in favor of the bench coach running a computer during the game to easily access information on match-ups.

The hitting coach should teach his pupils pitch recognition and plate discipline, preferably within the hitting style to which they are accustomed. Attempting to change a batters' technique can really upset them. Hitting coaches should also oversee vision testing for the players, as good eyesight is vital to productive hitting. Even good players can improve with vision correction.

Pitching coaches should be responsible for improving the pitching staff while bullpen coaches should focus on maintaining it. The pitching coach should work with a team's pitchers to insure they have a clean motion and can effectively locate their pitches. While hitters can maintain the style that is familiar to them, pitchers mechanics should be changed sufficiently to ensure they're not putting themselves at extreme risk of injury. However, no coach should fiddle with anyone's delivery lightly. The pitching coach also needs to communicate well with his pitchers and have the ability to calm them when they're ruffled on the mound.

Bullpen coaches should be so familiar with their pitchers' motions that they can tell within a few warm up pitches if the pitcher is experiencing difficulty or needs minor corrections. In this way, they will be able to tell a manager if the reliever should be able to execute their expected role. Each bullpen should also be equipped with two bullpen catchers. The bullpen coach should not be expected to catch the pitchers warming up and neither should the teams' second rostered catcher. However, most bullpen coaches should double as catching coaches.

The third base coach, if used correctly, has a huge responsibility. They should not only be familiar with the baserunning skills of all the players on their team, but the third base coach should also be aware of the arm strength and accuracy of all the fielders in the league in order to be able to accurately judge a runner's ability to score on a given play. The need to study other teams' outfields makes the third base coach a good candidate to double as the outfield coach.

Lastly we come to the first base coach, who should be charged with learning the pick-off moves of the league's pitchers, allowing him to warn runners when they need to stay close to the bag. His interaction with the speedsters naturally translates nicely into a second position as the baserunning coach. First base coaches can also cover the infield coaching position, or that can be assigned to the bench coach as he should normally oversee infield positioning.

The above designations are obviously only one way in which a manager can delegate authority, but I do feel they represent a very thorough coverage of the necessary components of a successful team. Few teams seem to delegate authority in an obvious manner, and while we can fault many managers for apparently poor decisions, front office personnel exacerbate the situation with their hiring practices. Tomorrow we'll review the managerial positions that remain open, taking a look at the profiles of some of the leading candidates.