Bring back Simmy

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/09/2010 (5727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ROCKFORD, Ill. — Desperate times call for desperate measures.

And that’s why if I was the owner of the Winnipeg Goldeyes right now, I’d be calling Doug Simunic.

Yep, that Doug Simunic — the grizzled and cantankerous manager of the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks that Winnipeg fans love to hate; the man who has crushed the hopes and dreams of Fish fans for the past 15 seasons; the man who was run out of Winnipeg in 1995 after he publicly called Winnipeg baseball fans "dumb."

But also the Doug Simunic who has won a record five Northern League titles; the winningest manager in this history of the Northern League; the man who has owned the Goldeyes for 15 seasons; the man who is in first place, again, this morning; and the man who to this day is still the only manager to lead the Fish to a Northern League championship.

Yep, that Doug Simunic.

Now, before we go down this path any further, I should make a couple of things clear:

First, this is just me talking. Well, me, and more than a few frustrated Goldeyes fans I’ve talked to over the last few weeks. For their part, the Goldeyes, as you’ll see elsewhere in today’s paper, are absolutely unequivocal that Fish manager Rick Forney will return next year for his sixth season as the Goldeyes manager, despite never winning a playoff series as manager, missing the playoffs this season and piloting the club to what will be their worst record in franchise history.

And second, yeah I do have a vested interest in seeing this happening. Because the fact is that nothing I write about the Goldeyes over these many years gets the kind of reaction like a story with Simunic in it. He has been to me on the Goldeyes beat what Jeff Stoughton has been on the curling beat — money.

If these men didn’t exist, I would surely have had to invent them. Think Canadian beer companies and hockey.

But even against that backdrop, this is also something less than pie in the sky. And that is principally because Simunic said in an interview recently, without any initial prompting from me I might add, that yes, in a matter of fact, he might be interested in managing in Winnipeg again.

"It’d be interesting to end where it started," Simunic told the Free Press last week. "Would I be interested in managing Winnipeg again? Yes, maybe. But right now, I’m still under contract in Fargo and that’s what it is."

Now, the fact is Simunic still has a year left on his contract with the RedHawks, as does Forney with the Fish.

I’ll deal with the Forney obligation in a moment. But as far as Simunic’s contract goes, I’ll say this:

A minor independent league contract is just that, minor. Players get traded for bats in independent ball. A contract can be overcome if there’s the will — and the money — to make it happen.

And that might be particularly true right now at a time when Simunic describes his relationship with the RedHawks as a little uncertain.

Simunic is the only manager the Hawks have had in the 15-year history of the Fargo franchise, but he says things seem to be a bit different right now in his relationship with RedHawks CEO Bruce Thom.

"I’m 55, this winter," said Simunic. "I’ve got one more year left on my contract and I’m not sure if he’s going to give me another long-term contract. I’ve tried to talk to him about it. Because he’s never renewed me in the last year. He’s always renewed me in the second-to-last year.

"I don’t think he wants to dabble in long-term contracts anymore because I don’t think he knows what he wants to do long-term. So I’ve told him to either sign me to a series of one-year contracts or give me a one-year deal at the start of my last year, which would be next year."

Look, like I said, none of this is going to happen. Certainly not for next season, if for no other reason than the Goldeyes make clear Forney is their manager for another year. Never mind what the RedHawks reaction would be.

But here’s what I’d do anyway: I’d throw money at Simunic and Fargo and bring him over as my manager for the 2011 season. I would make a heartfelt pitch to Forney asking him to stay on, at the same salary, as my pitching coach — a position at which he is unquestionably qualified as a former pitcher and which he had success when he held the job for the Goldeyes from 2000-05.

That’s the way Simunic would want it anyway, as he made clear just last week he has no interest, ever, in holding both jobs as Forney has done the past five years.

And then I’d turn Simunic loose in Winnipeg to do what he does best — consistently field Northern League champions with a consistency that is far and above any manager ever, a fact that is statistically undeniable regardless of your views of the man.

I’d also rebrand the Goldeyes off the field, give them a badly needed fresh approach — judging by the 10 per cent decline in average attendance this season — that would build on Simunic’s reputation for rebel baseball and target a badly lacking younger demographic. But more on that tomorrow.

Are there loyal Goldeyes fans who might rebel, might still hold a grudge against Simunic for being called stupid, might not want to see change, might still feel loyal to Forney, who’s a good man on and off the field? You bet.

But in a city that has not won a professional sports title of any kind since Simunic won us our last one back in 1994, I’m betting sports fans in Winnipeg would be short on memory and long on forgiveness.

Winners, a rarity in our city, have that effect on people. And Doug Simunic, for all his warts, is undeniably, unequivocally, a winner.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

forney under pressure c2