Any discussion about the Binghamton Mets 2014 Eastern League Championship should start with B-Met manager Pedro Lopez. After setting a franchise record for regular season wins and taking the Eastern League’s regular season championship then falling in the first round of the championship playoffs in 2013, Lopez got a taste of championship baseball and was hungry for more. Adding to Lopez’s appetite was the fact the Winter League team he managed following the 2013 season, the Criollos de Caguas, won the championship of his homeland in Puerto Rico.
For as long as there has been baseball, baseball fans have questioned the judgment of the in-game decisions made by managers. Most likely, when evaluating the total scheme of things, the impact of those managerial calls is somewhat exaggerated. But, there is little doubt of the direct value a baseball manager has on the mindset and chemistry of his team and their style of play. Successful baseball managers can motivate the troops over the length of a long season and maintain a positive clubhouse.
This year, it is here were Pedro Lopez excelled. From day one, Lopez publicly stated his goal – six more wins. Lopez fully expected his squad would finish in first or second place in the Eastern Division of the Eastern League and would then need six more wins to bring home the EL title. Lopez was right. When the B-Mets qualified for the summer this fall, Lopez became the first Binghamton skipper to ever take his teams to back-to-back playoff appearances.
And, Lopez voiced his ‘six more wins’ goal over and over to anyone and everyone who would listen and never retreated from his lofty stance no matter the obstacles his team faced. Pedro Lopez’s extreme confidence in his team and dogged pursuit of his goal had much to do with the B-Met success this summer.
Lopez showed unblinking faith in the professional baseball players on his squad. The B-Met manager seemed to know how to find situations best suited to help his players find success. And, Lopez had an amazing capacity to adapt on the fly. With his team sizzling hot in the middle of the season last summer, he lost one-half of the position players in his starting line-up. The B-Met skipper integrated several prospects called up from Port St. Lucie into his system without his team missing a beat.
Managing the bullpen is a Pedro Lopez strength. Lopez carves out relief roles, and has effectively developed dependable closers in each of his last two seasons in Binghamton. In the B-Met championship season, Lopez got quality work from Jon Velasquez and Cody Satterwhite, two reclamation pitching prospects taken off the baseball scrap heap by the Mets. In addition to matching relievers with roles, Lopez spreads the innings providing adequate innings amongst his cadre of relievers.
Watching Binghamton games over Lopez’s three seasons as the B-Met skipper it was easy to notice his growing confidence. In his first season in Binghamton, I sometimes found myself feeling Lopez was trying to force the action of the B-Met offense. Eager to move runners around the base paths while coaching third base, Lopez would often run the home team out of potential run scoring innings. More and more in recent seasons, Lopez has seemed willing and confident to allow the run production to develop from inside the batter’s box.
There is no question, Pedro Lopez has the ear of his B-Met players. Former Binghamton Triplet star, major leaguer pitcher and the official scorer for the Binghamton Mets in each of their 23 seasons, Steve Kraly is impressed with what he sees of Lopez. Here’s what Kraly told Lynn Worthy who covers the B-Mets for the Binghamton Press and Sun. “The key that I feel of what Pedro has done is he reached the players, and they believe in him. The way he is handling his kids is like a father and son.”
Kraly ranks Lopez with the best of the best managers he has observed over his long association with baseball. “I put Pedro up with managers even when I played for the Triplets. They made you believe in yourself.”
It’s not difficult convincing Binghamton Met baseball fans that when it comes to managing a baseball team, Pedro Lopez is something special. During Lopez’s three-year stay in Binghamton the B-Mets have won 237 games and lost only 188. That’s a .560 winning percentage, the second best of all managers in B-Met history. Only current Toronto Blue Jay manager John Gibbons logged a better winning percentage winning games at a .577 clip in his only season as the B-Met skipper in 1998. The 237 wins also make Lopez the winningest manager in B-Met history. The Lopez win total surpassed John Tomargo’s 225 wins in Binghamton.
Lopez’s 2013 B-Met team set a regular season franchise winning mark with 86 victories earning Lopez the Eastern League Manager of the Year honors. Lopez became the third B-Met manager so recognized joining Gibbons and Steve Swisher. As mentioned previously, Lopez is the only B-Met skipper to lead Binghamton teams to back-to-back Eastern League play-off appearances. And, of course, Lopez’s 2014 B-Mets won their first Eastern League title in 20 years.
So, what does Pedro Lopez think about all his baseball success in Binghamton. “The best way I could put it is, it just kind of shows the type of players that we’ve got.” Modest as always.