This week, NYP TV Sports’ Andrew Marchand spoke with new ESPN baseball analyst Larry Bowa. Bowa, 59, was fired last year as Phillies manager after four seasons.
Q: How hard a transition do you think you will have from the field to broadcasting?
A: I think it will be difficult, but so far it’s been OK because I have been busy with the XM Radio and ESPN stuff. Once the season starts, no question, because this is the first time I have been out of uniform since 1966. The Marlins wanted me to be their bench coach, but I had some personal things going on in my life. I just thought I had to take a step back. In the long run, maybe sitting out a year, and looking from a different perspective [might be good.]
Q: Obviously you would envy Joe Torre because of the talent he has around him, but for him, it is either winning a World Series or failure. How difficult is that?
A: I was only in it once. I wasn’t in that seat. Last year, it was either get to the playoffs or get fired. It doesn’t matter if you have injuries or not. That is a tough seat to be in, but I think Joe Torre handles it great. I think George Steinbrenner – a lot of people don’t like the way he runs it – is great for baseball. He wants to win. He lets everyone on the team, the manager, the coaches, the players, the city, [know] that, “You know what? I’m going to win at all costs.”
Q: Last year in Philadelphia, there was a lot of focus on you. What is the biggest misperception of Larry Bowa?
A: You hear writers say, “an in-your-face-type” manager. I don’t think, after my first year there, I did anything that wasn’t in my office. I let the players run their own clubhouse. I let them do their thing. They liked one another. They played hard.
Q: As a manager, you have a feel of what guys on your team and other teams are doing. Did you feel last year, with the new policy, steroids were cut down?
A: I think they were cut down from the year before. My first year as the Phillies manager, in 2001, I saw guys getting real big, real fast. These athletes are good. They are faster and stronger. When you see a guy who, after they make the last out in October, comes back in February and they have put on 30 to 35 pounds, with no fat, I don’t care what type of program you are on, it is almost impossible to do that.
Q: Did you ever confront a player?
A: I’ve asked somebody. I’m not going to give you his name. I asked him because of the health issue. He told me, “No.” I believed him, and that was the way it was.
