It's a bit funny and maybe premature, but I wonder if he's more popular here than in SF, CHC, or Cinci? It seems some of the negatives were well-known coming into town (Prior, Wood, and starter abuse; contempt for OBP; screwy in-game and lineup strategy, etc...) but his strengths of managing egos, chemistry, and managing for the season were a underemphasized. At least one big surprise for me has his been his work breaking in young players. he was supposed to be a veteran's manager, but he has worked well with several position players breaking in and helped along guys like Cole, Solis, Grace, even Lopez / rivero / treinen.