base stealer in the National League with 71 and 78 stolen bases in 1981 and 1982. In May 1981, Sports Illustrated credited Boros with Raines' sudden burst of base-stealing: "Boros deserves some of the credit for Raines' base-running success. Positioning himself a few yards up the first base line from the bag, Boros surveys the mound from the same angle as Raines, notes whether the pitcher signals his move home with his front leg, front shoulder or head, and records his findings in a notebook. Boros also carries a stopwatch to time pitchers' deliveries home and catchers' throws to second." A March 1982 feature story by Peter Gammons focused on Boros' mentoring of Raines. Gammons described Boros as the "leading exponent" in baseball of the stolen base. Gammons added: "Boros is Lee Strasberg to Raines and the host of young speedsters coming through the Expos organization, constantly mixing technique and science with the athlete's artistic ability. There is constant work with measured leads and jumps and acceleration. Boros keeps a stop-watch on every catcher and pitcher in the league and records it all, along with telltale quirks and motions." In August 1982, another feature story run by the Associated Press was titled "Expos' coach lives by stopwatch." Boros preferred to refer to himself an advocate of base running: "I've always been a strong advocate of base running, not necessarily base stealing, but base running. Because ultimately, you win because you score more runs, and what I want is to be 90-feet smarter and 90-feet more aggressive than the other team." Always a student of the game, Boros' attitude toward the stolen base had changed by 1986. In an interview that year, Boros said: "The science against stealing has evolved radically in the last four or five years. That has made it tougher than ever to steal. Pitchers have quicker deliveries, step off and quick pitch, hold the ball. Catchers pitch out much more often. Now you've got pitching coaches with stopwatches timing pitchers' deliveries, while other coaches are timing catchers' throws to second base." Oakland Athletics Hiring In November 1982, Boros was hired as the manager of the Oakland Athletics, replacing Billy Martin. Baseball writer Peter Gammons called Boros "quiet, thoughtful and intelligent", while one American League manager said the move "could be one of the best managerial hirings in 10 years." Martin, who had implemented his trademark "Billy Ball"