Kendall Leads A's In Statistical Anomalies

by louismg on Aug 27, 2006 10:32 AM PDT in News

I have to admit that for me, there was some anxiety around Jason Kendall smacking a home run earlier this season. That's not what we really what we expected, for in our mind, he fulfilled the role of "slap hitter with no home runs and many GIDPs", just as the Red Sox once filled the role of "the team who gets to the playoffs only to lose in heart-breaking fashion." As a baseball fan for nearly all my life, once you button-hole a player or a team in a spot, you expect them to stay there, and when they break the mold, you have to check your bearings and make sure all the other things you held true have not changed. But Jason has surprised a lot of us here beyond his solitary dinger, which still looks like a fluke.

As OaklandAthletics.com points out today, nobody has been swinging hotter lumber in these last few weeks than our gritty catcher.

In fact, in yesterday's win against the Rangers, Kendall had three hits, and both drove in and scored a run. And as the leadoff hitter, Kendall has done, all season, what you want a leadoff hitter to do - take pitches, get on base, and threaten to steal. In the leadoff position this year, Kendall is batting .304. But there's more!

Did you know...

Kendall is batting .329 with runners on base in 2006?
Kendall is batting .343 on the road in 2006? (2nd in the AL)
Kendall is fifth in the American league in BB/K at 1.03?
Kendall is tied for the A's lead in steals?
Kendall has more doubles (19) than Chavez (18) or Swisher (17)?

And if you somehow got the impression that Kendall hits a lot of ground balls, you wouldn't be alone in that thought. In fact, Kendall is also fifth in the American League in ground balls vs. fly balls, at 2.05. Lest you think that's a statistic for a slap hitter, other leading batters in this stat include Derek Jeter (#1), Pudge Rodriguez (#4), and Miguel Tejada (#6). That's right, Jason Kendall is ahead of Tejada in a number of batting categories!

I'm not saying I think the A's would be world-beaters if they featured Kendall in spots 1-9 in the batting order, but I don't cringe as often as I used to when he comes up to the plate with a mouthful of chaw, his helmet slumped low on his eyes, and choking up on the bat, because in 2006, Kendall has been a major part of why the A's have forged their Western Division lead, and why after the All-Star break, the team has been practically unstoppable. We hope that this version of Jason Kendall is the one we get to keep.

(Tonight's game kicks off at 5:05 p.m. Pacific, aired on Fox Sports Bay Area. See you then.)

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Comments

has anyone else noticed

that Kendall's offense improved after he began to wear batting gloves?

by OaklandSi on Aug 27, 2006 10:51 AM PDT reply actions

Yes.

They're urban raccoons, and they're not afraid.

by Poppy on Aug 27, 2006 11:27 AM PDT up reply actions

did he wear batting gloves in the NL?

"I thought it was cute," Oakland's Nick Swisher said of Kotsay's blast with the petal-colored bat

by larrysgurl on Aug 27, 2006 11:29 AM PDT up reply actions

Nope.

They're urban raccoons, and they're not afraid.

by Poppy on Aug 27, 2006 11:40 AM PDT up reply actions

never

nor did he wear them last season

by OaklandSi on Aug 27, 2006 11:46 AM PDT up reply actions

I think I will get

a pair to see if they can improve my numbers aka success in life. <ak A, why the gloves?)

the great playoff miss of 2004 followed by the good try of 2005...and in 2006 don't make me sick.

by ak_A on Aug 27, 2006 11:51 AM PDT up reply actions

Hrm

Any explanation from Kendall as to why he began wearing batting gloves? Maybe someone should tell Kielty :)

"It's never 'just a game' if you're winning" - George Carlin

by bluelightrain84 on Aug 27, 2006 1:01 PM PDT up reply actions

he mentioned something

in an interview early in the season, about it being cold outside. But I can't imagine having something cushion the vibrations from batting wouldn't help. It's not for nothing that practically all hitters now use them.

by OaklandSi on Aug 27, 2006 1:20 PM PDT up reply actions

If the glove don't fit, you can't hit

by Ray of Lite on Aug 27, 2006 4:07 PM PDT up reply actions

yea, I feel very comfortable with Kendall at the

dish. He has been soooooo good its been ridiculous. He's got video game numbers this month.

Frank Thomas is big.

by robber23 on Aug 27, 2006 11:22 AM PDT reply actions

this is the kendall that i remember from the NL.

also does anyone know if the game is on extra innings tonight?

"I thought it was cute," Oakland's Nick Swisher said of Kotsay's blast with the petal-colored bat

by larrysgurl on Aug 27, 2006 11:28 AM PDT reply actions

I don't think so.

It's on both FSNBA and FSNSW, but EIers don't get the game because of the ESPN blackout rules.

by Jennifer on Aug 27, 2006 11:36 AM PDT up reply actions

BOOOOO!

You're welcome.

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by louismg on Aug 27, 2006 11:38 AM PDT up reply actions

will MLB T.V. users

get the game tonight?

by flipper33 on Aug 27, 2006 11:57 AM PDT up reply actions

always do except for Fox Saturday national

daytime blackouts

the great playoff miss of 2004 followed by the good try of 2005...and in 2006 don't make me sick.

by ak_A on Aug 27, 2006 12:16 PM PDT up reply actions

i know

but i thought since ESPN was having a nationaly telivised game they would black it out so you could watch that. I guess thats only for FOX?

by flipper33 on Aug 27, 2006 12:33 PM PDT up reply actions

I don't have MLB.tv

but I'm pretty sure it'll be blacked out because ESPN has the national rights to the game.

by Jennifer on Aug 27, 2006 12:38 PM PDT up reply actions

i'm really starting to despise extra innings.

unfortunately it's my only way of ever seeing an A's game.

"I thought it was cute," Oakland's Nick Swisher said of Kotsay's blast with the petal-colored bat

by larrysgurl on Aug 27, 2006 11:41 AM PDT up reply actions

.343 On the Road is Very Impressive

I, for one, was especially impressed by seeing Kendall's batting average with runners on, and his road statistics.

That .343 spot on road games is good for 2nd in the American league for those with more than 200 at-bats. Only Joe Mauer is ahead.

Source: ESPN

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by louismg on Aug 27, 2006 11:47 AM PDT reply actions

Jason Kendall

...has a little Chuck Norris in him, for sure.

by kvn on Aug 27, 2006 11:48 AM PDT reply actions

Jason Kendall=Zanta?

We all know who Jason Kendall is. The gritty, block the plate with his face, catcher who is finally coming somewhat close to his career norms as an Athletic. I am glad that I stuck with him as a fan all through last year and earlier this season as he was a favorite before he came here. To see him performing well is just awesome. He is my favorite of the current A's (Thomas is a close 2nd) and has been since he joined the team.
Who is Zanta you ask?
Well, he is what is known is an urban celebrity in Toronto. HE walks around downtown TO and rides the subway wearing nothing but a santa hat, work boots, and shorts year round. He runs up to people, yells "YES YES YES!!!" and they procedes to bust out sets of 50 pushups at a time on his wrists and knuckles. He is bad ass. Just like Jason Kendall. And I swear that Zanta looks just like Kendall.

As many here know my wife and I lived in downtown Toronto for many years and we lived one block west of Younge street, where Zanta hung out a lot. I have talked to him many times and up close his appearance is very much like Kendall's.

Here are some youtube clips of Zanta:

http://youtube.com/results?search_query=zanta&search=Search

And here are some youtube clips of JAson Kendall:

http://youtube.com/results?search_type=search_videos&search_sort=relevance&search_query=jaso n+kendall&search=Search

You decide!

I say that at the very least Kendall and Zanta are related.

Rickey Henderson: 35, 24, hall of fame!

by Athletics fan and runner on Aug 27, 2006 12:11 PM PDT reply actions

Zanta = WTF?!?!

That is damn peculiar... LOL

They're urban raccoons, and they're not afraid.

by Poppy on Aug 27, 2006 12:24 PM PDT up reply actions

whoa, that is pretty crazy...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanta

that's kind of a sad story, a coma, and then losing custody of his daughter for wearing a santa hat in court...

WTF is the deal with a television station getting him banned from downtown toronto?? how the hell does an individual get banned from a whole part of a city? what is this communist russia?

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Aug 27, 2006 1:01 PM PDT up reply actions

The wikipedia article

The wikipedia article states about as much as what I know about ban (it is not that wide an area that he is banned from, about 4 square blocks). PErsonally I think that the ban is BS as he isn't hurting anyone.

I did not know about the child custody struggle.

Thanks for the link.

And, do you think that Zanta does look a bit like Kendall?

Rickey Henderson: 35, 24, hall of fame!

by Athletics fan and runner on Aug 27, 2006 1:42 PM PDT up reply actions

from the toronto sun article:

"It's 10 blocks across and about as many up and down."

that's 100 square blocks!

i don't see how someone can be banned from a large chunk of a city simply for trying to get on TV.
it's moments like this when the bill of rights looks pretty damn good.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Aug 27, 2006 2:11 PM PDT up reply actions

The sun

the sun is wrought with inacuracy.....

Although, I certainly could be wrong. I do not believe that the area is that big.

Rickey Henderson: 35, 24, hall of fame!

by Athletics fan and runner on Aug 27, 2006 2:33 PM PDT up reply actions

i don't know anything about

the reputation of the sun, but the article is rather specific, even giving street names:

He's now forbidden from travelling south of College St. to King St., and from Yonge over to Spadina Ave. It's 10 blocks across and about as many up and down.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Aug 27, 2006 3:54 PM PDT up reply actions

http://torontozanta.ca/index.html

you and the sun are right about the depth of the ban...

And zanta now has his own website.

Rickey Henderson: 35, 24, hall of fame!

by Athletics fan and runner on Aug 31, 2006 10:33 AM PDT up reply actions

Bill of Rights?

You mean the same Bill of Rights that brings you 'Free speech zones' and sees people arrested for wearing political T-shirts to political rallies?

Yeah. Thank God.

"I smell like a meadow." - Yuniesky Betancourt

by Ozzz on Aug 27, 2006 3:07 PM PDT up reply actions

yes, that bill of rights

the free speech zones that have so often been used during the clinton and bush administrations may be controversial, but if the judiciary interpreted them to be in violation of the first amendment, they wouldn't be allowed.
it's far better than having no bill of rights whatsoever. obviously free speech standards change over time...

of course, in canada i believe an effective bill of rights has only existed for the last few decades (and i don't believe it even includes the phrase "free speech" or "freedom of speech"), and like many european countries they still don't even trust their citizens to be able to handle "hate speech"...
plus of course states can even limit the use of a certain language on signs!

we can find all sorts of differences between acceptable speech in various countries, but the bottom line is (to get back to what was originally being discussed), i've never heard of a case in the US where a non-violent individual who wasn't trying to harrass anybody was banned from a 100 or so block area of a city just because he likes to be on TV and that is inconvenient for some television station.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Aug 27, 2006 3:50 PM PDT up reply actions

Point conceded, but...

..you have had a Congressman's wife removed from the State of the Union in handcuffs because she wore a shirt that said 'end the war'.

You have had, just today, two US citizens told they couldn't enter the US unless they conceded to being interrogated by the FBI, in Pakistan, without lawyers present.

A Bill of Rights is a nice thing to have, but when it means nothing at all, when your phone calls are being listened to by machines and your leader is chosen by the Supreme Court, and when people are removed from shopping malls for wearing anti-Bush t-shirts, or people have to sign 'loyalty oaths' to get into town meetings, or people are kicked out of churches because they're black... it's really no more than a platitude.

"I smell like a meadow." - Yuniesky Betancourt

by Ozzz on Aug 28, 2006 1:59 PM PDT up reply actions

agreed

Another note, in order to get her greencard, my wife , who herself is a Native Canadian, had to sign a document stating that she had not commited acts of genocide. The US federal government had the nerve to ask an Aboriginal person if THEY had commited genocide?
wtf!

Rickey Henderson: 35, 24, hall of fame!

by Athletics fan and runner on Aug 31, 2006 10:35 AM PDT up reply actions

Maybe it's just a

restraining order on behalf of someone who works in the center of that 100 sq ft region. That would be more normal, but could effect the same result.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Aug 27, 2006 3:43 PM PDT up reply actions

that's probably the case

it says some of their employees felt threatened or aggravated by his presence.
i'm just surprised that's enough if he hasn't actually done anything to anyone.

i bet plenty of a's employees feel threatened by vlad's presence...

(and apparently it's roughly 100 square blocks not feet)

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Aug 27, 2006 3:56 PM PDT up reply actions

Courts don't really give out

restraining orders without specific evidence, so maybe there was at least one actual incident, even if he's basically an OK guy. I would have to presume that's the case.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Aug 27, 2006 3:59 PM PDT up reply actions

You know an awful lot about restraining orders.

Stat Wonk Futurist

by salb918 on Aug 27, 2006 4:03 PM PDT up reply actions

LOL, salb.

Yeah, I've had to get quite a few on AlaskaA, to where he now has to stay so far away from me that he went ahead and moved to Anchorage.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Aug 27, 2006 4:05 PM PDT up reply actions

hey, what are you insinuating....

nico knows an awful lot about a wide range of subjects, from midget clown pornography to the placing of squirrels down pants for gambling purposes...

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Aug 27, 2006 4:07 PM PDT up reply actions

That second one is apparently illegal.

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by louismg on Aug 27, 2006 4:10 PM PDT up reply actions

i really don't have enough info

to formulate an opinion, but there's nothing in the wikipedia entry, or in the news article:

There seems to be no physical violence reflected in his criminal record. Though he says his ex-wife has claimed harassment. And one 52 Division detective who has helped keep Zanta away from the bright lights of the TV station points out: "He's a very intimidating presence."

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Aug 27, 2006 4:03 PM PDT up reply actions

hmmm

Honestly, I have spoken with him several times and I have not found him to be intimidating in the least but I could see how others could.

One thing that I have seen him do is go up to the windows of a dining establishment, press his body against the glass, stick his tounge out, and do all sorts of odd girations while making his, "YES YES YES" noise. I could see how that bothers people.

My point was, he looks like Kendall. Does he not?

And this whole thread seems to have jinxed JAson....

Rickey Henderson: 35, 24, hall of fame!

by Athletics fan and runner on Aug 28, 2006 8:12 AM PDT up reply actions

OT: Blanton's ex-teammate killed

One of the casualties from today's plane crash was one of Joe Blanton's college teammates.

Stat Wonk Futurist

by salb918 on Aug 27, 2006 2:33 PM PDT reply actions

That's very sad!

He died, with his new wife, on their way to the honeymoon!

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by louismg on Aug 27, 2006 3:36 PM PDT up reply actions

NY 10 - LAAAAAAAA 3

bottom of the 7th.

50-25 since May 31st (Kendall's HR day).

by haroldMD on Aug 27, 2006 2:56 PM PDT reply actions

As of the bottom of the 8th in Anaheim

the Angles have 4 runs on 9 hits, and the Yankers have 11 runs on 17 hits. This was almost exactly what I guessed in the pregame runs/hits predictions there. I think I was the only one not to slobber on himself in glee about how great the Angels are! Let's go, A's!!!

"The guy's Far Eastern. Psychic. He knows what the hitters are looking for, and he relays that to me," Zito said.

by LAXile on Aug 27, 2006 3:28 PM PDT reply actions

Wow--

Jeter has 3 hits, Cano and Bernie W. have 4, the Yankees have 17 hits and 11 runs...

...And A-Rod is 1 for 5 with 3 Ks. Yikes.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Aug 27, 2006 4:04 PM PDT reply actions