Rantings and Ramblings for a Wednesday Morning
by baseballgirl on Aug 15, 2007 9:23 AM PDT
in News
80 comments
After the fairly fun, exciting, solid win last night, I have been more positive about some of these A’s players than I have in a long time. Jack Cust (the III, which to our announcers last night, seemed to be the most important fact about him), has had an almost fairy-tale entrance back into the big leagues this year, clubbing two more impressive homeruns last night, and somehow managing to play the field without making the ‘Not Top Ten’ highlight reel. His father (Jack Cust, Jr.) must be proud. And must not be getting any sleep when the A’s are playing at home, since he’s on the other coast. Actually, from the stories they tell about his father, I’m kind of surprised he hasn’t taken the season off to come watch his son in person, every game.
What can be done for Travis Buck? How different the season may have been if he had been able to play the majority of the games. At any rate, he’d be making a serious bid for Rookie of the Year, and may have even helped the A’s woeful offense earlier in the year. As it is, in 79 games, he is batting .289 with seven homeruns and 34 RBI’s. That’s a good rookie season by anyone’s standards. But he needs to get healthy. Is surgery a possibility? Will he ‘rehab’ and then wait until Spring Training to decide to go under the knife?
Oh wait...that was Mark Kotsay, who has apparently has replaced Jason Kendall as the offensive black hole on the team. I cringe when he comes up to bat, but I’d rather have him in center than Swisher.
And speaking of players who have refused surgery over the years, Chavez is missing and presumed dead. Let’s all take a moment to mourn the loss of the consecutive Gold Glove streak, because he’s not winning it this year.
But Mark Ellis may be the dark horse surprise. Batting .262 with sixteen homeruns, and 55 RBI’s, he’s quietly put together a nice season. Although one should absolutely have nothing to do with the other, except maybe as it relates to playing time, Ellis probably would have helped his bid for the Gold Glove last year with these offensive numbers.
And let’s give a big Oakland welcome to another Jack; Jack Hannahan, who has an interesting story, to say the least.
And not for the first time, but I’m asking the question: What does Donnie Murphy have to do to flat-out replace Crosby? I’m okay with that move, even with the small sample size of 26 games.
I’ll sum up with one last question: Has anyone noticed what is up with our announcers lately? Between making up the ‘Jason Kendall phenomenon’, dissecting the naming conventions of Jack Cust III, Jr. and Sr., they have somehow found the time to marvel every 16 seconds at the mystery of how bad the White Sox are. They are positively Joe Morgan-eque lately. From FJM:
Matt (Watertown, NY): Where do you put the blame for the fall of the White Sox this year? I'm blaming injuries for our demise.. Erstad, Podsednik, Crede, and Dye have been injured, hurting our offense!
Joe Morgan: A lot of it has to do with injuries, but every team has injuries. Every team. That's not a good enough excuse. I'm not sure of what's going on there, but injuries is not the main problem there. It's contributed to their downfall. All those good players with proven records all of a sudden can't hit. I'm not close enough to the situation to put my finger on the exact cause.
KT: If you are a regular reader of our blog, you would know -- from a post not too far down on this page -- that PECOTA had the ChiSox at 72-90 this year. A computer knew that this was going to happen, Joe. A computer.
The reasons are many and readily evident. Joe Crede came back to earth and got injured. Jermaine Dye is not nearly as good as he looked in 2006. Thome is 36. Konerko is 32 and declining already. Toss in a few pitching woes here and there (their staff is pretty old, too) and you have a disaster on your hands.
I stopped short of emailing our announcers the PETCOTA prediction for the White Sox this year. My personal opinion says that our announcers either perform much better when the A’s are winning, or I pay less attention to the details the more I care about the game. But lately...man.
The A’s take on the White Sox again tonight at 7:05. Join us back here for all the action!
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howdy
HI!!! BBG
by Satchmo22 on Aug 15, 2007 9:21 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Hi!!!!
by baseballgirl on Aug 15, 2007 9:21 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
And one more thing...
How unbelievably frustrating is it that we can score runs now, but wasted all that awesome, awesome pitching earlier in the year?
Maddening.
by baseballgirl on Aug 15, 2007 9:21 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Our new offense
Yeah, I'm with you on the frustration, but if you think about it, our offensive "resurgance" makes complete sense. You replace a few black holes with guys who, while not great, are certainly improvements, and you have a better team already:
Murphy over Crosby
Suzuki/Bowen over Kendall
Swisher over Johnson (this has a domino effect, because it allows Swisher, Cust, Buck, and Stewart to all play at once)
Chavez has been replaced by guys who are putting up roughly the same numbers (as pathetic as that is for Chavez) though I guess you could argue that replacing Chavez's all or nothing, strikeout half the time approach with more varied approaches (Scutaro, etc.) has helped the team.
by Crosbino on Aug 15, 2007 9:55 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
To the extent that Chavez
is "not clutch" (which is even true statistically this year) and Scutaro is (he is one of the only guys hitting well with RISP), I'd say there has indeed been an offensive upgrade at 3B as well. Essentially, at several positions guys who were sucking all the time have been replaced by guys who only suck some of the time!
by Nico on Aug 15, 2007 9:58 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
That's all it takes!
Only truly special players like Kendall and Kotsay can suck ALL of the time. Most A's players only suck at a 75-85% clip, which is somewhat encouraging.
Also, this notion of "clutch" hitting and Chavez ...
I know we'd like to say that clutch hitting doesn't exist, in so far that from year to year there is generally little carryover in RISP/late innings stats. However, when these stats DO in fact carry over year to year (and in the playoffs), as they have with Chavez, it might be time to admit that yes, some players are just simply NOT clutch players. Doesn't mean that he will NEVER get a big hit, but getting one once in a very long while does not disprove the notion that he is not clutch.
by Crosbino on Aug 15, 2007 10:04 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Defensively, on the other hand,
it's been a huge downgrade, to put it mildly. It's kind of painful to watch Scutaro fail to get to balls I'm confident Chavez would have gotten, and throw so many errant balls to -- or, rather, in the general direction of -- first base.
by Ray of Lite on Aug 15, 2007 10:35 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Hence the correlation
between runs scored and runs allowed. The variables are not independent.
by MobiusKlein on Aug 15, 2007 4:42 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
And just imagine
if Cust is in the lineup all yearwith his current stats.
I snagged this little tidbit from S. Slusser @ the SF Chronicle. Check it out and compare Upper Cust to the likes of Big Poppy even.
Enjoy:
Cust on a power surge
Since joining the A's in the first week of May, Jack Cust has been on a power tear. Here's how he stacks up in home runs and RBIs with some other DH-types:
Player AB HR RBI
Gary Sheffield, Tigers 408 24 71
Jack Cust, A's 260 20 63
David Ortiz, Red Sox 402 19 71
Travis Hafner, Indians 395 18 70
Frank Thomas, Blue Jays 383 18 69
Jim Thome, White Sox 295 18 59
Sammy Sosa, Rangers 345 16 72
Raul Ibañez, Mariners 406 11 74
very nice, eh?.
by mrod on Aug 15, 2007 11:04 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
you mean Big Papi
this is Big Poppy
by ArakSOT on Aug 15, 2007 11:15 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
:(
by Poppy on Aug 15, 2007 11:17 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I love you, Big Poppy!
by ArakSOT on Aug 15, 2007 11:18 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
by Poppy on Aug 15, 2007 11:32 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Even Joe Morgan knows
the White Sox would be over .500 right now if they just bunted a bit more and had a slightly grittier catcher.
Donnie Murphy lacks Crosby's range but he has just as good an arm and is already a better hitter, and he shows signs of actually being able to adjust and improve. Conclusion: He is already an upgrade over Crosby with the potential to get better. Barring trades, Murphy should enter 2008 as the starter Crosby tries to supplant, not the other way around.
by Nico on Aug 15, 2007 9:33 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Okay, I can buy this on Murphy
I don't know what it is about Crosby, but he definitely needs to come in with "no pressure" to create MLB-acceptable stats.
He's a guy who's past failures haunt him more (relatively) than the big majority of other players. He is the prototypical "change of scenery" candidate (example: Jason Kendall! Much better batting!).
So, will Crosby move to the Cubs???
by One won lost won on Aug 15, 2007 9:41 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Couldn't agree more.
Murphy does show that he is willing to make adjustments. He is a much better hitter now than he was in his first game.
I can't say the same for Crosby.
by baseballgirl on Aug 15, 2007 9:51 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
In fairness, though, that first game
Crosby was fighting gas from a dinner at Applebees. I think he just needs another full year--maybe two--to prove what he can do when he's not bloated.
by Nico on Aug 15, 2007 9:56 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
in the minors or some other team maybe?
If Bobby is gonna let out bunch of gas... Not here, please!
by asfansince1989 on Aug 15, 2007 2:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Agreed
But I still think that barring a trade, Crosby enters 2008 as the starter. I hate it too, but I don't think Billy can stomach benching his soon-to-be expensive shortstop, especially with, what, 3 more years on his contract after this one?
Billy NEEDS Crosby to play and play productively if a) Crosby will become the player we need him to be or b) Billy is going to trade him for anything at all.
I agree that the chances of Crosby playing better seem miniscule, but I still contest that as long as he is on this team, he will play.
Anyone hoping for Billy to spin Crosby Ben Grieve-like needs to remember that Grieve was still putting up pretty good numbers when Billy traded him. Billy recognized the downhill progression, but traded him at his close-to-peak value. This isn't the case right now with Crosby. Maybe the Nationals will take him (because Bowden's an idiot) but I can't imgagine anyone else being so stupid.
by Crosbino on Aug 15, 2007 10:00 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
What gives me hope
is that the A's were able to move Kendall when he was too feeble-hitting, overpaid and on the decline, and actually get something in return. But yeah, if Crosby's on the roster he's not going to be the backup, he's going to play. Poorly.
by Nico on Aug 15, 2007 10:03 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, but
Kendall has far more "gameritude" than Crosby. He has a higher perceived value as a gamer than he does as an actual, functional baseball player, and these guys will ALWAYS have value, if only at the trade deadline, when teams are looking for a bit more grit ...
Crosby has "untalented hackitude," which, unfortunately, will never be in demand.
by Crosbino on Aug 15, 2007 10:06 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Except that PECOTA
predicted the White Sox offense would be good, while the White Sox pitching would be bad; for example, PECOTA predicted Buehrle would have a weighted mean ERA of 4.83 and a 50th percentile ERA of 4.90. In reality: ERA 3.34. Buerhle has exceed PECOTA's 90th percentile prediction.
PECOTA predicted John Danks would have a weighted mean ERA of 5.53, 50th percentile of 5.64, while only throwing 110 innings. In reality: 5.22 ERA and already 122IP.
PECOTA's prediction for Dye: 280-352-516, 298 EQA. In reality: 245-309-497, 260 EQA.
PECOTA predicted Konerko would have a 302 EQA, and would put up 278-363-512, in reality: 281 EQA, 263-353-495.
So yeah, PECOTA "predicted" the White Sox' demise.
Unlike FJM, at least Morgan was willing to admit that he has no idea what is going on with the White Sox.
by rfloh on Aug 15, 2007 9:40 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Or our announcers, for that matter.
I didn't hate JM's answer.
by baseballgirl on Aug 15, 2007 9:51 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
The problem with Morgan
is that from reading and listening to his other stuff, it becomes clear that the reason why he has no idea is that he knows absolutely nothing about baseball, because he never watches any games or reads anything. Remember, this is a man who claimed on Sunday that Pat Burrell-- he of the 5 career steals in 8 seasons-- was a threat to run. Burrell was later thrown out at the plate on a single following a 3-2 pitch with 2 outs; in other words, even with a huge jump he couldn't score on a single from second.
It's astounding how often Morgan is contradicted by the very events of the game which he is supposedly commentating on. It's even more astounding that he never apologizes. Heck, forget apologies-- he never even wryly observes the irony.
I was rather pleased to hear Thom Brenneman-- who, whatever else may be said of him as a broadcaster, is never one to pull punches-- laying into him on Fox's Saturday telecast a few weeks back.
by PaulThomas on Aug 15, 2007 11:37 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
It's almost like they know...
...I refuse to believe ESPN can't see how truly awful Morgan is. Sometimes I can't believe he actually played baseball. From his comments, you're right: He knows nothing about it, never reads anything, and really doesn't watch the games.
It's seriously unbelievable.
by baseballgirl on Aug 15, 2007 1:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
he's an entertainer
love him or hate him, tune in and that helps sell the beer and trucks.
that's really all there is to it, behind the mike, on the mound, or in the box.
by notah8er on Aug 15, 2007 1:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I actually kinda like Morgan
at least compared to Brennaman, Jeff Brantley, Tim Mccarver, and worst of all Joe Buck and Bob Costas, so I'm going to try to do a poor job defending him.
Yes, the guy makes mistakes and is too stubborn to acknowledge them.
What I like about him though is that he can and will make observations about how a player is positioning himself or how he fields the ball that I never hear other analysts make. As someone who has never played baseball competitively, I greatly appreciate this.
Also, Morgan isn't the only announcer who is resistant to certain stathead concepts. Brennaman, and Brantley, for example, seriously HATE Adam Dunn. They make it sound as if he his a totally worthless player who must be traded for nothing, and if that is not possible, DFAed. In fact, IMO, they are far worse than Morgan. See this article. It's not about Dunn, but there is no freaking way Morgan would say this crap. Some highlights:
Brennaman: "Well, it's hard to understand how a guy can come in when a team is behind and pitch so well, and then come in to try to protect a lead ... There's ball three. It's just truly amazing."
Brantley: "You can't throw the ball with your right hand if your right hand is on your throat. You can't do both."
by rfloh on Aug 15, 2007 3:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Tim McCarver is the worst
But in regards to what you like about Morgan. Have you thought about the fact that b/c he's so wrong about all these other things, the things that he may be accurate on have lost credibility? Especially for people who don't know the game well, this hurts people's understanding of the game.
by DMOAS on Aug 15, 2007 4:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
McCarver
I'll say two things in defense of him.
- He's a good "beginners' announcer," in that he actually explains what things like hit-and-runs are. While this is undoubtedly redundant and repetitive to serious fans, it's important for something like the World Series where a lot of people who don't really follow baseball are watching.
- He's funny, and he has a sense of humor about his own legendary propensity for verbal gaffes. Whereas Morgan, who never admits any mistake even when he does the same thing, comes off as a complete prick.
Also (this is tangential), according to my dad he's a pretty good interviewer.
by PaulThomas on Aug 15, 2007 5:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
So because some of the things he says
are wrong, everything he says is no longer credible? PECOTA got the projection for Mark Buehrle badly wrong, does that mean I should ignore all it's predictions, or just that I should look at it's predictions and do some thinking?
by rfloh on Aug 16, 2007 12:01 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
NO INDEPENDENT THINKINK!
Vee vill tell you vhat to sink and vhen to sink it.
-Diary Police.
by Nico on Aug 16, 2007 10:22 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
A couple of other things
It's not that he's anti-sabermetric that irritates me. It's some combination of his incredible sanctimoniousness, his conviction that only people who've played MLB themselves know anything about it, and his sheer brainlessness.
You're quite right-- Brenneman is no sabermetrician himself. But that just proves the point-- when even people who don't fully buy into "the Moneyball philosophy" are blasting him for commenting on it without having read it, it makes me think that perhaps he's not particularly well respected intellectually even among broadcasters.
Morgan wouldn't say that because he just wouldn't ever criticize a player for anything. Even when he's ranting about Moneyball, he doesn't attack the actual players who exemplify it (say, Pat Burrell). If anything, he tries to pretend that they're "normal" (see the above on Burrell's speed, or lack thereof).
by PaulThomas on Aug 15, 2007 5:35 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
What's wrong with not acting like a drunk fan
on the air? Brantley and Brennaman are hired by the team. They more often than not end up blasting their own players, especially the best player, not using analysis, whether correct or not, but emotion. Any drunk idiot in the stands can say what Brantley said.
Brantley thinks the guy choked fine. Back it up with some analysis and facts, even incorrect facts, instead of talking crap about a hand on the throat.
by rfloh on Aug 15, 2007 11:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
If more people had the integrity
to admit when they had no idea what was going on, there would be, like, I dunno...shorter wars?
by Nico on Aug 15, 2007 9:51 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Hee!
I have no idea what's going on with the A's. I just want them to win, and they've done that twice in a row now.
Small victories.
by baseballgirl on Aug 15, 2007 9:52 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Same here.
by rfloh on Aug 15, 2007 10:13 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Well, PECOTA aside
It was still frustrating to listen to Ken and Vince go on and on about how "mysterious" the White Sox demise has been, eventually concluding that (brace yourself) Scott Posednik's absence, and the resulting lack of "spark on the base paths" has been a big factor. They managed to genuflect in the direction of our favorite gritty Nebraska punter as well, at which point I began to bang my forehead against the wall even harder.
by 74mk on Aug 15, 2007 9:58 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
But look at those guys--
Podsednik barely missing slap-chopping a dead quail down the third base line and then almost beat out a dead ferret he slap-chopped between the mound and first base. And Erstad ripped a dying titmouse weakly served over second base.
hee hee..."titmouse". <blushes>
by Nico on Aug 15, 2007 10:00 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Erstad punted that ball into center, True Grit st
yle.
by McFood on Aug 15, 2007 10:50 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Thank you!
I couldn't agree more!
by baseballgirl on Aug 15, 2007 10:17 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Put our announcers in context:
You're asking more of a guy who thinks "How great does it feel?" is an open-ended question, thinks "But yet" and "the slider which he is throwing it more lately" are good English, and thinks Jason Kendall is a valuable baseball player. No wonder the White Sox confuse him.
by Nico on Aug 15, 2007 9:54 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, now Kuiper has Fosse's disease too.
by McFood on Aug 15, 2007 10:51 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
All those lonely away games...
by Poppy on Aug 15, 2007 10:58 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
but yet I love him anyway
by ArakSOT on Aug 15, 2007 10:05 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
question
has Cust hit a homer off any off speed pitches?
by closetasfan on Aug 15, 2007 10:24 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
He's like Pedro from Major League!
by baseballgirl on Aug 15, 2007 10:30 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Wha?
That means he's selling Allstate Insurance?? ;)
by anomaly_kat on Aug 15, 2007 5:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Is that the guy
The allstate guy is Pedro Sorano from Major League?
by Shippee33 on Aug 15, 2007 5:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
second HR last night
Changeup that Garland left up and away. Cust smoked it the other way. KenKo noted on the radio broadcast that Garland himself looked pretty impressed with what Cust did with the pitch.
by monkeyball on Aug 15, 2007 11:00 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Same on TV, you could see Garland mouthing the
words "That wasn't a bad pitch" or something close, and his expression made it clear that he was somewhat impressed.
by McFood on Aug 15, 2007 1:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
"That _____n' ___ __ _ _itch"?
Rhymes, scans.
by monkeyball on Aug 15, 2007 3:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Watching the future
I'm siting at the game last night watching the future unfold for the A's. It was a great feeling as I watched our AAA team mature before my eyes. I also started thinking about how much money the team might have to spend next year and whether a right-handed bat might be attainable. And whether we might be able to re-sign Shannon.
Love Donnie Murphy--he is getting better and better. And he has 4 homers already. His arm is fabulous and I think his range will grow as he gains confidence.
Jack Cust may be the real deal. His homers are so fun to watch--the entire crowd just goes--"ahhhhh" and then "oh my god'.
Travis Buck brings lots of energy. And Andrew Brown makes me forget all about Milton--who is once again injured. The bullpen should be a good one in 2008.
And Mark Ellis, who is my favorite A, is having a great year. He is the rock of the team and a great role model for the young guys. I missed seeing him last night, but hope the rest did him some good. The A's must exercise their option with him for 2008. I would love to see a long term term with Ellis. I never tire of his defense and his "good" at bats.
Is any one else excited about the rookie costumes coming up? Swisher is in charge so it should be quite the show--and a big show at that. Last year we had no rookies to dress. Too bad Cust doesn't qualify.
by oaklandcrazy on Aug 15, 2007 11:15 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Hmm...
Buck LF
Barton 1B
Rowand or comparable CF
Cust DH
Swisher RF
Chavez or Hannahan 3B
Ellis 2B
Murphy SS
Suzuki C
Haren, Blanton, Loaiza, Gaudin, DiNardo, Meyer fighting for "best 5 in show," with 3 special lights-out appearances by special guest Rich Harden
Street, Duchscherer, Brown, Embree, Casilla
I could live with that.
by Nico on Aug 15, 2007 11:38 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
"or comparable" = Kotsay
by monkeyball on Aug 15, 2007 12:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
SHHHHHHH, Don't mention the M word, you can
get hung from just letting those word slip. We don't allow his kind around here.
by theblackpearl on Aug 15, 2007 11:44 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Murphy?
What have you got against the Irish?
by Poppy on Aug 15, 2007 11:46 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I am just a BIG fan of Crosby, he is at the
position, no other SS shall inhabit.
Wow, and I typed that with a straight face.
by theblackpearl on Aug 15, 2007 11:52 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I know a few other ways to get hung--
I read my SPAM carefully.
by Nico on Aug 15, 2007 12:01 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
They don't wor--err, umm
I haven't seen any emails like that.
by theblackpearl on Aug 15, 2007 12:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
lately? Kuiper is just flat out horrible
I'll take Duane over him any day.
by black beane and rice on Aug 15, 2007 11:38 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Jack Cussed
Last night when I went to the game with two kids, Jack and Clayton. When someone in the crowd said "Jack Cust", Clayton had to offer: "Did he get his mouth washed out with soap?" (groans were heard)
Have you ever seen a hitter with a more drastic uppercut swing than Cust?
by Brian in 317 on Aug 15, 2007 12:48 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Tim Wallach maybe?
And as I recall from early July, Joe Blanton.
by Nico on Aug 15, 2007 12:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Oh yea...
Phil Plantier
by OaktownPower on Aug 15, 2007 1:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Reg-gie, Matt Stairs. Hmm, all lefties.
by McFood on Aug 15, 2007 2:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
the chisox haven't been that bad since the ASB
but as for the larger woes, i'd put the decline of contreras at the top of the last. it's amazing how good he looked just 14 months ago, and how rapidly it all came apart.
by notah8er on Aug 15, 2007 1:16 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Strictly an unproven hypothesis
but perhaps the fact that he often varies his release point from overhand to sidearm has caused him to start tipping his pitches, and teams have picked up on it.
One of the few meaningful "splits" (as compared to, say, pitching in August rather than July) is the split between a pitcher's stats with runners on and his stats with the bases empty, as he's actually executing a different motion. If a guy has wildly varying outcomes in the two situations, he's probably either got a mechanical problem or giving away what he's throwing.
by PaulThomas on Aug 15, 2007 1:38 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Looking at his stats...
Not a lot there. He's .020 OBP/.107 SLG worse from the stretch than the windup.
Shrug. Maybe he just sucks this year.
by PaulThomas on Aug 15, 2007 1:41 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Good thought, though.
by McFood on Aug 15, 2007 2:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Dammit, I won't rest until
I figure out exactly why Jose Contreras sucks so much this year.
<puts on another pot of coffee>by Nico on Aug 15, 2007 2:13 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
RE:
Oh wait...that was Mark Kotsay, who has apparently has replaced Jason Kendall as the offensive black hole on the team. I cringe when he comes up to bat, but I'd rather have him in center than Swisher.
And speaking of players who have refused surgery over the years, Chavez is missing and presumed dead. Let's all take a moment to mourn the loss of the consecutive Gold Glove streak, because he's not winning it this year.
What does Donnie Murphy have to do to flat-out replace Crosby?
~ Man, that's a lot of negativity. But, alas, it's all true...
by kvn on Aug 15, 2007 2:26 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Any word on draft pick signings...
9 PM tonight is the deadline and at last check there were several A's picks unsigned, particularly HS players drafted in the middle rounds.
by Miggy on Aug 15, 2007 2:42 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Fosse and Kuiper
Are Fosse and Kuiper, what can you say? They go off topic constantly, have a ton of inside topics they love to go on about. Pay way too much attention to members of the production crew, "510 guy", and Dibbs. But I dunno, for some reason they just sound like home. I do wish that we had a better play by play guy than Kuiper, but Fosse has a ton of knowledge for a color guy, altho I think Fosse spends way too much time focusing of catchers.
by Shippee33 on Aug 15, 2007 6:01 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Good news
LAA losing in the bottom of the 8th 2-1 and Guerrero reiterd for the last out of the 8th.............
Fosse: "Anything is possible......"
by mrod on Aug 15, 2007 6:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I assume Fosse was referring to
Guerrero being retired.
by Nico on Aug 15, 2007 7:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
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