a700hitter

Done.

Even the stat geeks admit that the stats are not definitive on this.

It is a case by case basis. But the stats make me think about my opinion.

Success doesn't necessarily translate to a box score. If in a big situation a batter executes his approach, gets a good pitch to hit and squares it up, that is success, but if he hits it right at a fielder randomness comes into play. The result in the box score is a failure. The same goes for pitching. If a pitcher executes his pitch against the cleanup hitter and the hitter pokes out his bat and gets a bloop hit, the pitcher was successful in executing, but the bloop is a line drive in the box score. Execution doesn't always have a positive result.

"Luck is the residue of design." Branch Rickey

This is my second year as a season ticket holder. I have a weekday plan in the infield grandstand-- Section 11. I looked into the partnering last year and had no success. I am not sure how it works. I have done some ticket tosses. Last year, I had very little success with Red Sox Replay, but I have sold a few games already for the upcoming season. Send me a PM about the Partner thing and maybe we can help out each other. BTW, hadn't you expressed an interest in the TalkSox Fantasy league. If so, let me know and I will send you an invitation.

You get that feeling every time that you are about to have sex? Clearly you have never been married.

It is.

That is not true. I am one whose opinion is almost always supported by the statistics, which is why I have a high regard for statistics.

I don't know what point you are trying to make about corked bats, but it doesn't support your argument at all. On the topic of corked bats, Sammy Sosa was lying imo when he said that he didn't know that he had grabbed his corked bat. Even an old softballer like me can tell the difference when i pick up a bat that is an ounce lighter than my usual bat. As for your comment that "all levels" is too broad, that puzzles me, because people at all levels choke and come up clutch. It is not peculiar to the major leagues. The major leaguers do handle pressure better than players at other levels, but they are still human, and because the talent level is so high, nerves only have to affect the player just the slightest bit for him to have the slightest variation in motion, release point, swing etc. If you are off by an inch or so, that can be the difference between success and failure. Major leaguers handle pressure better than anyone, but their margin for error is also the smallest. As for you doubting my contacts and conversations with players and coaches, that is okay, because I have not said that I can prove clutch/choke. I just side with the guys that who have experienced it. I am relying on that for my opinion. Whether you question their credentials or my assertions is irrelevant to me, because I am not trying to convince you of anything. I am just stating the basis for my belief. This latest post of yours was largely argumentative gibberish. I am not sure what you are even arguing about with me. Are you trying to invalidate my opinion in some way, because you can consider it invalid if you want. That is fine with me too. I am just stating what my opinion is and my basis for it.

It is not definitive, and it is very convincing in your opinion.

I'll side with the players and coaches, and that is all that I have said all along.

The catchers yips is a real thing and it does come out of nowhere, and it does resemble what Swihart displayed the other day. Players that experience this deny that there is any problem, so his public denials are meaningless. This will bear watching. Every so often a player will experience this sort of baffling problem. The most famous example was Steve Blass going from World Serie hero to not being able to throw a strike. More recently, it has hit Steve Sax and Chuck Knoblauch. If they see additional signs of this, I would hide the problem in the outfield and let him take his ABs. Maybe it clears up, but I have not heard of cases where this syndrome goes away.

I have had conversations with several players and coaches at several levels about many different topics throughout the years. It's not like I sat down and asked them to discuss the topic of whether clutch exists or not. I don't have transcripts of those conversations, and that probably wouldn't satisfy you. In my experience being around players and coaches at all levels, they are big believers in the mental part of the game and rising to and shrinking in the moment. I am no one to dispute that, and neither are you. As I said many times over, I will side with what I have heard from players and coaches rather than any statistical study. I have decent access to guys that have played the game. Among other connections, my great nephew is currently in the DR at the Pirates facility with a the Dominican Baseball experience sponsored by Underarmour (I think). The kid is 15 and can hit 90 mph. This is his second trip to the DR and he has traveled the country playing with the National Team is the last year. One of his pitching coaches on a recent trip was Black Jack McDowell. He is one of many former players that work with these kids. Let me reiterate one more time, because you aren't getting what I am saying. I cannot prove that clutch/choke exists, but the stats do not definitively prove that it does not exist. No one can make that claim that the stats disprove it definitively. I have said that I will side with those who have played the game and coached the game. You can discount this all you want, and yes, it is just anecdotal evidence, but to me that is more reliable than a statistical study on the matter. That is my position. I can't state it any clearer. You are free to disagree.

I have not sent invitations to the 3 most inactive teams from last year, and one other team has dropped out. We are at 8 teams, and Southpaw777 has been invited as he expressed an interest in joining. If he joins and we get one more new owner, the league will have 10 teams. That is a good size. I would rather have the league have 10 active teams than 12 teams with some inactive owners. We need one more brave TalkSox soul to step up to the plate.

For the third time, you don't know who I have talked to about this. The rest of your post amounts to little more than gibberish.

He should get a lot of ABs in camp this Spring, because Hanley will be at the WBC.

You know who knows definitively about choking. The guys who have choked. Most will not talk about it, because it would be emasculating for an athlete and it would also give his opponents a mental edge. There are so many dynamics involved in quantifying these concepts to prove or disprove them definitively. The level of the talent is higher in these crucial spots, because you are usually facing an above average pitcher, although that is not always true. The batter might be choking, but the pitcher might be choking too and his fastball might be 6 inches short or he might miss his spot by 6 inches and even a choking hitter can hit that kind of pitch. Nerves may get to a guy early in his career but not as much after he gains some experience. A guy might press harder in a contract year too. Players don't always handle pressure in the same way, but some handle it better than others. There are so many variables and dynamics that no statistical study could definitively prove or disprove these things. If you think the evidence against it is strong, good for you, but you know that it is not at all definitive, so it is meaningless.

This issue bears watching. His throws were nowhere near Porcello. That doesn't happen at the professional level.

It may be time to trade him, before this problem becomes completely exposed.

Many a player has gotten into the best shape of his life after his skills have completely eroded.

[TABLE=width: 100%] [TR] [TD]BLAKE SWIHART IS HAVING THROWING PROBLEMS, BUT RED SOX (AND BLAKE SWIHART) SAY THERE’S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT [/TD] [TD=align: right]02.17.17 at 1:49 pm ET[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] By Rob Bradford http://fullcount.weei.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Blakeswihart-400x368.jpgBlake Swihart (Nick Turchiaro/USA Today Sports) FORT MYERS, Fla. — Not a lot of people were around to witness the uncomfortable bullpen session Thursday.But for those who were there, they saw Blake Swihart show an inability to accurately throw the ball back to Rick Porcello on too many occasions. Pitching coach Carl Willis saw it, as did manager John Farrell and catching instructor/bullpen coach Dana LeVangie. Friday rolled around and while the problems weren’t as dramatic, the inconsistency in Swihart’s throws continued, leading to a collection of media gathered around the catcher to ask him about the issues before he left JetBlue Park for the day. “I”m not concerned. I’m going back to catching. In the outfield you have a longer arm swing, a longer arm movement. I’m just trying to shorten it back up. They are misfiring, but I’m not too worried about it,” Swihart said. “It’s just a different arm movement. But I’m working every day to shorten it up, get it short and still have good velocity on my ball. … It’s more me just feeling bad for the pitcher that I’m throwing to.” And then, as the reporters peeled off, Swihart offered one more proclamation. “You guys shouldn’t be worried about me,” he said. LeVangie wasn’t about to suggest there was nothing to see over the last few days, even saying when asked that Swihart’s problems were “out of the blue” when appearing Thursday. But the catching coach did offer some optimism after working with Swihart Friday and then seeing the slow transformation from an outfielder’s arm motion to that of a catcher. “There were a couple of bad throws today, but to be honest with you we talked about some things and he got better at doing it,” LeVangie said. “It’s still not finished, but there are signs he can get better from it. We were just looking at spin, how it was coming out of his hand. At times he throws a little rotational, and at times he’s allowing his glove to dictate where his arm path should be going. We want his glove front side to dictate more of back to front motion so his arm path stays on line better. “We want him to throw more like a catcher rather than middle infielder, a shortstop or an outfielder. I saw far more better throws today than I saw yesterday. He’s going to learn how to throw as a catcher. That’s what we’re working on.” Swihart reiterated that the 11 months between the last time he lived life as a catcher and jumping back into it this week was the cause for the throwing hiccup. “The last time I caught was, what? The first six games of the season last year,” he said, referencing his move to outfield. Swihart added, “I feel fine. I’m not worried and you guys shouldn’t be worried either. I’m working on my craft and I promise the ball is going to get there.”

It looks like Swihart might have Mackey Sasser Disease:

Yogi Berra: "You can think and hit at the same time."

And 1/30th of that is all that the Red Sox would get. The Red Sox only get a 1/30th share of all MLB licensed revenue.