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cp176

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Everything posted by cp176

  1. cp176
    I surely do think that you would see more tendencies toward these types of things at the lower levels but I don't think that a player's skill level necessarily tells me whether they will come up big or not at any level all the time. I just believe that we can't provide data to determine everything. You might not agree with me and that is ok. It also doesn't mean that I don't appreciate and understand the value of using every piece of information that we can get our hands on to help us. I do. I also think that it is very true that many of the greatest games are won and lost because of what someone has between their ears and I think that it is pretty tough to measure that.
  2. cp176
    That is a good point and it might turn out to be his year. I just want the best one that we can have back there doing the job.
  3. cp176
    I really think that it will boil down to which of these two is the better hitter with respect to the immediate future. They are both pretty good catchers. I can see that there is a lot of love here for Vazquez, but I really don't see him as a better catcher at this time than Leon. It may really boil right down to whether the Red Sox hang on to Swihart and how he progresses as a backstop.
  4. cp176
    No one I hope would disagree with what you have said here. Any professional athlete has to have learned to deal with pressure very well or they wouldn't be where they are. None of them are immune to what it can do though and some deal with it a lot better than others.
  5. cp176
    If I am reading this correctly, I am hearing that you think Leon because of his age, could become even a better catcher than he is right now. Obviously I think that you are really talking Swihart and Vazquez but I think that people tend to think that Leon is older than he is. I am going to predict that if Vazquez or Swihart beat him out for that job in the near future, we are talking about an all-star caliber catcher. I would not take that bet. If Leon stays healthy, I don't think that it will happen.
  6. cp176
    He did look a little heavy even for a blocky solid type catcher I'll give you that. He is still young though and I have to say that I like the bigger body behind the plate. He might not last for long but I think that he is the best of the bunch right now. I might see it differently if I felt that Vazquez was better than Leon behind the plate but I don't.
  7. cp176
    I'm with you
  8. cp176
    Agree - I actually think that both Vazquez and Swihart are unknown quantities. Leon certainly is no sure thing but we at least have an idea of what we might have. If Swihart is ever going to catch at the major league level, he needs to prove that he can catch better! that shouldn't happen in Boston. If Vazquez is ever going to start behind the plate in Boston, he needs to prove that he is a better overall catcher than Leon. No small task. I get what all of the projections say about both Swihart and Vazquez but to date they haven't reached those lofty projections. Sticking either one of them behind the plate in Boston and letting them learn as you go wouldn't be a very smart thing for this franchise to do in my opinion. For these two guys we should find out this year (if you will pardon the expression) whether or not the bear shits in the buckwheat! Time for these boys to get it done.
  9. cp176
    I think that you are right but I don't get out much. I'm not sure if it is just a talksox thing or if the feeling is nationwide. I think that probably all coaches and GMs realize the vast amount of knowledge that can come from the overwhelming amount of data that gets collected. I think that they just don't get overwhelmed by it. It isn't a contest to see who is right or who is wrong.
  10. cp176
    You get to think what you want - I appreciate that. I bet that we all have some sort of budget.
  11. cp176
    You are correct. There is room for inclusion here though. it really doesn't have to be like we are dealing with two specifically different groups. Most players and coaches accept and respect the good work that the people collecting all of the data do. It doesn't have to be an either or debate. I have worked with a few athletes who have gone on to compete as professionals. As young adults, I found that they did not morph into something that they weren't. they still felt the same pressures and general feelings that they felt as athletes in high school. The stage was just a little bigger and the competition a little better. On a personal level, I'm so happy that I got to spend my time on the field, court, and dugout as opposed to being the one compiling the data. whatever floats your boat I say - room for both. All of my teams over the years tended to play better at home for the most part too.
  12. cp176
    I would not argue that the Sox were giving some thought to the luxury tax threshold during this off season but I would be willing to bet that there is something other than age and cost that kept them from signing EE this winter. It's possible that he just isn't the type of player they were interested in for some other reasons and not simply $. In the end, it still looks like play money to me. What they want they are going to get.
  13. cp176
    I'm with you- It really is all relative to the particular situation. If the best players in the world were competing against minor leaguers day in and day out, I would certainly agree that the likelihood of them choking would be very small and the likelihood of them coming up big in the clutch would be pretty good. Since we are talking about the best competing against the best, there will always be those guys that either get it done or not in very situations. Any player or coach in the dugout knows who the players are that you want on the frontline in the biggest situations.
  14. cp176
    Blubber belly? Come on - You can't mean the new and improved version. You must be a trumannight - show me state! lol
  15. cp176
    I will pick it up and read it. Francona will forever have a special place in my heart. I learned a lot from simply observing how he dealt with his players.
  16. cp176
    ty - In all honesty, if it wasn't for all things that can't be measured, I'm not sure that I would feel the same passions for the games we play. It's what is unpredictable the really keeps me going. I guess I might be a bit of a dreamer.
  17. cp176
    This is all good time passing chatter isn't it. I would be very interested to hear what other lifelong coaches feel about the concepts of players who tend to choke and those who tend to excel when the games are on the line. It is one thing to analyze and scrutinize from the outside as opposed to actually being involved in the activity. To the people I spent my working life around, concepts like mental toughness although difficult to really describe had some significant meaning. To the people who think that the home field or court doesn't make a difference - you never played a bb game at Lawrence High School in Fairfield, Maine. I get the fact that people tend to think that professional athletes are supposed to be above all of these emotions that mere mortals seem to feel - my opinion is that they are not though.
  18. cp176
    As is having the home field advantage! regardless of what the stats can be used to show - if you ask the payers and they say playing at home matters then it does. I'm a lover of many things that that really can't be proven. lol
  19. cp176
    Ain't that the truth. It is just for fun but I really do get a kick out of the various ways people try to use statistics to explain it away. That might even be why I try to keep topics like this alive.
  20. cp176
    It is an opinion. I believe that there are athletes that perform better than their stats say they should quite often in very high pressure situations. I call them clutch players.
  21. cp176
    I knew exactly the point you were trying to make and for you and others (probably most) it certainly is a good point. The beauty of a discussion like this is that we are talking about something that would be pretty hard to prove even exists. That is what makes it so real for me. It is kind of like who I would rather have playing center for me - Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain. In every measurable statistic, Chamberlain would come out on top but I would take Russell everyday and all day. I believe that the moments did not necessarily find Yaz in 67. He created his fair share not only with his bat but his glove and arm as well.
  22. cp176
    I'm one of those guys who never really grew uo. You know the kind - I carry a copy of "Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus" around in my wallet. Captain Carl will forever be the greatest clutch player in Red Sox history. I'm very happy that as the years go by, what he did seems to become even more impressive.
  23. cp176
    I remember that last series against the Twins like it was yesterday.
  24. cp176
    Kind of like looking at all of the statistics people can compile and then paining a picture of what you want them to show. It isn't that simple for me. Semantics as well - It would be impossible to be unable to prove that truly clutch players who performed particularly well on the biggest of stages were also absolutely unclutch at times. Yaz just didn't get it done on his last at bat in 1978 which of course proves that he was not a clutch player. Sorry but I will never buy that way of looking at things. I like that life for me still holds mysteries and things that can not be proven or predicted regardless of what the data seems to indicate.
  25. cp176
    He had a knack for coming up big when it mattered most didn't he.
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