cp176

I'm not sure that from a pure stategy standpoint he is anything special but I do agree with you that he does try to bring the element of fun to the team which also I knows builds team spirit which can mean a great deal. In many respects it is more important than being a good strategist in today's game.

Fred - Your wife sounds like she is the one having the fun. Two grandkids with leading roles in a play - that sounds like fun. I have to get back up north this week to make g-parents day at pre-school. Something I am very much looking forward to. I'll be leaving this great weather behind but it is worth it many times over.

Yup- I think so. I don't like him much though. If he was in Boston, I might think differently.

hang in there. It means they really like you.

Great comeback by the Pawsox. Brentz continued to tear it up. Swihart getting it going with 3 hits and that kid that people don't think can hit - Marrero- continued to hit.

Nice line on Wright tonight - NOT. Swihart a couple of hits so far.

So - you corrected me. Thanks for that . You don't really need to read my posts. I'm sure others here appreciate your ability to serve as the self-appointed censor. Once again, my ideas, my posts and to be perfectly honest I don't enjoy reading your bunch of garbled crap at all either so I guess we are even. Do you pay a royalty to be able to get away with being as nasty as you are or what? Oh gee - right- I can just simply ignore you.

ok - guess you see what you want to see. I just went back over my previous posts. They are my posts. Your interpretation of what I wrote is wrong.

I think that they leave E-Rod alone for the time being. He is young. They will probably give Wright an opportunity soon. Johnson and Barnes probably next but I don't think Owens is going to be down there for long. Personally, I would give him the first look. He isn't much younger than Johnson. I hope they hang on to Rodriguez. He's my top pick.

I wasn't actually making an attempt to compare anybody to anybody. A general statement. They were or are both highly regarded. I hope that Swihart becomes the player that everyone hopes he becomes.

Maybe, maybe not on this one. i don't think that they are in a hurry to unload him just yet.

the truth for sure. I am guilty of looking ahead and I have to admit that Castillo's injury history has me a little concerned. Victorino is probably around for the season. Maybe next season maybe mid-year, if Bradley hits, I could see a fairly solid outfield with Betts and Bradley in the same lineup. I don't think it would make much difference which one of those played center. I actually like that big arm that Bradley has in right. Don't interpret this as me giving up on Castillo - not by a long shot - he has too much talent to ever give up on him. A Jackie Bradley that hits, I just really like.

I agree with you that it doesn't always translate into success at the big level level but I would think it did normally although those are really just my thoughts. That's what makes Bradley really interesting. He hits so well at that level and so poorly at the mlb level. Doesn't seem normal what ever normal is. It makes me stutter just a little when I think of Swihart because for all it's worth Bradley came with the same can't miss pedigree. Bradley is a proven talent with that glove and arm like you said. Who knows - if he comes along he could still be very special. As I recall (I don't recall as good as I used to) Bradley ripped through Portland and Pawtucket in much the same way as Mookie Betts.

I feel a need to consistently say that I don't have data to back it up on this site but it seems to me that if a player is going to make it at the mlb level, they need to be very good at the AAA level. He is off to another great start with the P-Sox. I'm not ready to see him traded for anyone. I would love to see him hitting and fielding in a Red Sox uniform beside Mookie someday. He may get another chance!

A thumb, an oblique, now a shoulder. He obviously plays hard but so do lots of others. He is very talented and maybe has just been hit with a run of bad luck. Whatever, it does make the stockpiled depth in position players look good. I'm still watching JBJ closely. He is off to a good start. Not ready to give up on or get rid of him too quickly.

What do think the average major league baseball player and manager would think of this web-site?

I would also add that intellectuals or those self-proclaimed as such have been studying the game for a long time as well. There are also people that are playing that might be considered intellectual but in general I think that I am on safe ground here saying that the average IQ of the boys between the lines isn't anything special. It is still a game and we can make of it what we wish. I think that there is plenty of room for people who see it and value it differently than I do.

I think that many of us and I would include you have always seen it this way to some extent. It was always a statistically driven experience for me as it was for the people who played the game with me.

And I don't think there is anything wrong with that at all. I think that this concept of "sabermetrics" is certainly more refined than ever before but the concept has been used in various ways since the game began. Couple more hits for JBJ so far tonight. He is off to a very good start.

Come on - deep breaths - not worth it. We all tried to be positive. Maybe the reality is what it is.

"our American Cousin" by the way Mr. Stanton (God of War)

Title of the thread is JBJ's Spring - He is off to a very good start. Hope that people aren't counting him out just yet. He has extreme talent.

I think that we think that he thinks more than he does. Trying to be nice there.

explains why I didn't see him in last nights lineup. Hope isn't one who has trouble staying on the field.

Sk - I don't know what I said now. My concept of a clutch player is one who is able to do things that often times you just shake your head at and wonder how did they do that. I absolutely believe that there are athletes like that. I know that there are. At the risk of being harpooned by a few on this forum, I will just say that I have seen them in action for many, many years. I would never deny that clutch players are also very good players who normally have more opportunities to perform in tough situations than others. I truly believe as do the majority of the coaches, players and fans of various sports that I have been involved in that there are individuals who can raise the bar so to speak better than others when games are on the line and pressure at its most intense. I have know data to defend my position and I know that that makes me a "traditionalist" but I am ok with that. Confidence and absolute belief in one's abilities plays an important role as well. The fact that some things just can't be supported by data makes those particular things important to me. If everything in the games was as predictable as some people would like it to be, I would not like the games.