jad

Hey-- I still don't get it! And you're not allowed to "lol" your own joke.

Uh oh. That sure looked like the classic response to a hamstring pull to me.

There are two quite separate assertions in your response! Of course defensive metrics are better than "the eyes of a single fan"; who disputes that? [except maybe theself-appointed fan]. That strikes me as a rather low bar when the issue at hand is 'objectivity'. A really really really really low bar! really really really ... really low bar.

Not sure of that (a lot of the rhetoric above gets close). And if the standard is "better than the eyes of a single fan or official scorer," that's a pretty low bar. I don't think either the proponents of advanced stats or the worst sort of tobacco-chewing scout would dispute that.

That's likely because those who define and promote it work very hard to conceal the fact that there are many many "ask-the-human" type decisions and factors involved. No two balls hit are "the same" in nature; they are only "the same" when so perceived by a human eye and significant features (e.g., 'speed') defined as relevant by a human brain. The same goes for the definitions of atmospheric conditions, etc., and any number of refinements that could be build into these models. There are some types of 'neural network' types of analysis (insofar as I understand these!) that I believe can eliminate this 'ask-the-human' step, but UZR (at least from what I can tell) is not one of them. Mind you, I'm not opposed to this type of analysis, and it certainly beats the kind of approach critiqued and ridiculed so well in Moneyball (the scout's 'feel' for the game in particular!). But then, I'm not opposed to judging hitters by batting average either (or OBP or OPS). Statistics help. But few methods I've seen are completely objective (maybe the one my adolescent brother once used for a whole season: all he recorded over the year was a ratio for each AB: number of bases achieved vs. number possible. So 1-4 for a walk with no one on; 3-6 when a weak ground ball goes through the SS legs allowing the runner on second to score. No one, of course, either a traditionalist or a sabermetrician, would accept such a system as a standard on which to judge others).

Wow. Smart-ass homophobic obscenities. I remember when those were amusing: I was 10 years old.

Pink hats, as George Steinbrenner might put it, put the pennies in the seats. As an organization, you don't need to cater to hard core fans. You NEED pink hats.

You're right. Except for the part about it's being funny at the beginning.

WTF???? Is Butterfield still coaching at 3rd???

I give .300 hitters a pass for that.

Since sports is entertainment, I'd much rather watch JBJ every day than a #3/4 starter (Pom?) every 5 days. And I think I agree about JD--although the discussion is so nuanced and intricate I'm not certain of that. Hanley is a great example of what can happen to a player unhappy with his role: when he was humiliating himself in LF, his hitting definitely suffered. When he moved to 1st (even though many argued he couldn't play the position), everything about his game improved. Too bad not all players look at the DH as Ortiz did.

We're in the midst of the longest losing streak of the year! Sale has a losing record, and all our hitters are in slumps. And no one is concerned???? Time to DFA the team, and hire a new manager

I'm guessing because they don't take hits to the knees? (as in football). Also, maybe the nature of moving on skates lessens some of the impact? Blessedly, my team sports career ended before I got any bad injuries. Oddly, the 'most-dangerous-sport' I know is tennis (squash). Maybe because it induces 40-70 year old guys with a stupid macho complex to do more than their flabbed out bodies can take?

A lot of us were in a lot better shape in our 30s than in our 20s. (That's one of the many reasons we were not professional athletes).

I don't remember the Lynn play. But I can still see Gary Geiger going head first into the bullpen wall from centerfield. Can't recall whether he walked away from it. Also, I don't remember Lynn making the kind of plays that JBJ seems to make routinely (e.g., that catch from RF the other night). But I probably didn't watch as many games then. (Best Pearsall move I recall was when during a pitching change, he (a la Manny?) went out and sat behind the flagpole that used to be in dead center. I think such things always worried his team-mates, who were aware he wasn't all that emotionally stable.)

I'm not going to bother to read it. I've already blocked one of these participants. If I need stupid obscenities, I can always just listen in on a middle school playground.

How about Mays? I only saw him towards the end. (Not a lot of Giants games on tv in Maine in the 50s.) Of RS of that era, Pearsall was pretty great to watch (but hard to judge in terms of modern players).

I get the idea, but then there's also the reality that defensively Nunland is not equal to JBJ even if you put both of them in CF at once (since only one of them will be able to throw on each play).

Little guys? You mean like Pedro Martinez? or Luis Aparacio?

Whoa. I ... Well ... Maybe I s ... started 4/20 too soon ...

Ta hell with this. Time to celebrate the holiday instead.

You mean both of them?

Oh yes. But Buddin became a legend, no? Then let's not forget Billy Jurges, who replaced Higgins, did ok for half a season (with his signature move of hustling rather than walking to the mound to change pitchers), then succumbed to the reality that was the Yawkey Sox and as I recall essentially suffered a nervous breakdown in year 2.

Doesn't sound ridiculous to me. All of us have likely worked at jobs that were 'no fun', and when that was the case, we didn't work as well or hard as we did in other jobs. When it's a drag going to work, all the money does is make you feel grimly that you really have no choice but to get on the damn train.

One game. You know. Small sample. Bottom line is before that he was hitless for THREE DAYS! Sat-Monday. Sunday and Monday he didn't even get a foul ball. DFA him.