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jad

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Everything posted by jad

  1. jad
    That makes him one of the top hitters on the team.
  2. jad
    Thank goodness they got rid of all that deadwood pitching to produce the swat for this 5-hit attack.
  3. jad
    Didn't Clemens get tossed in the first (or second?) inning of a playoff game for cursing at the ump? (Or is that what you were alluding to.)
  4. jad
    At least the 2012 team had someone they could pretend to blame!
  5. jad
    It was easier to follow them through horrendous years in the 50s and 60s because the rosters were relatively stable--it was 'our' guys, for better or worse. Ike Delock and Gary Geiger? well, that's who we got. I don't know who these guys are now, or why they're out there--why root for Craig? or WMB? or whoever is on the mound if they aren't likely to be on the team next year and in some cases don't represent it now? (Not asking to return to the exploitative, pre-free-agent days; it's just the way things are. And the FO isn't making things any clearer by dumping 3 of 5 starting pitchers--and destroying the one strength the team apparently had.)
  6. jad
    So the year is so calamitous that no one even bothers to follow or comment on games anymore?
  7. jad
    Is the idea that since the Sept collapse was inexplicable, as was winning last year, as was this year's debacle, the best policy is just to flail wildly dealing & acquiring players seemingly irrationally, in expectation that the Benign Indifference of the Universe will dump a championship into your lap every few years regardless?
  8. jad
    Yes. See above.
  9. jad
    Ticket prices are not directly related to salaries. They are set to produce maximum revenue (duh! not to match salaries) and thus depend solely on what people are willing to pay. They would be exactly the same if players were making half what they are making and would be exactly the same if player salaries tripled.
  10. jad
    I really hope there is a sound reason for this, because it seems to defy ordinary human reason. If he 'plays average', (and even that is an 'if'), THEN he will be worth 10/year for 7 years. But why commit such a sum even to a proven 'average' player? since by definition, 'average' players will always be available for 'average' salaries? Whatever plan there is seems to be shrouded in mystery, as no two RS fans seem to agree what it is. (And 700--you're right; this is very much what Cherington said earlier this year--the roster was perfectly fine; it was just that they weren't performing up to expectations.)
  11. jad
    Never meant to imply that Manny didn't have 'heart' or whatever (this is the problem when we argue using abstractions!). He's the best hitter I ever saw--and I'm sure he didn't get what looked like perfect balance and timing by what many call "Manny being Manny".
  12. jad
    Well, there's no argument that DP is a great player AND has heart. I don't see how that supports the notion of the importance of 'intangibles', since what he does is perfectly measurable (hitting/fielding). There's no way of knowing if he's a great player BECAUSE he has heart, or that heart is "why" he's a great player. Manny, for example, was a great player but (according to some) didn't have heart; and I'm sure there are thousands of professional players languishing in the minors who have much more 'heart' than he does. What makes a great player is how they perform, and how they perform is measurable (although not perfectly). We fans like displays of energy or heart; statistics don't care about that. But what matters in sports is performance--the fact that the ball gets over the fence--not how it got there. I'm thinking of Youkilis's childish displays of 'heart'--or the displays of 'heart' (that is 'tantrums') by, say, any 4-year-old or, alas, us 'post-middle-age' would-be athletes.
  13. jad
    Middlebrooks at third? Instead of Holt? What have you seen from WMB this year to suggest he should be in the majors next year? All i see is a .180 hitter, often injured, with no power.
  14. jad
    The whole point of Moneyball was that traditional experts (this includes scouts and coaches in particular) rated players on too many 'intangibles' (form, and yes, 'heart, guts' etc.)--intangibles that formed traditions from which experienced scouts couldn't escape (including tactics like the bunt, various sacrifices, moving the runner over, etc.-- that were demonstrably counterproductive). These traditions are also inarguable--those who believe in the Giants of the Old Days, or that 'heart' and other 'intangibles' are important cannot be disputed, since they do not admit anything as evidence against those beliefs. That's fine, since we're watching sports--and such traditional intangibles are part of our enjoyment (we love the beautiful swing, even if it doesn't result in hits, the sacrifice, the notion of a clutch hitter, hot streaks, the notion that certain mediocre players are 'winners' etc.--even though these things are no more 'real' than a ballet or movie.)
  15. jad
    2015 seemed a lot less far away when I was actually looking forward to it.
  16. jad
    Exactly. Beckett, Crawford, and Gonzalez are having so-so years by their career standards. Yet the RS have (... had) only one starter outperforming Beckett, and I believe only two hitters outhitting Gonzalez (or Ellsbury for that matter). The RS alternatives to Crawford (Victorino, Bradley, Sizemore)--make his year look pretty good as well. For a team with few salary constraints, I can't see how consistently getting rid of your top players is a good strategy (last year doesn't count, because they had J. "Winning Finds Me" Gomes, and could hardly have lost.)
  17. jad
    I think you're right, but the logic is strange, isn't it. The RS have already given up on these two, and believe that their trade value couldn't really get lower than it is right now. So what the hell--let them play: maybe they'll get lucky at the plate and their value will go up. But as fans, we're not really watching the RS building for the future by 'playing the kids'.
  18. jad
    Exactly what have the RS seen or do they hope to see from Bradley and Middlebrooks that suggests things will be any different next year? Do they keep running these guys out there until, say, July 2015, hoping that maybe they will turn things around?
  19. jad
    Let's see ... maybe it's "All Outs, Jr." or (assuming J is Jr.) All zeros; always out; always overmatched; Aw Ouch; At zero; ... hmm. No idea. ... Oh wait. ... Aha! I got it, finally. (But having stumbled onto the answer, I feel I am not at liberty to reveal it.)
  20. jad
    Craig Counsell, 2011, tying Dave Campbell 1973 and Bill Bergen 1909. (Just trying to keep up with the astonishing depth of information possessed by posters here is exhausting).
  21. jad
    Gotta be Bradley. I hope they don't explain this abstruse way of referring to him, because it's been very amusing (if futile) trying to figure it out.
  22. jad
    Oof. 3 more starts by Bradley, given his approach, should get him the record. 2015 is going to be a long long summer if Boggaerts, B, and Middlebrooks are given 'one more chance' to prove themselves.
  23. jad
    Bottom of the order: 1-31 yesterday, 0-18 today. I suppose making 12 fewer outs should be seen as an improvement.
  24. jad
    1-31 for the bottom half of the order may be the worst line in baseball history!
  25. jad
    Watching Bradley at the plate makes me wonder exactly what it is that hitting coaches do? If a guy has an eccentric stance, one that leads to a 'happy' lead foot (I don't think any successful hitter has this), and consequent (? I think) off-balance swings and bad timing (he almost fell over last night looking at an third strike on the outside corner or slightly off the plate), WHY doesn't a hitting coach make changes?
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