2006 Dumbass-A-Go-Go Thread

I can't wait to hear WSCR's "Who You Crappin' " show today to hear what people are saying about the blizzard of Ozz.

According to researchers, the best estimate is 1.8 < LF < 2.1

"To me, April games count."

Krukster: Of course Jimmy Rollins' 56-game hit-streak record counts if it continues into this season! I don't care if it's done in one season, two seasons or THREE seasons!

Me: ...

And yeah, Olney's been calling the steroid hunt bullshit for a week or two now. Maybe longer, but I don't pay much attention to him.

Last year the Yankees Bullpen got mixed results. Besides Mariano Rivera, the bullpen had a lot of question marks coming into this season. So the Yankees made some moves and only time will tell how they pan out. Here is hte 2006 Yankees bullpen:

Starting with the closer as the most important bullpen position, the Yanks have old reliable and the best closer in baseball, Mariano Rivera. Rivera had his best season as a Yankee most analysts will say posted an unheard of ERA nearing 1. He had 40+ saves like he has every year and at times seemed to be unhittable. HE quietly had one of his best seasons ever. This year, his production will continue as the Yankees lineup will generate more save opportunities for Rivera and for saves in his column.

The first big question mark is the setup man. Gone is Tom Gordon who was one of the best set up man in the game last year. He went to Philadelphia to be their closer. So they signed free agent Kyle Fransworth from the Braves who put up excellent numbers with the Braves last year. My only question is that can he put up the same numbers. I don't think so. Most braves pitchers do well because of Leo Mazzoni and Bobby Cox two of the best baseball men in the game. Like Jaret Wright, Farnsworth's numbers will decline. However I still think he can be a productive set up man.

Next is Tanyon Sturtze who has been pretty durable for the Yanks. He has filled in as a spot starter and has pitched nicely the past couple of years out of the bullpen. He does have some shaky games but most of the time he puts up good numbers.

Then there is Octavio Dotel Dotel was a great closer for the Astros a couple of years ago but on the A's he struggled and got injured for most of the year. I think that if he has a good year and stays healthy he can really regain his dominating self and fireball instinct he once had. Plus the Yanks aren't paying that much money so it is a gamble well worth taking.

Finally there is Chacon and Aaron Small coming out of the bullpen, tow men who were used as starters last year and put up good numbers. I don't know how much playing time they will receive depending on injuries to the pitching staff but they will put up good numbers.

The Yankees bullpen will definetly be better than last year. It is no longer a question mark like last year and for the most part these releivers will put up good numbers.

"I always tell Carlos he's a gringo anyway because he speaks such good English and is so articulate."
--Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca, on Delgado

NY Yankees 4, Tampa Bay 2, 10 innings

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- With Alex Rodriguez struggling with runners in scoring position, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays took a calculated gamble against the New York Yankees slugger -- and lost.

Rodriguez snapped an 0-for-12 skid with a RBI single in the 10th inning, helping the Yankees finish a 4-2 comeback victory over the Devil Rays, who elected to pitch to the two-time American League MVP with first base open and runners at second and third.

The reason?

Hideki Matsui was on deck.

"Matsui, to me, is one of the best clutch hitters in all of baseball, so I prefer not pitching to him. You take your chances right there on A-Rod," Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

Gozira's career clutch: -1.3
Princess' career clutch: -0.7

Both are slight chokers with Matsui being slightly more choketastic.

Derek "Clutch" Jeter has the 4th worst clutch rate of all active players at -10.9.

I dunno if this is pure dumbassery, a lame attempt to establish one's credentials as a man of the people, or just a classic thin premise for a column, but Shaughnessy's already in rare form this year.

Tuesday at Fenway, ownership blundered by failing to make an early postponement of the scheduled game against the Yankees. It was obvious to every human in New England that no baseball was going to be played that night, but the $ox failed to call it off, then opened the gates, announced a delay, and finally called the game at approximately 7:40 p.m. It was preposterous.

Why? Why did they wait? Why did they allow faithful fans to drive one or two hours to the ballpark (don't forget the jackknifed tractor-trailer on the Southeast Expressway that created a monstrous traffic jam), pay $30 or more to park, then sit in slop for an hour or two when it was obvious there would be no baseball? Was it to sell a few more hot dogs or cups of chowder? NESN pregame show ratings? More customers at RemDawg's?

The $ox had to have known they could not have played that night. If not, they should fire Bill James and bring on Mish Michaels or Don Kent.

Was it really about the money? Did the $ox open the gates just to unload some concession items?

''That's a cheap shot at our integrity," said owner John Henry. ''We're not going to make our fans suffer just to sell hot dogs. In 2002, we canceled a game at 9:30 in the morning and then the sun came out. It's very hard to predict the weather in Boston. If we knew we weren't going to play, we wouldn't have sent [Josh] Beckett down to get warm. We heard it was going to be misty. It really didn't start raining until 10 after 8."

(Henry and Co. should have checked with any local dairy farmer. Take it from one who grew up in Groton, everybody knows it's going to rain when the cows are lying down in the pasture, and the cattle were definitely horizontal Tuesday.)

There's exactly one salient point in that whole column (w/r/t the Globe/Red Sox ownership sitch), but it wasn't even raining in Boston when they opened the gates at 5:00! Dan Shaughnessy Watch's parting shot is pretty genius today.

i tuned that in just after i finished reading his treatise on intelligent design.

Maybe I'm biased. Let's get that out of the way right at the top of this offering. Maybe the small kindness extended to me by Joe Morgan back in 1975 when I was an impossibly youthful and inexperienced sportswriter has stuck all this time later.

Regardless, I think the man is the finest "expert analyst" working the TV sports beat. Baseball . . . football . . . basketball . . . doesn't matter. I submit that Morgan, the former second baseman for a lot of teams -- including the '75 Cincinnati Reds -- is the gold standard of color men.

He's insightful, he's knowledgeable, he's articulate and he can effortlessly blend today's game and athletes with those of yesterday without yearning for the one and/or pandering to the other.

I mention this here and now because I treated myself to virtually all of ESPN2's telecast of the Thursday-night affair between Houston and St. Louis, and to Morgan's words that accompanied it. As always, Joe was superb . . . especially when he commented about Andy Pettitte and his slider with these words: "If you think he's tough, you should have batted against Steve Carlton."

I don't know. For some reason that made me laugh. But then, Morgan -- the Hall-of-Famer, and one of baseball's true ambassadors -- was so sound in other ways. Why does Houston's insistence to bat Willy Taveras second behind the much slower Craig Biggio rather than leadoff make sense? Joe explained. Why won't pitchers throw inside more often? Joe explained. Why did the Astros' Lance Berkman look so good hitting his fourth-inning home run and so weak striking out a couple of innings later? Joe explained.

And then there was his dismissal of pitchers who suffer from a lack of run support. "Pitch better," Joe said. "It's simple: If the other guy gave up no runs, he out-pitched you."

Anyway, I believe that Joe Morgan is terrific at what he does behind the microphone. And my position has nothing to do with that rainout during the 1975 World Series between Morgan's Reds and the Boston Red Sox when, during a practice session at an indoor batting facility at Boston University (I think), Morgan motioned to a certain youthful scribe to join him inside the cage, where the conversation could be more private.

And, yes, I accepted his invitation . . . and I sat with Joe Morgan, just the two of us, apart from the masses . . . and I got a pretty good story out of it. In a career filled with some wonderful moments, I've never forgotten that one.

I loved the insinuation that Bill James should have developed a formula for predicting the weather. Cy Young Predictor, Rain Predictor, etc.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AtLadahUVQObhvICzzNlGKARvLYF?slug=cnnsi-disturbingsigno&prov=cnnsi&type=lgns

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5054

Are the Japanese in training camp longer than who? Longer than the guys playing in Fall leagues, Rookie Leagues or Carribean Leagues?

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-bonds050906&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

how did they "save themselves the embarrassment of admitting they made a mistake in hiring the chump in the first place," exactly?

Joe Morgan: (11:56 AM ET ) Well, they're very similar to Chicago last year. Detroit lost the division down the stretch and Chicago almost did last year. But I do think this layoff will effect Detroit.

Joe Morgan: (12:00 PM ET ) Well, they didn't use the radar gun on every pitch as they do now. Make no mistake about it, some of these readings are jacked up. I don't think anyone today throws any harder than Nolan Ryan or Gibson or any of those guys threw. But I don't know about any team that has the guys that can throw as hard as the Tigers.

[fire Andy_K xpost]

hence the Dem prospects in the midterm election!

Rob Neyer: (12:52 PM ET ) Well, this might get me fired, but I went over his offensive comments a few times and I have to say . . . I wasn't offended. But then, unless somebody's flat-out lying, I'm pretty hard to offend. Unlike Lyons' erstwhile employers, who of course are known for their tasteful prime-time programming.

Early in Friday's game, Marco Scutaro was included in a graphic with Frank Thomas and Nick Swisher noting their "0-fors" in the ALCS through two games. Lou Piniella scoffed that Scutaro was even included in the graphic, for although the shortstop had a super ALDS, expecting similar production would be "like finding a wallet on a Friday night and looking for one on Sunday and Monday, too."

Flash ahead several minutes later; the announcers had moved onto entirely different topics.

Piniella said the A's needed Thomas to get "en fuego" (hot in Spanish) because he was currently "frio" (cold).

"The bilingual Lou Piniella," play-by-play man Thom Brennaman intoned.

Then Lyons said, "Lou's habla-ing some Espanol there, and I'm still looking for my wallet." Some quiet laughter ensued.

"I don't understand him," Lyons continued, "and I don't want to sit close to him now."

As Altman-Ohr says, apparently it was a joke - but what was the joke, exactly? Maybe Neyer can tell us.

If Beane makes Baker the A’s first African-American manager, this will boost attendance among black baseball fans. And who knows what this would mean to Oakland’s chances of choking off Fremont. Beane and Baker have strong personalities. Beane prefers managers who are acquiescent. However, if Beane truly wants to get to the World Series, he needs to bend from form.

Bend toward Dusty Baker.

Seriously, time to lock the thread because nothing can top that. Every line is a mindkiller. Like this one:

Twenty years ago, Baker wound up a splendid playing career in Oakland. So he has an understanding of how the A's organization works.

WHAAAAAAAAA*#$Y:$*@#U@*

To be fair, the A's crowds are no different.

More offensive than what Lyons said?

japans ppl eat like THIS...

Does it get any less retarded after the "Insider" jump?

Reading that, maybe he meant Mauer SHOULD have won the Gold Glove?

A better case is obviously the defense question (edge Mauer no contest, though Morneau isn't that awful), along with Joe's role as a catcher (giving signals, settling down pitchers -- including rookies Bonser, Liriano and Garza) and the fact that Morneau credits a lot of his improvement and patience at the plate to hanging out with Mauer all the time. It's just not a hey-duh gimme going by offense alone.

And Pudge was maybe a hair better than Mauer at catcher (no fucking with a .998 FP and .500+ CS rate -- and at age 34!) so if he meant Mauer SHOULD have won the Gold Glove that would've also been kinda dopey.

Player B creates 5.5% more outs than Player A. Outs are the most valuable thing in baseball blah blah blah. Every analysis I've seen points to OBP being roughly 100% more valuable for a 1-5 hitter and 50% more valuable for the 6-7 hitters, falling off more (I believe) for those hitting 8-9.

Joe's role as a catcher (giving signals, settling down pitchers -- including rookies Bonser, Liriano and Garza)
That's an argument akin to catcher ERA and intangibles. It may exist, but it's not something you look hard at. The real value of Mauer as catcher is that he's providing a top-5 offensive season playing at what is now, the absolute worst offensive position in baseball. (And also providing well above-average defense, icing on the cake)

Morneau was very good this year, but not spectacular for his position - it would be relatively easy to replace him with another first-tier player. Mauer, OTOH, was absolutely amazing compared to his fellow catchers.

If you go by WARP, Morneau was .6 wins better than Konerko and .1 better than Teixeira. Mauer was 1.6 wins better than the nearest catcher (Posada) and 3.8 better than Victor Martinez. That's a helluva gap.

Which works for theoretical scenarios in sabermetricsland but seriously, are you familiar with Terry Ryan? "replace him with another first-tier player" is about as real-world monetarily feasible as "new stadium to be made of gold with unicorn-hide turf". I think the dude waits for someone else's candy purchase to get stuck in the vending machine so he can try to get a two-for-one.

As far as those other points, perhaps it is I who are the dumbass.

Surprisingly tough on the knees

-- gear (speed.to.roa...), November 22nd, 2006 6:14 AM. (gear) (later)

put the crack down, gear, and walk away.