Despite what one foolish blogger wrote a few months back (who was that blogger, anyway?), Pat the Bat has played exceptionally well with the Jints, assuming you don't need a fly ball caught, that is-his .262/.370./.512 line betters his career numbers in all particulars (.254/.362/.475).
In fact PTB's 133 OPS+ with SF this year would be his best since 2002, if extended for a full season. We are, of course, ignoring Pat's disastrous final few months with the Rays.
I think Brian Sabean haters like John Perricone don't really understand modern baseball-player talent is so expensive now that nobody who doesn't play in the AL East can seriously strive for a great 25 man roster-you shoot for 90 wins and hope like hell that's enough to make the playoffs. The Giants have hellacious pitching and mediocre (if that) hitting-and that probably will get them to the post season.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Nyjer Morgan is my hero
All that personality, and the NL's lowest OPS (among qualifiers), .634?
What more could you ask for? The Nats sure seem to draw this type of player.
Then again, "character guy" Raul Ibanez is 43rd, among 73 qualifiers in the senior circuit, at .779. People are talking about Raulllll! as if he's had a good year, when it's just somewhat less miserable than you'd expect for a corner OF, since his second half has been a good deal better than the first, and because Raul is now older than infield dirt. But damn, what a good guy!
The soft bigotry of low expectations, I'd call it.
What more could you ask for? The Nats sure seem to draw this type of player.
Then again, "character guy" Raul Ibanez is 43rd, among 73 qualifiers in the senior circuit, at .779. People are talking about Raulllll! as if he's had a good year, when it's just somewhat less miserable than you'd expect for a corner OF, since his second half has been a good deal better than the first, and because Raul is now older than infield dirt. But damn, what a good guy!
The soft bigotry of low expectations, I'd call it.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Who says Cubs' fans don't care if their team wins?
It's never been true that any team, including the Yankees, could be rotten and continue to draw.
And while the Cubs' attendance dropoff from last year (full season in '09, 74 dates this year)-1674/game- may not seem stupendous, it does show that the Cubs' franchise also isn't immune to fans finding other ways to amuse themselves when the local team sucks.
A few may even be going to see the Sox, who are still in the race, as sacrilegious as this shift in allegiance may seem to most Chicagoites.
And while the Cubs' attendance dropoff from last year (full season in '09, 74 dates this year)-1674/game- may not seem stupendous, it does show that the Cubs' franchise also isn't immune to fans finding other ways to amuse themselves when the local team sucks.
A few may even be going to see the Sox, who are still in the race, as sacrilegious as this shift in allegiance may seem to most Chicagoites.
Your first place Philadelphia Phillies!
I haven't seen the numbers, but I bet that the Phillies have lost as many, or nearly as many, player-days to the DL as the Mets did last year-and with comparable players-Utley, Rollins, etc.
Yet the Phillies are prospering, with a playoff spot now a 73% probability, according to Baseball Prospectus.
Maybe the acquisition of "character guys" by Pat Gillick and Rueben Amaro makes sense after all. It's not as if character doesn't matter, of course. That, without talent, won't buy you a latte' at Starbuck's. But with it, who knows?
Yet the Phillies are prospering, with a playoff spot now a 73% probability, according to Baseball Prospectus.
Maybe the acquisition of "character guys" by Pat Gillick and Rueben Amaro makes sense after all. It's not as if character doesn't matter, of course. That, without talent, won't buy you a latte' at Starbuck's. But with it, who knows?
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