The Official MERB 2010 Baseball Thread.

[Merlot]

Hello?!? Wakefield was pitching...knuckleballer for cris sake...

That said, the Sox do have an issue...but to use this game to blow the problem up...comon' Beav...

Hello Jman,

While Red Sox fans are taking an honest look at their team, it would be a fair dose of reality for Yankees fans to take a break from their back-slapping self-adoration CJ fest to take an honest look at their issues. Despite the abundance I previously mentioned it seems the fact that $26 million of player salaries is producing a combined average of .271 between Nick Johnson .146 and Mark Teixeira .125. while each has played in 13 games with at least 41 at bats by either. A .271 player is the kind on the bubble between playing and splinter collecting. And that's by adding these numbers.

The Yankees fans had better not forget that aside from the possibility of injuries or other natural and unnatural hazards, there are some great teams out there that could really kick their ass. Their own history has also been a very sad one aside from 2009. Not to mention the the Sox could kick their butts on any given day.

So booooyeeeooow Yankees boys.

Yeeeeahhh BABY! You tell em Merlot.

Cheerio,

Merlot

 

[EagerBeaver]

Ortiz Problem

How is the Ortiz Problem going to be resolved? Through Self-benching, Manager-benching, retirement, or an outright release? In analyzing this issue I note that some of the best players in baseball history suffered very ignominious ends to their baseball careers.

Lou Gehrig, then undiagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, started the 1st 9 games of the 1939 season hitting .143, 4 for 28 with 4 singles and 1 RBI in 9 games, this after having slumped badly in the second half of the 1938 season due to "fatigue." What happened next is that Gehrig, who had then played in 2,130 consecutive games, benched himself. He went to Manager Joe McCarthy and simply said, "I'm benching myself, Joe." Gehrig never played another game.

At that time, Yankees beat reporter James Kahn wrote of Gehrig who had not yet been diagnosed with anything:

"I think there is something wrong with him. Physically wrong, I mean. I don't know what it is, but I am satisfied that it goes far beyond his ball-playing. I have seen ballplayers 'go' overnight, as Gehrig seems to have done. But they were simply washed up as ballplayers. It's something deeper than that in this case, though. I have watched him very closely and this is what I have seen: I have seen him time a ball perfectly, swing on it as hard as he can, meet it squarely — and drive a soft, looping fly over the infield. In other words, for some reason that I do not know, his old power isn't there... He is meeting the ball, time after time, and it isn't going anywhere."

Babe Ruth's end in 1935 also went badly, and also came in Boston. There was no DH in those days. Ruth went 3-3 with 3 homers on May 25, the last 3 homers of his career. 5 days later he hurt his knee playing the field, which was the subject of much controversy because his fielding was at that point so bad that 3 of the Braves pitchers threatened to not take the mound if Ruth was inserted into the lineup. After the knee injury, Ruth retired. Ruth finished his last season hitting .181 with 6 homers in 72 at bats.

What will happen with Ortiz? 11 games, .146, 0 HR 2 RBIs, stats very similar to those of the disease stricken-Gehrig in the last year of his career.

 

[Doc Holliday]

How is the Ortiz Problem going to be resolved? Through Self-benching, Manager-benching, retirement, or an outright release? In analyzing this issue I note that some of the best players in baseball history suffered very ignominious ends to their baseball careers.

What will happen with Ortiz? 11 games, .146, 0 HR 2 RBIs, stats very similar to those of the disease stricken-Gehrig in the last year of his career.

I wouldn't compare Ortiz' situation to the unfortunate one experienced by Lou Gehrig's, whose illness eventually killed him & still kills millions today. I attribute Ortiz' demise to the crackdown on steroids. The man is a shadow of his old self & reminds me so much of what happened with Pudge Rodriguez after he quit being on the juice. He shrunk. I also suspect many players lose their confidence (and strenght) when they stop juicing themselves, like most bodybuilders i know when they get off their juicing cycles.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Doc,

Just to be clear the basis for comparison with Gehrig was purely statistical. The stats they have amassed (Gehrig in 1939 and Ortiz so far in 2010) are very similar, the one striking difference being that Ortiz has 17 Ks whereas Gehrig only had one.

By the ways you mentioned Pudge Rodriguez shrinking. Ortiz does not look like he shrunk to me. He looks the same size as always. I watched him last night and his bat speed is lazy. They were pumping fastball down the middle and daring him to hit them. I saw the same thing happen to Dave Justice and Chili Davis when both were at the end of their careers. Justice in particular could not make good contact with any good fastballs and was striking out at an alarming rate. Davis was popping everything up. Good contact just was not being made and now I am seeing the same things happening to Ortiz. Honestly, I feel sorry for the guy because he looks perplexed after his at bats. At some point you have to admit that you are missing hittable pitches. I remember Kenny Singleton once saying it was the toughest thing to admit to himself he could no longer hit at the end of his career but after popping up pitches he used to crush for homers, he realized it was over.

 

[lgna69xxx]

Geez, seems like it was just yesterday that a sox fan on here was laughing it up about how bad the Yankees catcher was, how old and depleted he was, well "lo and behold" (is that a correct phrase spec k) , it seems the sox catching situation is even worse. (lol, like the yanks is bad to begin with, lol) someone really better check on rumples like joet said, this stuff is not good to keep inside, let it out rumples, you will feel better and like i said, theres ALOT of baseball left to play, the sox are to good a team to not come out of it (thats for you merlot, i know you love the compliments, hihi)

I watched the Red Sox game last night. Good news is they won, the bad news is the Rangers stole a franchise record 9 bases by the 5th inning and Big Papi had 2 strikeouts and a pop up on a fastball down the middle before Lowell pinch hit for him. Papi looks to me exactly like Dave Justice and Chili Davis looked at the very end of their careers with the Yankees. When word gets out on the streets of baseball that you can't hit anyone's good cheese, that is all you are gonaa get. I would think the plug is going to be pulled on him very soon.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Rumples is likely experiencing side effects from the anti-depressants he has had to take. I just hope they do not extend to inhibiting his ability to boner. Of course, I think his boner over the Red Sox' defense may be gone by now anyway.

 

[lgna69xxx]

i..... i...... nevermind, even i cant go there.... but to keep this about the sport

I was just wondering when Rumplesforeskin was stroking his hard on

 

[Jman47]

Hello Merlot,

Yeah, I know...
All the points you make are very valid...you forgot to mention the recent problems of the Swooshh...2 for his last 22...BA of .195 OPS od .692 with 15k's over the last 15 games...

Of course this is the same buch of backslappers that were parading Johnny Damon around last fall as a 'must sign"...how's he doing?! BA of .279 and no power so far...apparently the juice is different in Detroit.

So I take the bla, bla, bla and the back slapping in stride, stick by my team and know there are much better days ahead...knowing in the back of my mind had the Yankees started 4-9 this same bunch would have had the baseball genius Girardi lynched already......oh yeah and they would have traded Herman by now too...

There is still a HUGE pool of talent playing on Yawkee way...it's just a matter of time until they get hot.

Have fun,

Jman

 

[Jman47]

Geez, seems like it was just yesterday that a sox fan on here was laughing it up about how bad the Yankees catcher was, how old and depleted he was, well "lo and behold" (is that a correct phrase spec k) , it seems the sox catching situation is even worse. (lol, like the yanks is bad to begin with, lol) someone really better check on rumples like joet said, this stuff is not good to keep inside, let it out rumples, you will feel better and like i said, theres ALOT of baseball left to play, the sox are to good a team to not come out of it (thats for you merlot, i know you love the compliments, hihi)

Iggy, Posada still sucks...he has thrown out 1 of 11 runners this year...

If you have an iota of knowledge about BB, you know most bases are stolen on the pitcher. The Sox have to get their pitchers to help manage the running game better and change up the deliveries(that is the pitching coaches job)...and Wakefield does not count. He has always allowed a high amount of steals. I'll say it again...he's a knuckleballer...when the ball goes to the plate at 67 mph, people are gonna steal bases...

 

[lgna69xxx]

big difference jman, Tex is in his 20's, papi is mid 30's and most would believe he was juiced at one time where as Tex . most likely not.. the Juice effects different people in different ways depending how much they did and there body type

 

[lgna69xxx]

as a whole, Gorgie is still a very very good catcher, both offensive and defensive although he has slowed a bit defensively, but to a team that hits like the yankees, they can afford that somewhat, where as the sox cant, at least until they start to hit consistently...

Iggy, Posada still sucks...he has thrown out 1 of 11 runners this year...

If you have an iota of knowledge about BB, you know most bases are stolen on the pitcher. The Sox have to get their pitchers to manage the game better and change up the deliveries...and Wakefiled does not count. He has always allowed a high amount of steals. I'll say it again...he's a knuckleballer...when the ball goe to the plate at 67 mph, people are gonna steal bases...

 

[Jman47]

big difference jman, Tex is in his 20's, papi is mid 30's and most would believe he was juiced at one time where as Tex . most likely not.. the Juice effects different people in different ways depending how much they did and there body type

Tex is historically a 2nd half player...he has always started slow. I do believe he juiced tho...and I do believe the pressure of NY plays on him.

Ortiz...idk what to say...he lit up last year at the end...there is more to that then we know. He is in his declining years.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Whatever Teixeira's batting problems have been early, they do not effect his fielding or his patience at the plate, so he is contributing to the team. He is drawing walks, and his fielding, as in the playoffs last year, has been fantastic.

Ortiz, on the other hand, has a job description that reads "designated hitter." When you are a designated hitter and you can't hit your contributions to the team are ZERO. For these reasons Ortiz could soon be joining Gary Sheffield and Jermaine Dye in the ranks of unemployed designated hitters.

I think it is kind of sad for Ortiz, but his stats right now are the same as those of the disease-stricken Gehrig in his final games as a Yankee. How long a rope they give him based on past performance remains to be seen. They gave him a lot of rope last year based on his contributions over time. Gehrig also got a lot of rope late 1938 and early 1939. He had built up so much good will with teammates, fans, media, and manager (much like Ortiz) that he had to bench himself because he knew nobody else would pull the trigger on him. I think Ortiz is in a similar position right now but the rope is running out.

Remember that at the time Gehrig benched himself, he was not yet diagnosed with his own disease, Lou Gehrig's Disease. As far as anyone knew, including Gehrig himself, he had just had lost it all at once. I think Ortiz's decline had been gradual over the last 2 years which is how it usually happens for most older players, especially those who are not really taking care of themselves in the offseason. Ortiz has been too busy with his DR nightclubs to be bothered with extra workouts. When you get to a certain age, between the natural aging process and/or lack of offseason conditioning, you pay the price. We see that now with Ortiz. We are just waiting at this point for the other shoe to drop.

 

[Joe.t]

Rumples is likely experiencing side effects from the anti-depressants he has had to take. I just hope they do not extend to inhibiting his ability to boner. Of course, I think his boner over the Red Sox' defense may be gone by now anyway.

Absolutely fucking hilarious Beav!!!!, it gets my vote for post of the year.

 

[Joe.t]

Hello SK,



Well, the photo has nothing to do with Rumples just to be clear. But I was firmly informed Sabermetrics was the best system for predicting how a team would do...of course maybe that would be over a 324 game season...lol. Anyway, I'm sure there is a numerical explanation Rumples can provide that makes perfect sense to all of us...UH HUH! Hey Rumples...Yodel lay hee hoooo,

Don't mind me. If one can't laugh at how things are starting this year one could end up falling off a very high roof.



"Lackluster"! Are you kidding. We're dreaming of being that good at the moment...lol

OMG!!! Sympathy and support from Igs. DAMN! Now that really hurts. Just evil.

Cheerio,

Merlot

Sabermetrics is a system that the Yankees used to heavily rely on prior to 2008 when Hank Stienbrenner junked it in the garbage can, it is a System that is used by Boston, therefor the perfect example of a successful team vs a team that is a total total failure , end of story.

 

[Joe.t]

Beckett getting slapped silly and it's only the 2nd inning, anybody got any updated sabermetrics stats on him?.

 

[Jman47]

- Drew is "missing pitches", he says that he is not swinging at strikes

Yup...JD sure missed that pitch tonight for the Grand Salami...

Have fun,

Jman

PS This thread is getting purely moronic when all some people have time to do is slam every f**king negative play or inning (before a game is over - they play 9 you f**king moron) and others start comparing live players to diseased dead players...both show a total lack of class in my opinion.

BTW comparing live to live in the box - Ortiz .146 BA/ .222 OBP ... Texiera .125 BA / .300 OBP - he ain't taking too many more pitches...

If you would like to go look at some numbers:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?n1=ortizda01&year=2009&t=b
What they will show is Ortiz' numbers also sucked in April and May of 2009...then lit it up from June - October.
What is ironic is IF the Sox did drop him...the f**king Yankees would be first in line to pick him up...

 

[EagerBeaver]

What is ironic is IF the Sox did drop him...the f**king Yankees would be first in line to pick him up...

There is zero chance of that happening since the guy can only play DH, and the Yankees have several DH options and in fact let Matsui go because they had too many DH type guys on their roster. That is why the Yankees have a better team this year.

The point of the prior posts is exactly that, how much rope do you show a guy when he gets off to this type of start. If you have a good team and a good lineup, then you can extend the rope. The Red Sox do not have anywhere near as good a lineup right now as they did last year when the rope was extended, even before the injuries happened. This is reality, nothing more or less. If you have a lineup like the Yankees have then you can carry someone who is not getting the job done, when 5 or 6 other guys are. The problem for Ortiz is not a lot of teams are looking for guys who are pure DHs. That's why Gary Sheffield and Jermaine Dye are not working. Plus, he is a year older and showing no evidence of being better and a lot of evidence of being worse.

 

[Jman47]

There is zero chance of that happening since the guy can only play DH, and the Yankees have several DH options and in fact let Matsui go because they had too many DH type guys on their roster. That is why the Yankees have a better team this year.

The point of the prior posts is exactly that, how much rope do you show a guy when he gets off to this type of start. If you have a good team and a good lineup, then you can extend the rope. The Red Sox do not have anywhere near as good a lineup right now as they did last year when the rope was extended, even before the injuries happened. This is reality, nothing more or less. If you have a lineup like the Yankees have then you can carry someone who is not getting the job done, when 5 or 6 other guys are. The problem for Ortiz is not a lot of teams are looking for guys who are pure DHs. That's why Gary Sheffield and Jermaine Dye are not working. Plus, he is a year older and showing no evidence of being better and a lot of evidence of being worse.

Exactly why he is on the bench and Francona deserves credit for handling it. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. BTW Lowell at DH is 2 for 2 + a walk w/ 2 RBI so far tonight...called TEAM play....

I'd be willing to wager a steak dinner on that pick up (not that you have much to worry about 'cause I don't think it will happen)...you sure about that zero chance?...how's the Nick Johnson thing working out? Nick Swisher...? Bunch a Nick's without a clue...smartest thing the genius Girardi could do is DH Posada while he still has any gas in the tank and catch Cervelli...

 

[EagerBeaver]

smartest thing the genius Girardi could do is DH Posada while he still has any gas in the tank and catch Cervelli...

I actually agree and previously stated he should be doing this against lefties. But I am not worried about the Nicks because those players are not old guys, and they can be carried. From what I have seen of Swisher he is an extremely streaky hitter but you live with that because he typically leads the AL in pitch counts. Johnson is also drawing high pitch counts. They are therefore contributing, minimally.