Friday, June 20, 2003
Roid Rage
This just in: Jose Canseco got arrested for testing positive for anabolic steriods, in violation of the terms of his parole. He's not even playing ball and is still taking them.
This just in: Jose Canseco got arrested for testing positive for anabolic steriods, in violation of the terms of his parole. He's not even playing ball and is still taking them.
Is OBP a WMD?
I dunno, the Sox are an interesting team. They have a nice mix of veterans, and young players. Their starting rotation looks rock solid, and their bullpen has a lot of intriguing arms. But for all this, the Sox have underachieved now for the second straight year. It's a mystery how a team with talent as rich as the Sox can stink it up and a team bereft of talent, like the Dodgers, can rock and roll. The Sox will see a regime change this year.
I dunno, the Sox are an interesting team. They have a nice mix of veterans, and young players. Their starting rotation looks rock solid, and their bullpen has a lot of intriguing arms. But for all this, the Sox have underachieved now for the second straight year. It's a mystery how a team with talent as rich as the Sox can stink it up and a team bereft of talent, like the Dodgers, can rock and roll. The Sox will see a regime change this year.
Thursday, June 19, 2003
Actually Konerko is a mystery. I looked at the stats and there's nothing really glaring. His strikeouts are about the same. He's grounded into many more double plays so far, but his groundball to flyball ratio isn't ridiculous, nor is his groundball per plate appearance, so he hasn't been like Matsui and hit a ton more groundballs. He's definitely not hitting for power. Like Scott mentioned, he only has 3 homers. On top of that, he's also not hitting any doubles. He had 19 before the break last year. This year eight, for a total of 11 extra base hits. And yes, Neifi has more--13.
His at bats are about the same, he's seeing 3.88 pitches per at bat. Not remarkable, but within range of what he's done throughout his career. However Konerko does seem to be getting into bad counts in his at bats. I did a comparison of him to his good teammate Frank Thomas. The first row shows what the players batting average is when an at-bat is recorded while he is behind in the count. The second, when there is a neutral count. The third, when the hitter is ahead in the count.
First Konerko is getting behind in the count more than the Big Hurt, not usual considering Thomas's batting eye and reputation with umpires. Second, when Konerko occassionally gets ahead in the count, he doesn't do jack with it. A .276 while ahead ain't gonna cut it. Thomas's .419 is closer to the league average. I haven't seen enough Sox games to know how pitchers are getting Konerko out, but my guess is his own lack of aggressive hitting while ahead is having an impact.
His at bats are about the same, he's seeing 3.88 pitches per at bat. Not remarkable, but within range of what he's done throughout his career. However Konerko does seem to be getting into bad counts in his at bats. I did a comparison of him to his good teammate Frank Thomas. The first row shows what the players batting average is when an at-bat is recorded while he is behind in the count. The second, when there is a neutral count. The third, when the hitter is ahead in the count.
| Player | Behind Counts (0-1, 0-2, 1-2, 2-2) | Neutural Counts (0-0, 1-1, 3-2) | Ahead Counts (1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-1, 3-0) |
| Konerko | .143 (13/91) | .206 (13/63) | .276 (13/47) |
| Thomas | .157 (13/83) | .289 (24/83) | .419 (26/62) |
First Konerko is getting behind in the count more than the Big Hurt, not usual considering Thomas's batting eye and reputation with umpires. Second, when Konerko occassionally gets ahead in the count, he doesn't do jack with it. A .276 while ahead ain't gonna cut it. Thomas's .419 is closer to the league average. I haven't seen enough Sox games to know how pitchers are getting Konerko out, but my guess is his own lack of aggressive hitting while ahead is having an impact.
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Kyle Says Hi! |
Paul Wilson, Punching Bag
Paul Wilson had had enough. While squaring around to bunt, Wilson got a pitch high and tight from the Cubs Kyle Farnsworth. He wheeled out of the batters box and started exchanging words with Farnsworth, then decided to do something about it. He charged the mound. Mistake number one. He charged the mound against Farnsworth. Mistake number two. He charge the mound against Farnsworth who is one of the more dedicated weight trainers in the league. Mistake number three. Next thing he knows, he's on the ground eating a knuckle sandwich or two. It's probably a mistake for a chubby pitcher to charge the mound against a guy who's workout habits are rumored to be...never mind.
Oh, and Konerko sucks.
Monday, June 16, 2003
Hello, I must be going
Art should have left Cedeno in. Couldn't do any worse than the rest of the Mets against Alameda's finest.
Joe Torre hates Ruben Sierra. He's called him all kinds of shit. He even ripped Rube in his book. So your boss is The Boss and he's pretty steamed at you. How does he get back at you? He hires the guy you ripped and called stupid in your book.
Torre seems to be trying to calm the seas of dissent. He's said that his beef with Rube was long ago settled. Now he compares him to Clemente, possibly with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
Torre doesn't like Sierra. He likes The Boss less so. Neither he nor Howe are going anywhere this season--for different reasons: Steinbrenner can't fire Torre, and Howe is owed too much money.
Art should have left Cedeno in. Couldn't do any worse than the rest of the Mets against Alameda's finest.
Joe Torre hates Ruben Sierra. He's called him all kinds of shit. He even ripped Rube in his book. So your boss is The Boss and he's pretty steamed at you. How does he get back at you? He hires the guy you ripped and called stupid in your book.
Torre seems to be trying to calm the seas of dissent. He's said that his beef with Rube was long ago settled. Now he compares him to Clemente, possibly with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
Torre doesn't like Sierra. He likes The Boss less so. Neither he nor Howe are going anywhere this season--for different reasons: Steinbrenner can't fire Torre, and Howe is owed too much money.
