The Big Blue Wrecking Crew

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:
Bravo, HA.

[quote]

hunteralan:

Who better to leadoff a new installment of The Idiocy Gene than the greatest Idiot any village ever turned out . . . :confused:

In answer to the question: Why are the Yankees so up and down this season?

Our favorite baseball expert from BoSPiN, Joe Morgan, answers thusly:

Unfortunately, everything seems to be riding on A-Rod. When he's up they're up, when he's in a lull, they are.

A-Rod’s numbers in April were .355 BA, .415 OBP, .882 SLG% (!!!!), 1.297 OPS, 14 HR, 27 runs, 34 RBI’s . . . Pretty darn awesome! So the Yankee’s must’ve been ‘up’ in April since A-Rod was ‘up’, right? Oh, no, they were only 9-14 in the month. Huh . . . Something seems wrong with Joe’s analysis. Let’s look further.

A-Rod’s numbers in May were ‘in a lull’ at .235 BA, .361 OBP, .422 SLG%, .783 OPS, and only 5 HR and 11 RBI . . . So the Yankee’s must’ve slipped even further. No . . . they actually had a better record in May than in April. But according to the top analyst on BoSPiN the Yankee’s should have ‘lulled’ in May just like A-Rod. Something tells me the Yankees don’t listen to Joe any more than anyone else . . .

But surely during the Yankees only winning streak longer than three games all year (their 9-game winning streak in June), A-Rod was hot, right? YEAH, he was! A-Rod hit almost .500 during the teams’ streak with 5 HR and 21 RBI’s! Joe got one right! Weehoo!

But what a bummer it must’ve been for A-Rod when the Yankees immediately followed that 9-game winning streak with another ‘lull’ by losing 7 of their next 10 games. By Joe-logic, A-Rod hit another ‘lull’ during those 10 games as well . . . To the tune of an almost .500 BA, 5 doubles, 3 HR and a measly 9 RBI. Poor guy couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat . . . :sad:

So, A-Rod = Absolutely awesome for 2/3 of the year so far in 2007 . . . By Joe-logic that means the Yankees = Absolutely awesome for 2/3 of the year so far in 2007. And the team is 36-38. Something’s amiss here, Joe . . . It seems there is no correlation at all between A-Rod’s performance and the Yankees record so far this year.

So, you got any other ideas why the Yankees are so up and down, Joe?

The biggest mistake they made was getting rid of Sheffield.

Really. Getting rid of SOD, huh? Not trading Randy Johnson to Arizona for Pez? Not failing to outbid their biggest rivals for Daisuke Matsuzaka, and then ‘failing’ by actually winning the rights to Kei Igawa who stinks like 10-A-C roadkill? Not failing to do much at all to a woeful pitching staff until they decided to pay Roger Clemens like a kazillion dollars per breath in mid June?

Even though the Yankees have scored the 3rd most runs in baseball this year, but have a patchwork pitching staff and a far overworked bullpen due to starters continued failures, the biggest mistake the team made was giving up an excess hitter with an attitude only Terrell Owens could appreciate? :shocked:

Maybe it’s me . . . But I think that’s wrong, Joe. Could you explain why you think this way? Maybe I’m just not seeing it because I’m not close to the game like you are, Joe.

He's [SOD] been the leader on that team offensively the three years that he was there, except the year A-Rod was the MVP. He and A-Rod carried the team. Matsui and Jeter were contributors, but those two carried the team.

Oh, okay, I got it now. SOD was so other-worldly fantastic offensively during his three years in NY that the team couldn’t hope to replace such production in the lineup. Let’s take a look at some numbers to support that cogent analysis, shall we?

2004
SOD - .927 OPS….36 HR….121 RBI…..117 runs
Matsui – .912 OPS..31 HR….108 RBI…..109 runs
A-Rod - .888 OPS..36 HR…..106 RBI…..112 runs
Jeter - .823 OPS…..23 HR……78 RBI…..111 runs

SOD was good, but the best? Maybe. Carried the team? No way, no how. SOD was no more a leader offensively on that team than Matsui, A-Rod, Jeter, or even Bernie Williams (who’s numbers were almost equal to Jeter’s across the board). Not looking good Joe . . .

2005
SOD - .891 OPS…….31 HR….123 RBI….104 runs
A-Rod – 1.031 OPS…48 HR….130 RBI….124 runs
Giambi - .975 OPS…..32 HR…..87 RBI……74 runs
Jeter - .839 OPS……...19 HR….70 RBI…..122 runs
Matsui - .863 OPS……23 HR...116 RBI…..108 runs

This was A-Rod’s MVP year Joe eluded to. So at least he ‘except-ed’ this year as a year SOD was the ‘leader’ of the team offensively. Joe failed to mention though that SOD wasn’t even the 2nd best (Giambi) on the team offensively. And considering Jeter’s year and Matsui almost equaling SOD across the board, the argument could be made that SOD was no more than 4th or 5th best on the team offensively.

But again, Joe conceded this point . . . kinda.

2006
SOD - .806 OPS……6 HR…..25 RBI……22 runs
A-Rod - .914 OPS…35 HR…121 RBI…..113 runs
Jeter - .900 OPS……14 HR….97 RBI…..118 runs
Matsui - .887 OPS…..8 HR….29 RBI……32 runs
Giambi - .971 OPS…37 HR…113 RBI…..92 runs

Now this is hardly even fair to debate, but hey . . . Joe brought it up.

SOD was injured for most of 5 months in 2006. I would have assumed Joe would have known this, but . . . well, he is Joe Morgan. And he did say that SOD’s been the leader on the team offensively in every year he was a Yankee except A-Rod’s 2005 MVP year. So how exactly did SOD lead the team offensively for 5 months while on the DL? I’m not sure really, you’d have to ask Joe that one.

However, I am sure A-Rod was a far better leader for the offense in 2006. And Jason Giambi was even better than A-Rod. Jeter was probably the best leader of them all for most of the year. Jorge Posada and his 23 HR, 93 RBI, and .867 OPS did a far better job of carrying the team than SOD. Heck, Matsui was more valuable in his limited action. Bobby Abreu was far more valuable to the team and he only played in 1/3 of the Yankee’s games. And Cano . . . And Damon . . . By my count, SOD was no better than the 9th best leader offensively for the Yankee’s in 2006.

So it seems to me, in not even one year he was a Yankee was the SOD the ‘leader of the offense’. And no way, no how did he ever carry the team.

But surely, now that he’s infecting the Tigger clubhouse, the Yankees are showing signs of decline offensively, right?

Now they just have A-Rod.

Just A-Rod, Joe? Then who is Jorge Posada been hitting over .340 for then? And was that Derek Jeter in a D-Ray uniform hitting .340? Hideki Matsui can’t be on pace for over 100 RBI’s for the 4th time in five years, can he? Not for the Yankee’s evidently. All they have is A-Rod.

But I'm shocked when I did their game against the Mets three weeks ago and they had won 11 of 12 and looked like they were on a roll. Now they're back to where they started from.

Three weeks ago, Joe? Three weeks ago the Yankee’s were in Chicago for a 4-game series with the White Sox. Then they had a 3-game weekend series with Pittsburgh and a 3-game series with D-Backs two weeks ago. And then . . . Oh there it is, Joe! Just a week and a half ago the Mets crossed town to take on the A-Rod’s . . . But I can understand, Joe, with alllll those games you watch how it can seem like 3 weeks ago . . .

But, really Joe, why so shocked? Had the Yankee’s addressed their weaknesses? Had they solidified a rotation that had seen the likes of Carl Pavano, Kei Igawa, Chase Wright, Jeff Karstens, Tyler Clippard, Matt DeSalvo, and Darrell Rasner start a full 40% of the teams’ games? Had Farnsworth, Villone, and/or Luis Vizcaino lowered their ERA’s under 5.00? Or their WHIP’s under 1.60? Had any of the starters begun pitching longer than 5 or 6 innings to rest a woefully overworked and underachieving bullpen?

No. Nothing that mindbending. The Yankees simply had a hot streak. Like just about every major league team does at some point during a 162 game season. Listen Joe, the Yankees suck because their pitching sucks. Everyone outside of Bristol knows that. Forget about A-Rod. Forget about Jeter, Posada, or any of the others . . . Oh, yeah, you’ve got that part down already . . . Forget about SOD. The Yankees will continue to suck until their pitching ceases to suck. It’s that simple.

I just don't get how you can not see this, Joe. You cover the Yankees even when you're doing a Rangers/Mariners game. You slip in the Bronx Boys into discussions at every turn. I bet you even know how to spell Yankee. Yet you couldn't see the most obvious flaw the team has if it fell on you like an anvil. The Yankees suck because they let the SOD go and now all they have in NY is A-Rod and a bunch of stiffs . . . :confused:

Keep up the good work Joe.

Remember, HA, stats don't tell the whole story. I heard that from Mark Grace and I am sure that Morgan is receiving more than a few e-mails (if he can operate his 'puter) explaining that his thinking is moronic on almost every level. I guess if you have the gift of bullshit and can sound convincing, you can make people believe that you invented the wheel. The problem with Joe is that he doesn't realize this is the the 21st century and any schmo with a 'puter and five minutes of free time can refute his arguments. Right now, Jae makes more sense than Joe. Hell, the freakin' chihuahua knows what is wrong with the Yankees - pitching, pitching, and more pitching.

Geez HA, how long have you been saving up that rant ?!?

Great rant as usual, and we really have to scratch our heads over who thinks Joe is insightful, other than the Gnats fans when Joe does Gnats games and lavishes constant praise on *.

The Bombers are still bombing away as much as normal, but they have a poor record? However, Joe's got it all figured out as being a hitting and leadership problem - largely related to the loss of The SOD, who apparently was the reason they won so many championships in the late 1990's. I wonder why no team has offered him a Manager or GM job yet?

I keep ragging on the Yanks, but they do have the pitching pieces and the financial wherewithal to straighten things out. Clemens, Mussina and Pettitte have been VG to great SPs for a long time, Wang has been VG for them since he came up, and Hughes could produce very well, very early like some other phenom arms have. However, those veteran arms are getting long in the tooth and have had trouble being both effective and going deep into games for the past few seasons, and it take most good young arms 2-3 seasons to become effective big league starters. Meanwhile, Torre, who chews up a good pen when the SPs are going good, has already abused a weak pen, and Mariano has an ERA above 4 and only 9 saves (out of 11 chances) almost halfway thru the season. In fact, I think the Yanks have been OVER performing so far this season picthing-wise and the effects of a depleted pen may be just now coming into play.

Of course, if the Yanks go thru a horrible run of games it will just further illustrate the negative impact from the loss of The SOD.

How in the world does Joe Morgan keep getting asked these types of questions? At some point don't these "reporters" realize that they'd be better off asking high school girls at Nordstrom's their thoughts?

I tell you what upsets me the most these days about all this, and to a certain extent, ya'll are guilty of it too (even you HA, in fact, especially you, HA).

HA said it. The Yankees suck. So why is that all anybody wants to talk about? BoSPiN makes an excuse about them still being "interesting," but from what I've seen in sports coverage it's usually about who is winning and successful. That's usually who is most interesting.

I mean they cover every Roger Clemens fart like it's the biggest news of the days, while "no-name" pitchers like Jake Peavy and Brad Penny (who?) toil away, doing nothing more than putting up seasons to remember.

There are plenty of "interesting" stories to cover. Baseball is back in Milwaukee. Young teams like the Brewers, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Indians and others have fresh young talent to talk about. Sure, they are starting to learn some of those teams' players, as evidenced by the recent coverage of Turtle, but we could learn a lot more if they didn't have to do 25-minute segments on the Yankees for every show.

Who cares about the freaking Yankees? KB I also got some fussing for you. Do the math. Even if they win at a .667 percentage the rest of the way (you know, the percentage of GREAT teams), they'll win somewhere around 90 games, and that likely ain't enough to get them in the playoffs.

The Yankees are DEAD! How about them Dodgers! And Brewers! And Diamondbacks! And Tigers! And Indians! And Phillies! And several other teams who are providing interesting story lines that are either undercovered or totally ignored.

If BoSPiN just has to provide ridiculous amounts of coverage on one team, their favorites from Boston are having a great season, as much as it pains me to say it. Of course, it would be hard to cover them any more than they already are, but how about doing some actual work and learning about the other 28 teams?

And one last thing. Those fools covered this past weekend's series between the Giants and Yankees like it was a World Series preview. Both teams are horrible and neither has a chance at the playoffs.

Get a clue BoSPiN!

Here's some stupidity from Rosenthal.

Dodgers: What would they do with Nomar Garciaparra, who has hit only one homer in 247 at-bats but is signed through next season with no-trade protection? If they could get Teixeira, perhaps their answer should be, "Who cares?" uncomfortable as it might be with Garciaparra, a favorite son in southern California.

The Rangers almost certainly would want right-hander Chad Billingsley in any deal for Teixeira, and probably would target first baseman James Loney and/or outfielder Matt Kemp as well. The Dodgers are deep enough in prospects to make it work.


If we trade Billingsley, Loney and Kemp it better be for Albert Pujols and a healthy Chris Carpenter...and cash.

[quote]

ceyheyjay:

Here's some stupidity from Rosenthal.

Dodgers: What would they do with Nomar Garciaparra, who has hit only one homer in 247 at-bats but is signed through next season with no-trade protection? If they could get Teixeira, perhaps their answer should be, "Who cares?" uncomfortable as it might be with Garciaparra, a favorite son in southern California.

The Rangers almost certainly would want right-hander Chad Billingsley in any deal for Teixeira, and probably would target first baseman James Loney and/or outfielder Matt Kemp as well. The Dodgers are deep enough in prospects to make it work.


If we trade Billingsley, Loney and Kemp it better be for Albert Pujols and a healthy Chris Carpenter...and cash.

No one accused the Midget of having brains and this proves that he is as stupid as he is short. Please, lets give up ten plus years of Loney, Kemp and Billz for the for sure year and a half of Teixeira before he, his agent and his mommy and daddy paddle their way back to Baltimore to play for a team who will very likely never sniff the playoffs for the next decade. Tell you what, Midget...stick to the glasses, you might actually see things for a change.

[quote]

ceyheyjay:

Here's some stupidity from Rosenthal.

Dodgers: What would they do with Nomar Garciaparra, who has hit only one homer in 247 at-bats but is signed through next season with no-trade protection? If they could get Teixeira, perhaps their answer should be, "Who cares?" uncomfortable as it might be with Garciaparra, a favorite son in southern California.

The Midget is an Idiot for sure . . . Doesn't he know we resigned Nomar simply to keep Mrs. Garciaparra around the stadium for a couple more years. She alone has to account for a few thousand in attendance each game...

[quote]

hunteralan:

[quote]

ceyheyjay:

Here's some stupidity from Rosenthal.

Dodgers: What would they do with Nomar Garciaparra, who has hit only one homer in 247 at-bats but is signed through next season with no-trade protection? If they could get Teixeira, perhaps their answer should be, "Who cares?" uncomfortable as it might be with Garciaparra, a favorite son in southern California.

The Midget is an Idiot for sure . . . Doesn't he know we resigned Nomar simply to keep Mrs. Garciaparra around the stadium for a couple more years. She alone has to account for a few thousand in attendance each game...

Nice sig line, HA! As the kid would say, Mia Hamm is bangin'!

Hey HA.. FireJoeMorgan.com says, "what's up".

:D

Man Rosenthal is blowing the hippy lettuce this morning. Sure, why don't we throw in Kershaw too, he's from Texas. Gimme a break, Tex is on the freaking DL anyways.

And HA, that is the best sig line I've seen...good work

[quote]

TBoneShelby:

Man Rosenthal is blowing the hippy lettuce this morning. Sure, why don't we throw in Kershaw too, he's from Texas. Gimme a break, Tex is on the freaking DL anyways.

And HA, that is the best sig line I've seen...good work

This is about the fourth rumor I have seen that features Kershaw. That tells me something, every scout worth his three martini lunch is pining for this lefty from Texas. Catch a clue, Midget, Stark, Phillips, Krukashit, and Co....he ain't on the table and he ain't goin' nowhere but to Inland Empire, Jacksonville, Las Vegas and Los Angeles...see ya in September of 2008. Freakin' tools!

[quote]

grabarkewitz:

[quote]

TBoneShelby:

Man Rosenthal is blowing the hippy lettuce this morning. Sure, why don't we throw in Kershaw too, he's from Texas. Gimme a break, Tex is on the freaking DL anyways.

And HA, that is the best sig line I've seen...good work

This is about the fourth rumor I have seen that features Kershaw. That tells me something, every scout worth his three martini lunch is pining for this lefty from Texas. Catch a clue, Midget, Stark, Phillips, Krukashit, and Co....he ain't on the table and he ain't goin' nowhere but to Inland Empire, Jacksonville, Las Vegas and Los Angeles...see ya in September of 2008. Freakin' tools!

Too bad foxsports hasn't turned into an LA PR machine like Bospin is for the Redsux and Stankees. Every trade and rumor has Hughes & Chamberlain as "untouchable" with Kennedy as the gem available from the Yanks. All the while we are giving up Billz, Loney, Kemp and Kershaw to obtain the same players. It's getting very annoying. Much like Navarro's hype, they make these guys household names amongst the masses, thus giving them more value in trades becuase the team that's trading for them can show their fan base that they got someone they've actually heard of. It's nuts.

Man, HA, you start this thread and it gets hot. I guess you knew what was coming with the trade deadline approaching. Found this on the auld board.

Found this article in today's DALLAS MORNING NEWS. The writer suggests the Dodgers are showcasing James Loney for a trade with the Texas Rangers for 1B Mark Teixeira.

PLEASE SAY IT AIN'T SO!!


Link:

www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/nwsltr/sports/rangers/stories/062707dnsporangletter.2cf9f26.html

12:05 AM CDT on Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Sorry, but I'm coming at you with a cliché: Where there is smoke, there is fire. Taken to the next level: When that smoke burns your eyes, that fire is awfully close, even if you can't see it.

There is an awful lot of smoke around the Rangers and the Los Angeles Dodgers right now. It smells like they might be cooking up something.

In the reality that has become the Rangers' 2007 season, nothing could be more perfect. The Rangers will be sellers on the trade market that is just starting to simmer. The Dodgers, locked into a three-way fight with San Diego and Arizona, are going to be buyers. Los Angeles could use a power hitter and some late-inning relief help to put it over the top. Funny, you should ask. The Rangers have those things to offer.

Come this time next month, if the Rangers execute things exactly as they'd like, Mark Teixeira will be in Dodgers blue. Eric Gagne or Akinori Otsuka, too.

And the Rangers? They'll get the bounty of talent they need to accelerate their rebuilding plan. How about James Loney to replace Teixeira at first base? Chad Billingsley to slide into the rotation? Highland Park's left-handed whiz kid Clayton Kershaw to throw into the minor league system?

Look at some of this as supposition on my part, but it's not like there aren't abundant clues to make the conspiracy theorist in me believe these two clubs are a perfect fit for one another.

Let's go through those clues:

•The Dodgers have recently scouted the Rangers. Hard. It's almost impossible to go to a Rangers game these days and not run into a different Dodgers scout.

•The Rangers know the Dodgers' system more intimately than others. A.J. Preller and Don Welke, who serve in top advisory roles to GM Jon Daniels, both worked in the Dodgers organization recently. Both are well-acquainted with the system. If there is a minor leaguer to be plucked to complete a deal, the Rangers should have a better feel about the Dodgers than just about any other team in baseball.

•The Dodgers moved Nomar Garciaparra to third base this week. They are going to play Loney there for the time being. One previous hangup to any Dodgers-Rangers talk was whether LA would be willing to move Garciaparra in midseason.

•There is perhaps no deeper minor league system in the majors than the Dodgers. In other words, if there is anybody who can afford to deal a number of top-level prospects, it's LA.

•Oh, and did we mention Teixeira's agent, Scott Boras, has season tickets at Dodger Stadium? Makes it that much easier for Boras to negotiate a long-term deal with LA.

There is legitimate reason to think these two teams can get a deal done.

The next step is much harder: Bringing a logical, practical deal that helps both clubs with their goals to fruition. What seems to be logical in baseball often turns to nothingness, because both parties involved have over inflated sense of their players' worth or worse, they try to "win" a trade. Often, a team can get bogged down in weighing offers to find the "best" deal, and the Rangers undoubtedly will have other offers for Teixeira, Gagne and Otsuka or for some combination of all three.

The best way for the Rangers to maximize the value of Teixeira and Gagne is to package them together. If the Rangers dealt Teixeira alone to Los Angeles, they might get one of the trio of players (Loney, Kershaw, Billingsley) and a lesser minor leaguer. If they dealt Gagne alone, they might get one of the three. In a package deal, the Rangers might be able to land a ready-for-prime-time player, a ready-for-prime-time pitcher, a Texas-born, left-handed stud pitching prospect and maybe even a lesser prospect.

The Rangers aren't going to make a Herschel Walker deal for Teixeira, but if they can see things through with Los Angeles, a "Mark Teixeira kind of deal" might become the benchmark for this team's future.

Over the next three weeks, we'll see if the smoke erupts into a blaze or if it can be doused with a cup of water.

Well, the media in several towns now know the names of most of our top prospects. I am not sure there is much more to take out of these articles then that.

Funny that the TX media didn't mention that Teix is a FA after next season, and his agent Bora$$ ALWAYS takes his clients to FA.

HA, you've got me rolling today. This is a response from Billy Beane to an idiotic column written by some baffoon in Oakland. Actually made me gain a little respect for Beane as I think he handled the situation extremely well.

A's exec Beane refutes column
Comments that Bradley move was 'racially motivated' were 'without a merit of truth'
By Billy Beane
Article Last Updated: 06/27/2007 08:45:05 AM PDT

I don't make a habit of writing letters to express my opinion, deflect criticism or debate someone else's viewpoint that has been expressed in this paper or in any other medium.

I accept the fact that criticism and second-guessing come with my job.

I will not, however, accept personal attacks such as those expressed by Dave Del Grande in his Monday column, "A's whitewashed by Beane, Mets," where the writer stated very clearly the decision to cut ties with Milton Bradley was racially motivated.

The decision to part ways with Milton was well-chronicled in this paper and in others after I spoke to the media on a conference call last Thursday. This letter is not intended to reiterate or defend the reasoning behind the decision, but to express my personal disappointment and hurt over such an egregiously irresponsible column that slanders my name, questions my morals and attacks the integrity of the A's organization, its ownership and staff that has been a longtime member of the East Bay community.

Let me state first of all that I have never met Dave Del Grande, and as my public relations people inform me, he hasn't been out to cover a game in years. He formed his opinions expressed in Monday's column without talking to me, our players or manager, as is common practice by other responsible and well-respected columnists in the Bay Area.

The only ones who should have to answer for such an erroneous column are Dave and his editors at the MediaNews Group. By allowing a column to run that states, "The A's basically cut an extremely talented black outfielder because they have a dime-a-dozen white guys who complain less about being a backup," along with, "This was a matter of Bradley being ... well, black," calls into question the decision-making at the top levels of the MediaNews Group that continues to employ Dave and those who allowed such an irresponsible column to run in the first place.

Dave's comments were beyond offensive and, of course, unsubstantiated and without a merit of truth, and they have no room in a newspaper that supposedly prides itself on journalistic integrity and serving the community.

Billy Beane is the vice president and general manager of the Oakland Athletics.

[quote]

ceyheyjay:

HA, you've got me rolling today. This is a response from Billy Beane to an idiotic column written by some baffoon in Oakland. Actually made me gain a little respect for Beane as I think he handled the situation extremely well.

A's exec Beane refutes column
Comments that Bradley move was 'racially motivated' were 'without a merit of truth'
By Billy Beane
Article Last Updated: 06/27/2007 08:45:05 AM PDT

I don't make a habit of writing letters to express my opinion, deflect criticism or debate someone else's viewpoint that has been expressed in this paper or in any other medium.

I accept the fact that criticism and second-guessing come with my job.

I will not, however, accept personal attacks such as those expressed by Dave Del Grande in his Monday column, "A's whitewashed by Beane, Mets," where the writer stated very clearly the decision to cut ties with Milton Bradley was racially motivated.

The decision to part ways with Milton was well-chronicled in this paper and in others after I spoke to the media on a conference call last Thursday. This letter is not intended to reiterate or defend the reasoning behind the decision, but to express my personal disappointment and hurt over such an egregiously irresponsible column that slanders my name, questions my morals and attacks the integrity of the A's organization, its ownership and staff that has been a longtime member of the East Bay community.

Let me state first of all that I have never met Dave Del Grande, and as my public relations people inform me, he hasn't been out to cover a game in years. He formed his opinions expressed in Monday's column without talking to me, our players or manager, as is common practice by other responsible and well-respected columnists in the Bay Area.

The only ones who should have to answer for such an erroneous column are Dave and his editors at the MediaNews Group. By allowing a column to run that states, "The A's basically cut an extremely talented black outfielder because they have a dime-a-dozen white guys who complain less about being a backup," along with, "This was a matter of Bradley being ... well, black," calls into question the decision-making at the top levels of the MediaNews Group that continues to employ Dave and those who allowed such an irresponsible column to run in the first place.

Dave's comments were beyond offensive and, of course, unsubstantiated and without a merit of truth, and they have no room in a newspaper that supposedly prides itself on journalistic integrity and serving the community.

Billy Beane is the vice president and general manager of the Oakland Athletics.

Well said, Mr. Beane. Why get rid of a player for the color of his skin, when there are infinitely better reasons to DFA him. Sounds like some clown writer needed to see his names in lights and pulled the race card out for the benefit of his own ego. I hope the clown gets handed his cards and told to ply his trade far, far away.

A player's race, religion or culture shouldn't determine his opportunity to play the game. Nor should it be used to excuse bad behavior.

GameBoy has had numerous run-ins with numerous authority figures. Authority figures most of us know as "the boss" don't usually put up with such behavior very long.

An aspect that normally gets me to chuckle is in regard to the scarcity of black managers. Personnaly, I find the low number of black managers to indicate that something is going on in regard to their opportunites for jobs other than their relative experience. Based on blacks % of the total population and their representation in MLB there should be many more black managers than there are now, or ever have been.

However, it seems disengenuous to argue that blacks don't get enough opportunity when white managers get fired left and right and then claim racism when a black manager gets FIRED. If managers get fired left and right, then black's who do get manager jobs are subject to the same bandsaw. To expect them not to get fired at the same rate as GMs of other races or cultures seems to be encouraging an opposite form of racism.

GameBoy got the opportunity to play big league ball, and several teams have taken a chance on him to continue that opportunity despite his earlier transgressions. That he continues to get punted from one org after another points less to racism and more to him having problems.

[quote]

grabarkewitz:

[quote]

ceyheyjay:

HA, you've got me rolling today. This is a response from Billy Beane to an idiotic column written by some baffoon in Oakland. Actually made me gain a little respect for Beane as I think he handled the situation extremely well.

A's exec Beane refutes column
Comments that Bradley move was 'racially motivated' were 'without a merit of truth'
By Billy Beane
Article Last Updated: 06/27/2007 08:45:05 AM PDT

I don't make a habit of writing letters to express my opinion, deflect criticism or debate someone else's viewpoint that has been expressed in this paper or in any other medium.

I accept the fact that criticism and second-guessing come with my job.

I will not, however, accept personal attacks such as those expressed by Dave Del Grande in his Monday column, "A's whitewashed by Beane, Mets," where the writer stated very clearly the decision to cut ties with Milton Bradley was racially motivated.

The decision to part ways with Milton was well-chronicled in this paper and in others after I spoke to the media on a conference call last Thursday. This letter is not intended to reiterate or defend the reasoning behind the decision, but to express my personal disappointment and hurt over such an egregiously irresponsible column that slanders my name, questions my morals and attacks the integrity of the A's organization, its ownership and staff that has been a longtime member of the East Bay community.

Let me state first of all that I have never met Dave Del Grande, and as my public relations people inform me, he hasn't been out to cover a game in years. He formed his opinions expressed in Monday's column without talking to me, our players or manager, as is common practice by other responsible and well-respected columnists in the Bay Area.

The only ones who should have to answer for such an erroneous column are Dave and his editors at the MediaNews Group. By allowing a column to run that states, "The A's basically cut an extremely talented black outfielder because they have a dime-a-dozen white guys who complain less about being a backup," along with, "This was a matter of Bradley being ... well, black," calls into question the decision-making at the top levels of the MediaNews Group that continues to employ Dave and those who allowed such an irresponsible column to run in the first place.

Dave's comments were beyond offensive and, of course, unsubstantiated and without a merit of truth, and they have no room in a newspaper that supposedly prides itself on journalistic integrity and serving the community.

Billy Beane is the vice president and general manager of the Oakland Athletics.

Well said, Mr. Beane. Why get rid of a player for the color of his skin, when there are infinitely better reasons to DFA him. Sounds like some clown writer needed to see his names in lights and pulled the race card out for the benefit of his own ego. I hope the clown gets handed his cards and told to ply his trade far, far away.
Had Bradley's being DFA'd been racially motivated, there would be a number of teams bartering for his services. Truth is, Bradley is a very good player and a horrible teammate.

[quote]

hunteralan:

Who better to leadoff a new installment of The Idiocy Gene than the greatest Idiot any village ever turned out . . . :confused:

In answer to the question: Why are the Yankees so up and down this season?

Our favorite baseball expert from BoSPiN, Joe Morgan, answers thusly:

Unfortunately, everything seems to be riding on A-Rod. When he's up they're up, when he's in a lull, they are.

A-Rod’s numbers in April were .355 BA, .415 OBP, .882 SLG% (!!!!), 1.297 OPS, 14 HR, 27 runs, 34 RBI’s . . . Pretty darn awesome! So the Yankee’s must’ve been ‘up’ in April since A-Rod was ‘up’, right? Oh, no, they were only 9-14 in the month. Huh . . . Something seems wrong with Joe’s analysis. Let’s look further.

A-Rod’s numbers in May were ‘in a lull’ at .235 BA, .361 OBP, .422 SLG%, .783 OPS, and only 5 HR and 11 RBI . . . So the Yankee’s must’ve slipped even further. No . . . they actually had a better record in May than in April. But according to the top analyst on BoSPiN the Yankee’s should have ‘lulled’ in May just like A-Rod. Something tells me the Yankees don’t listen to Joe any more than anyone else . . .

But surely during the Yankees only winning streak longer than three games all year (their 9-game winning streak in June), A-Rod was hot, right? YEAH, he was! A-Rod hit almost .500 during the teams’ streak with 5 HR and 21 RBI’s! Joe got one right! Weehoo!

But what a bummer it must’ve been for A-Rod when the Yankees immediately followed that 9-game winning streak with another ‘lull’ by losing 7 of their next 10 games. By Joe-logic, A-Rod hit another ‘lull’ during those 10 games as well . . . To the tune of an almost .500 BA, 5 doubles, 3 HR and a measly 9 RBI. Poor guy couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat . . . :sad:

So, A-Rod = Absolutely awesome for 2/3 of the year so far in 2007 . . . By Joe-logic that means the Yankees = Absolutely awesome for 2/3 of the year so far in 2007. And the team is 36-38. Something’s amiss here, Joe . . . It seems there is no correlation at all between A-Rod’s performance and the Yankees record so far this year.

So, you got any other ideas why the Yankees are so up and down, Joe?

The biggest mistake they made was getting rid of Sheffield.

Really. Getting rid of SOD, huh? Not trading Randy Johnson to Arizona for Pez? Not failing to outbid their biggest rivals for Daisuke Matsuzaka, and then ‘failing’ by actually winning the rights to Kei Igawa who stinks like 10-A-C roadkill? Not failing to do much at all to a woeful pitching staff until they decided to pay Roger Clemens like a kazillion dollars per breath in mid June?

Even though the Yankees have scored the 3rd most runs in baseball this year, but have a patchwork pitching staff and a far overworked bullpen due to starters continued failures, the biggest mistake the team made was giving up an excess hitter with an attitude only Terrell Owens could appreciate? :shocked:

Maybe it’s me . . . But I think that’s wrong, Joe. Could you explain why you think this way? Maybe I’m just not seeing it because I’m not close to the game like you are, Joe.

He's [SOD] been the leader on that team offensively the three years that he was there, except the year A-Rod was the MVP. He and A-Rod carried the team. Matsui and Jeter were contributors, but those two carried the team.

Oh, okay, I got it now. SOD was so other-worldly fantastic offensively during his three years in NY that the team couldn’t hope to replace such production in the lineup. Let’s take a look at some numbers to support that cogent analysis, shall we?

2004
SOD - .927 OPS….36 HR….121 RBI…..117 runs
Matsui – .912 OPS..31 HR….108 RBI…..109 runs
A-Rod - .888 OPS..36 HR…..106 RBI…..112 runs
Jeter - .823 OPS…..23 HR……78 RBI…..111 runs

SOD was good, but the best? Maybe. Carried the team? No way, no how. SOD was no more a leader offensively on that team than Matsui, A-Rod, Jeter, or even Bernie Williams (who’s numbers were almost equal to Jeter’s across the board). Not looking good Joe . . .

2005
SOD - .891 OPS…….31 HR….123 RBI….104 runs
A-Rod – 1.031 OPS…48 HR….130 RBI….124 runs
Giambi - .975 OPS…..32 HR…..87 RBI……74 runs
Jeter - .839 OPS……...19 HR….70 RBI…..122 runs
Matsui - .863 OPS……23 HR...116 RBI…..108 runs

This was A-Rod’s MVP year Joe eluded to. So at least he ‘except-ed’ this year as a year SOD was the ‘leader’ of the team offensively. Joe failed to mention though that SOD wasn’t even the 2nd best (Giambi) on the team offensively. And considering Jeter’s year and Matsui almost equaling SOD across the board, the argument could be made that SOD was no more than 4th or 5th best on the team offensively.

But again, Joe conceded this point . . . kinda.

2006
SOD - .806 OPS……6 HR…..25 RBI……22 runs
A-Rod - .914 OPS…35 HR…121 RBI…..113 runs
Jeter - .900 OPS……14 HR….97 RBI…..118 runs
Matsui - .887 OPS…..8 HR….29 RBI……32 runs
Giambi - .971 OPS…37 HR…113 RBI…..92 runs

Now this is hardly even fair to debate, but hey . . . Joe brought it up.

SOD was injured for most of 5 months in 2006. I would have assumed Joe would have known this, but . . . well, he is Joe Morgan. And he did say that SOD’s been the leader on the team offensively in every year he was a Yankee except A-Rod’s 2005 MVP year. So how exactly did SOD lead the team offensively for 5 months while on the DL? I’m not sure really, you’d have to ask Joe that one.

However, I am sure A-Rod was a far better leader for the offense in 2006. And Jason Giambi was even better than A-Rod. Jeter was probably the best leader of them all for most of the year. Jorge Posada and his 23 HR, 93 RBI, and .867 OPS did a far better job of carrying the team than SOD. Heck, Matsui was more valuable in his limited action. Bobby Abreu was far more valuable to the team and he only played in 1/3 of the Yankee’s games. And Cano . . . And Damon . . . By my count, SOD was no better than the 9th best leader offensively for the Yankee’s in 2006.

So it seems to me, in not even one year he was a Yankee was the SOD the ‘leader of the offense’. And no way, no how did he ever carry the team.

But surely, now that he’s infecting the Tigger clubhouse, the Yankees are showing signs of decline offensively, right?

Now they just have A-Rod.

Just A-Rod, Joe? Then who is Jorge Posada been hitting over .340 for then? And was that Derek Jeter in a D-Ray uniform hitting .340? Hideki Matsui can’t be on pace for over 100 RBI’s for the 4th time in five years, can he? Not for the Yankee’s evidently. All they have is A-Rod.

But I'm shocked when I did their game against the Mets three weeks ago and they had won 11 of 12 and looked like they were on a roll. Now they're back to where they started from.

Three weeks ago, Joe? Three weeks ago the Yankee’s were in Chicago for a 4-game series with the White Sox. Then they had a 3-game weekend series with Pittsburgh and a 3-game series with D-Backs two weeks ago. And then . . . Oh there it is, Joe! Just a week and a half ago the Mets crossed town to take on the A-Rod’s . . . But I can understand, Joe, with alllll those games you watch how it can seem like 3 weeks ago . . .

But, really Joe, why so shocked? Had the Yankee’s addressed their weaknesses? Had they solidified a rotation that had seen the likes of Carl Pavano, Kei Igawa, Chase Wright, Jeff Karstens, Tyler Clippard, Matt DeSalvo, and Darrell Rasner start a full 40% of the teams’ games? Had Farnsworth, Villone, and/or Luis Vizcaino lowered their ERA’s under 5.00? Or their WHIP’s under 1.60? Had any of the starters begun pitching longer than 5 or 6 innings to rest a woefully overworked and underachieving bullpen?

No. Nothing that mindbending. The Yankees simply had a hot streak. Like just about every major league team does at some point during a 162 game season. Listen Joe, the Yankees suck because their pitching sucks. Everyone outside of Bristol knows that. Forget about A-Rod. Forget about Jeter, Posada, or any of the others . . . Oh, yeah, you’ve got that part down already . . . Forget about SOD. The Yankees will continue to suck until their pitching ceases to suck. It’s that simple.

I just don't get how you can not see this, Joe. You cover the Yankees even when you're doing a Rangers/Mariners game. You slip in the Bronx Boys into discussions at every turn. I bet you even know how to spell Yankee. Yet you couldn't see the most obvious flaw the team has if it fell on you like an anvil. The Yankees suck because they let the SOD go and now all they have in NY is A-Rod and a bunch of stiffs . . . :confused:

Keep up the good work Joe.

Great piece, but surely Joe Morgan doesn't deserve so many words. I've got a good short piece on Joe Morgan:

"Joe Morgan is an idiot. Joe, shut up."

Simple, concise and goes to the point. But, there is something to be said for HA's diatribe, if Morgan had spent that much time researching his point as HA did, he might actually figure out that he doesn't know Jackshit. Maybe then Morgan will realize that he is a tool and will resign to grow flowers in the Napa Valley. Just one man's dreams.

Billy Beane sure did respond with strength, yet was professional about the whole thing. I guess that idjit columnist has been hanging around Dumb and Dumber (aka Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson) much too long.

[quote]

grabarkewitz:

Simple, concise and goes to the point. But, there is something to be said for HA's diatribe, if Morgan had spent that much time researching his point as HA did, he might actually figure out that he doesn't know Jackshit. Maybe then Morgan will realize that he is a tool and will resign to grow flowers in the Napa Valley. Just one man's dreams.
And see, therein lies my deepest frustration with Morgan and other Idiot Gene carriers like him . . . That research was readily available and took me less time to find than Jay downing a roasted possum sandwich. Why is it that these so-called experts can't find information that I can find with a few clicks of the mouse and a little intelligence . . . . . . . Ohhhhh, I think I just found the problem... :cool:

And truth be told, I hope Morgan sticks around for a looooong loooooong time. Without him, I'd lose at least 68.3% of my material!:rasta:

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Hey, I didn't know we had a Jay emoticon . . . :tooth:

:tooth:
I was sort of surprised when I clicked on it that it said "tooth." I would have thought knowing everyone around here that when I clicked on it, it would have said "Jay," or more likely "Jae."

[quote]

ceyheyjay:

:tooth:
I was sort of surprised when I clicked on it that it said "tooth." I would have thought knowing everyone around here that when I clicked on it, it would have said "Jay," or more likely "Jae."

I am sure Richard can make the suitable adjustment. Actually, I like the idea of calling it, Fredo.

I just spent some time on FireJoeMorgan.com. After reading many Joe Morgan comments, I feel very bad. All these years, I have said that Jon Kruk and Steve Phillips were the two biggest idiots in the world, and it's not close.

Silly me. I still consider Kruk as the #1 idiot, but Morgan is obviously very close, and ahead of Phillips.

But, here's the kicker. Joe Morgan is the biggest liar in the world. If his wife walked in and caught him with another woman, he could easily say with a straight face, "It wasn't me." How do I know? Read the following quote:

Joe Morgan: I'm just like every other fan - I watch every game. I check the box scores and check the stats like everyone else. I'm as interested in the Kansas City Royals as I am the Yankees or Red Sox. I'm a baseball fan. I just like to watch everybody.

If you will all excuse me, I'm going to go bang my head against a wall for a couple of hours.

CHJ, FireJoeMorgan is quality reading all the time. One of my favorites.

We can officially add Rick Sutcliffe to the pantheon of idiots at BoSPiN. This may not be news to some of you, but I had yet to have the privilege of hearing him announce a game as I usually shun games on BoSPiN. Yesterday I tuned in because I wanted to see why Roger Clemens has had so much trouble so far this year and was able to stomach only 2 ½ innings before I had to turn the game off. But what a fantastically Idiotic 2 ½ innings it was!

Some snippets from Sutcliffe . . .

~ With Cano on first after he had stolen 2nd base earlier, Twins starter Boof Bonser threw over to first. Sutcliffe made a snide remark to the effect of it was about time Bonser threw over there to keep Cano close – as if 8 career steals in 17 attempts would classify him as a huge threat. But Sutcliffe’s next ‘analysis’ of the situation was even better . . . He commented that the throw over would ‘keep Cano anchored at 1st base’ and that it would also finally give catcher Joe Mauer ‘a chance to throw him out when he ran’ . . . Got that? Cano will be staying at 1st base and stealing second all at the same time. Pretty impressive, huh? And beyond the complete contradiction Sutcliffe made in one sentence, he also implied that without the throw over by Bonser, Mauer would never have had a chance to nail Cano. As if Cano and his 33% success rate this year is any challenge for Mauer and his 53% caught stealing percentage. Of course, lest we forget, Cano is a Super-human Yankee and Mauer just a lowly Twin . . .

~ I firmly believe Sutcliffe has forgotten the given name of The Rocket. In the 2 ½ innings I watched, not once did he refer to The Rocket by The Rocket’s actual name. Never mind that Sutcliffe’s partner kept calling The Rocket by his actual name, I still opine that Sutcliffe does not know The Rocket’s real name. I got so tired of hearing him say The Rocket, I started saying ‘Roger Clemens’ out loud every time Sutcliffe said The Rocket. At one point my son came into the room, looked at the TV, and then asked if #22 was Roger Clemens . . . Yup, a six year old knows more than the BoSPiN analyst. But really, does that surprise anyone?

~ Torii Hunter made as routine a catch as he’s ever made to end one of the innings and Sutcliffe chuckled as if it was another incredible catch by Hunter. Hunter made the catch on the warning track, so I can only surmise that Sutcliffe believes that any ball caught on the warning track automatically enrolls the player making the catch in the ‘Incredible Catch’ club. (Good thing he doesn’t have a vote in the Web Gems every night.) He followed by announcing through his chuckling that Hunter has six Gold Gloves and that with that catch, ‘we should award him his seventh Gold Glove right now’. Good grief . . . The Rocket pitched 8 innings of 2-hit, one run ball, should we award him his 8th Cy Young award right now too, Rick?

~ A reference was made to the Wednesday night BoSPiN game this week between Detroit and Cleveland (I guess the Yankees, Red Sux, and Mets all have the day off). Sutcliffe commented that there was a ‘good pitching matchup in that one’. Nevermind that the game will match the two top offenses in baseball . . . Sutcliffe believes that Jake Westbrook and his 6.10 ERA vs. Kenny Rogers and his 12 whole innings pitched this year is a good pitching matchup? Well, personally Rick, if I tune in to that game, I’m going to pay more attention to Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta, Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen, Curtis Granderson, Ivan Rodriguez, the SOD, and probably the Detroit mascot before I even notice either pitcher on the mound. But maybe that's just me . . .

~ And lastly, just for the record . . . Rick Sutcliffe believes the New York Yankee fans ‘will not care if A-Rod leaves at the end of the year’. Evidently, they will not miss 50+ HR, 140+ RBI, and a 1.000+ OPS. Either Sutcliffe thinks the Yankee fans are as petty and stupid as he is, or . . . . . . . . well . . . I can’t think of any other way to take that comment.

What a maroon . . . Wecome to the club Rick!

Last week after Green hit the walk off homer agianst the Cardinals, Sutcliffe made the remark that that should finally get the Mets on track as the best team in the NL. OK, one walk off homer in extra innings against a team below .500 is all that the Mets needed to do that, gotcha.

At first, Sutcliffe was one of the few people at BoSPin, who didn't kowtow to the Yankees, Red Sox and Mets. He spoke his mind and kept it even handed. Then, he was getting on BBTN less and less until he was relegated to covering the Rays-Royals' games. I guess he saw where his bread was buttered and drank the Kool-Aid.

Now, he is a shill, like Ravech, Morgan, Krukashit and Phillips...clownshoes who are given the bully pulpit because they toe the party line. This is very sad. BoSPiN should be embarassed when compared to Fox. Fox employs Kevin Kennedy, who might be the most relevant baseball analyst in the game. He is beholden to a certain team or teams and he is informative without being a condescending. Yeah, Fox employs fools like Buck, McCarver and Brennaman, but none of those clowns can hold a candle to real tools like Kruk and Phillips.

Scott Bore-ass makes his play for an Idiocy Gene . . .

The last paragraph of Andruw Jones’ section, straight from Bore-ass’ mouth:

“Every one of my major clients -- whether it's a pitcher or a position player -- has gone through times like this,'' Boras said. "A-Rod went through it last year. Andruw Jones has done too much for too long and he's too complete a player. You have to look at this over a broad spectrum rather than six or eight weeks."

Talk about some major spin! Andruw Jones has been absolutely horrendous this year. There is no way to put a good face on this salary drive season of his so far. So what does Bore-ass do? He says, ‘I know Andruw has sucked like a Hoover this year. But forget about that because he has done too much for too long over the broad spectrum of his career for any of you maroon’s not to pay him like A-Rod.’ Now I know it’s his job, but good gracious! Does Bore-ass really believe this fertilizer he spreading? I’m in awe that he could even say all that with a straight face.

Andruw Jones has done ‘too much for too long’ and is ‘too complete a player’? Exactly how is he a ‘complete player’, Mr. Bore-ass? He doesn’t hit for average (lifetime .260 hitter - hitting all of .201 this year, ahead of only Elijah Dukes and Dioner Navarro); He doesn’t have much speed at all; He strikes out with Adam Dunn regularity; He has little patience in the batters box; By all accounts I’ve seen, his once stellar defense is now no more than a figment of someone’s imagination; He’s slugging an anemic .395 (behind Ruthian-like hitters Randy Winn, Miguel Olivo and Shannon Stewart). Even at his best over the broad spectrum of his career, he was never a complete player . . . EVER. He hit for power, played excellent defense, and early in his career had decent speed. That’s it. Good, but not complete.

‘Everyone of my major clients . . .’ Major clients? Evidently, all clients are not created equal in the eyes of Bore-ass. Exactly when does one become a major client? Can one pay for the privilege? Does years of service factor into the equation? Does one automatically graduate to Major Client status when promoted to the major leagues? Do you get a cool little insignia of some sort to wear on your lapel? . . . Personally, I think I’d have an issue with my agent if he implied he had minor clients . . .

‘A-Rod went through it last year’. He did? A-Rod hit .201 in the first half of 2006? No, he hit .282. A-Rod posted a .690 OPS in the first half of 2006? No, he accumulated an .895 OPS. A-Rod slugged a Pierre-like .395 in the first half of 2006? No, he slugged .505. So how did A-Rod go through this last year? He finished the first half of 2006 with almost a .900 OPS, 19 HR, 65 RBI, and 61 runs. Jones will finish the first half this year with almost a .700 OPS, around 14 HR, 48 RBI, and 37 runs. No similarity there. A-Rod finished 2006 with a .915 OPS, 35 HR, 121 RBI, and 113 runs (poor guy – how could he even show his face in public after a season like that… ). Jones would have to hit somewhere in the neighborhood of .400 with a 1.100 OPS in the second half to even get close to the season A-Rod had last year. Anyone care to bet he’ll do it? I’ll wager my beautiful retirement double-wide in 10-A-C that he doesn’t . . .

You know what’s worst about this situation? Some blockhead GM is going to swallow what Bore-ass is spewing and waaay overpay Andruw Jones for Jacque Jones type production. Any predictions which blockhead GM it will be that becomes infected with the Bore-ass strain of the Idiocy Gene?

A great article thrashing Morgan...

http://www.sfweekly.com/2005-07-06/news/say-it-ain-t-so-joe/

[quote]

Matthew:

A great article thrashing Morgan...

http://www.sfweekly.com/2005-07-06/news/say-it-ain-t-so-joe/

"Why would I wanna read the book? All I'm saying is, I see a game every day. I watch baseball every day. I have a better understanding about why things happen than the computer, because the computer only tells you what you put in it. I could make that computer say what I wanted it to say, if I put the right things in there. ... The computer is only as good as what you put in it. How do you think we got Enron? "

Man, Morgan is a quote machine. The article is pretty weak,I find that sabermatics is boring and unproven to most of us, but it's hard not to have a smile on your face reading Joe's "enlightened" quotes.

[quote]

TBoneShelby:

[quote]

Matthew:

A great article thrashing Morgan...

http://www.sfweekly.com/2005-07-06/news/say-it-ain-t-so-joe/

"Why would I wanna read the book? All I'm saying is, I see a game every day. I watch baseball every day. I have a better understanding about why things happen than the computer, because the computer only tells you what you put in it. I could make that computer say what I wanted it to say, if I put the right things in there. ... The computer is only as good as what you put in it. How do you think we got Enron? "

Man, Morgan is a quote machine. The article is pretty weak,I find that sabermatics is boring and unproven to most of us, but it's hard not to have a smile on your face reading Joe's "enlightened" quotes.

The strong point of the article I found to be not so much the reliability of sabermetrics, but rather that Morgan is in such a position that breeds influence to (casual) baseball fans, that to just bash and criticize things out of ignorance is just absurd, to say the least. As well as to just dismiss everything because he has this concoction that he knows everything there is to know because he once played it: that's both arrogance and ignorance and I think the author did point that out well. I mean, if Morgan wants to bash something, fine... but do it based on some evidence... for crying out loud, he still thinks BIlly Beane wrote "Moneyball"! And what's even worse is that, regardless of one thinks of sabermetrics, Morgan should at least understand it before he criticizes it, and that's the problem: he doesn't know crap about it. Come on, Enron? That speaks for itself.

But the problem is that, for as much crap as we all give Morgan - and rightly so - you know what's even more frustrating? If he actually wised up and opened that mind of his and showed a willingness to learn a bit more, he could actually be a great analyst. It's not like he doesn't know SOME baseball... hate him or not, he's still one of - if not - the greatest second baseman of all-time and, as a player, he was really smart with great instincts. But he's so wrapped up in himself, cliches and archival traditions that his enlightenment as an analyst likely will never happen.

As for sabermetrics itself, I actually like them. I don't think they're the end all of analyzing a player's ability, but some of those statistics are pretty darn good and accurate. Sure, they're not all perfect, but they're meant to just solve part of the puzzle. I tend to find myself looking there more for deeper analysis than the usual basic stuff, although I still pay a great deal of attention to SLG, OBP, OPS, although I find myself putting less and less of an emphasis on batting average and RBI totals. But that's just me.

I didn't know whether to put this here or the All Star game thread, but what a farce the BSPN presentation of the home run hitting contest has become. Kenny Mayne in a kayak in McCovey Cove? Come on! Gimme a break! It's not enough that we have to listen to umpteen repetitions of bAAAAAAACK, bAAAAAAACK, bAAAAAACK. All I can say is aaaaaaaaaaaaack, aaaaaaaaaaaaaack, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. I'm turning it off right now, before it even starts.

[quote]

SamAdams:

I didn't know whether to put this here or the All Star game thread, but what a farce the BSPN presentation of the home run hitting contest has become. Kenny Mayne in a kayak in McCovey Cove? Come on! Gimme a break! It's not enough that we have to listen to umpteen repetitions of bAAAAAAACK, bAAAAAAACK, bAAAAAACK. All I can say is aaaaaaaaaaaaack, aaaaaaaaaaaaaack, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. I'm turning it off right now, before it even starts.

It sucks too, because it used to be a fun event. Berman ruined it for me and now I can't watch anymore either.

[quote]

Matthew:

[quote]

TBoneShelby:

[quote]

Matthew:

A great article thrashing Morgan...

http://www.sfweekly.com/2005-07-06/news/say-it-ain-t-so-joe/

"Why would I wanna read the book? All I'm saying is, I see a game every day. I watch baseball every day. I have a better understanding about why things happen than the computer, because the computer only tells you what you put in it. I could make that computer say what I wanted it to say, if I put the right things in there. ... The computer is only as good as what you put in it. How do you think we got Enron? "

Man, Morgan is a quote machine. The article is pretty weak,I find that sabermatics is boring and unproven to most of us, but it's hard not to have a smile on your face reading Joe's "enlightened" quotes.

The strong point of the article I found to be not so much the reliability of sabermetrics, but rather that Morgan is in such a position that breeds influence to (casual) baseball fans, that to just bash and criticize things out of ignorance is just absurd, to say the least. As well as to just dismiss everything because he has this concoction that he knows everything there is to know because he once played it: that's both arrogance and ignorance and I think the author did point that out well. I mean, if Morgan wants to bash something, fine... but do it based on some evidence... for crying out loud, he still thinks BIlly Beane wrote "Moneyball"! And what's even worse is that, regardless of one thinks of sabermetrics, Morgan should at least understand it before he criticizes it, and that's the problem: he doesn't know crap about it. Come on, Enron? That speaks for itself.

But the problem is that, for as much crap as we all give Morgan - and rightly so - you know what's even more frustrating? If he actually wised up and opened that mind of his and showed a willingness to learn a bit more, he could actually be a great analyst. It's not like he doesn't know SOME baseball... hate him or not, he's still one of - if not - the greatest second baseman of all-time and, as a player, he was really smart with great instincts. But he's so wrapped up in himself, cliches and archival traditions that his enlightenment as an analyst likely will never happen.

As for sabermetrics itself, I actually like them. I don't think they're the end all of analyzing a player's ability, but some of those statistics are pretty darn good and accurate. Sure, they're not all perfect, but they're meant to just solve part of the puzzle. I tend to find myself looking there more for deeper analysis than the usual basic stuff, although I still pay a great deal of attention to SLG, OBP, OPS, although I find myself putting less and less of an emphasis on batting average and RBI totals. But that's just me.

I hear ya matthew, what I meant (and I should have expanded) was that I didn't like the tone of the article. It's one of those snide taking little pot shot type of pieces that have become all too common. I agree with you that Morgan could and should be a very good commentator, he's just ridiculously stubborn and set in his ways. It's not even his denial of sabermatic value to the game that irks me, it's his all out refuesal to think or accept anyone else's input. He just sits atop his mountaintop offering nothing in the ways of information spouting about how much he knows, but never shares and then dismisses any other input. Plus he hates the Dodgers, and for that I'll never forgive him.

[quote]

TBoneShelby:

[quote]

SamAdams:

I didn't know whether to put this here or the All Star game thread, but what a farce the BSPN presentation of the home run hitting contest has become. Kenny Mayne in a kayak in McCovey Cove? Come on! Gimme a break! It's not enough that we have to listen to umpteen repetitions of bAAAAAAACK, bAAAAAAACK, bAAAAAACK. All I can say is aaaaaaaaaaaaack, aaaaaaaaaaaaaack, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. I'm turning it off right now, before it even starts.

It sucks too, because it used to be a fun event. Berman ruined it for me and now I can't watch anymore either.

You wanna know how bad it was? I was sitting in the bar at the Hilton and the bartender asked if anyone cared about the Home Run Derby and the answer was a resounding no. One guy even said if he heard Chris Berman say one more word, he was gonna go all postal on the bar. Instead, we watched an AFL game. The guy drains the life out of any sporting event he is part of...even the NFL draft is becoming dull and dreary.

See you guys just had the wrong perspective for watching the Derby. If you’d simply watched it for the pure comedic value, you’d have enjoyed it as much as me! I laughed as loud as if Steve Martin had been on my TV screen! I wrote this up as I was watching the replay later . . .

Ohhoho . . . This could be an absolute field day for me!! Joe Morgan at the Home Run Contest! Let’s begin the Idiocy, shall we . . .

Did you know that players today are ‘reinventing’ the home run swing . . . Evidently, until this latest wave of home run hitters like Justin Morneau, Ryan Howard, Alex Rios, etc., home run hitters had to pull the ball to hit one out. Buuuuut, nowadays, ‘these guys are so strong, they can hit it out to any part of the park’ . . . Can you imagine how many more home runs Babe Ruth or Hank Arron or Willie Mays would have hit if they could have just hit some opposite field homers . . . But alas, they were from a weaker era and weren’t strong enough, right Joe? What an Idiot Broadcaster . . . (I may be saying that a lot)

Poor Matt Holliday . . . According to Steve Phillips in the studio (guess there wasn't enough Idiocy in San Francisco), he has ‘no loft on his swing and all his home runs are line drives’. Guess Stevie-boy missed that 450+ foot bomb Holliday hit at Dodger Stadium last year that cleared the Dodger bullpen and hit the palm tree! I have never seen a ball hit harder or further than that in Chavez Ravine! And I kid you not, as Phillips was finishing this brilliantly researched analysis, Holliday uncorked an absolute bomb down the line 450+ feet and out of the stadium. Then on the very next pitch he hit one 462 feet and almost hit the Coke bottle in the left field bleachers! And then just for good measure he hit 451 feet, 434 feet, 475 feet, 440 feet and a 469 foot blast that cleared the left field bleachers and into the players parking lot, in the second round. Good job Steve . . . Good job.

Jimmy Rollins is on the A’s??? In reference to the other announcers comment that Rollins should have been on the All-Star team, Joe commented, ‘especially since he’s right over the bay in Oakland’ . . . Uhh??? Had to look up the fact that Rollins is from Oakland. Guess everyone just should have known that one, ehh Joe?

And special recognition has to go to Chris Berman and his absolutely mind-numbingly idiotic plays on words . . . His new favorite phrase must be, ‘He sent that ball on Holliday!’ . . . I think I actually heard him say it during one of Vlad’s or Rios’ home runs . . .

And according to Berman, there were balls hit ‘over the Golden Gate’, ‘over the Oakland Bay Bridge’, ‘over some-unknown-to-me-building-that-must-be-in-San-Francisco’, ‘to Oakland’, ‘all the way to The Presidio’, ‘almost to the blimp’ overhead, ‘Burlingame bound’. I was so impressed with Chris’ geographical knowledge . . . :confused:

Not to be outdone, Kruk had to chime in from the studio as well . . . He commented that Vlad ‘might hurt himself’ with his swing, intoning that he should be careful while participating in the contest. And he was serious, guys. It wasn’t one of his playfully stupid ‘jokes’. He actually said it with a straight face and meant it! Uhh, Krukie . . . doesn’t Vlad swing like that everyday??? Maybe you should pass that little nugget of advice on to Mike Scioscia. He’s bound to be interested in that, don’t you think? What’s that . . . Mike Scioscia thinks you’re an idiot too? Gee, color me surprised . . .

According to Joe, Vlad was ‘definitely tired’ in the second round, right before he uncorked a 475 footer and then his furthest, a 503 footer that reached the base of the Glove behind the left field bleachers. Another succinct analysis by the estimable Mr. Morgan.

Dusty Baker commented that ‘his son wanted to go out there’ to shag balls in the outfield, but he told him, ‘No son, you’re still too small’ . . . Heh! That may have been an appropriate comment a couple years ago, eh Dusty . . .

I’m tellin’ y’all, the Home Run Derby was a blast to watch! You just had to watch it from the proper (warped?) perspective.

HA, you missed my favorite comment of Morgan's. When Vlad hit a line drive, that was going to hit about 5 feet from the top of the wall, but about 3-4 fans were able to reach over the wall to try to grab it, Morgan said it should count because it would have cleared the wall. Huh? A line drive, losing steam, and was already going to hit the wall before it was touched was all of sudden going to jumped up 5 feet to clear the wall?

HE'S BACK !!!!

The SOD has again opened his pie-hole, and you know what that means .......

More good (i.e. stoopid) quotes !

He taped a segment for HBO's "Real Sports" show that will air in a few days. The transcript has been released and summarized in this piece at BoSPiN: The SOD Speaks

The key gist:

* Joe Torre is a racist who treats black's differently and badly.

* Joe Torre doesn't treat Derek Jeter badly as Jeter isn't really black, as he has a non-black parent.

* Etc.

Which comes down to The SOD being treated differently than most players and that has to do with him being a real black man, as opposed to him being treated differently than most players because he is an asshat, while most players aren't asshats.

"I'm cut from a different cloth."

hmm.... I didn't know that asshattery was sold by the yard.

[quote]

zwilnik:

"I'm cut from a different cloth."

hmm.... I didn't know that asshattery was sold by the yard.
I guess that you could say that The SOD is "The whole 9 yards" !!! :thumbup:

Reporter: “Tell us about your time with Joe Torre.”
SOD: “Black players are treated differently than white players, particularly at Yankee Stadium.”
Reporter: “Really?”
SOD: “Black players had an issue with Joe Torre. They weren't treated like everybody else. Even I got called out in a couple of meetings that I thought was unfair.”
Reporter: “So you don’t believe you were called out because you’re an . . . Uhh, what I meant to say is, you’re saying Joe Torre is a racist.”
SOD: “No.”
Reporter: “But you said he treated black players badly.”
SOD: “Yes.”
Reporter: “So he is a racist?”
SOD: “No.”
Reporter: “Uhh . . . Okay . . . Moving on. How do you explain the relationship between Derek Jeter and Joe Torre always being so strong?”
SOD: “Derek Jeter is black and white. There's really no significance. He just ain't all the way black."
Reporter: “He’s not all the way black?”
SOD: “No.”
Reporter: “So Torre is tolerant of not-all-the-way-black players?”
SOD: “Yes.”
Reporter: “But he treats all-the-way-black players differently and worse?”
SOD: “Yes.”
Reporter: “So Torre is a racist.”
SOD: “No.”
Reporter: "You do understand the concept of logic, don't you?"
SOD:: "Huh?"
Reporter: “Nevermind . . . Maybe the Yankees should go get more Latin players so Torre can ‘control’ them easier. What do you think?”
SOD: “That ain’t what I meant. I just said when you see a black face on TV and they start talking, English comes out. That's what I said. I ain't taking a shot at them or nothing. I'm just telling it like it is.”
Reporter: “You do know who Vladimir Guerrero is, right?”
SOD: “Of course. What’d ya think . . . I’m stupid?”
Reporter: “Is that a rhetorical question?”
SOD: “A what? What’d you call me?”
Reporter: “What I mean is, you have heard Guerrero speak, right?”
SOD: “Yeah, but he ain’t speakin’ English.”
Reporter: “Right. And what color is he?"
SOD: “He’s not all the way black.”
Reporter: “Gotcha . . .”

SportsCenter's Top 10 list tonight had Victor Martinez at #4. Martinez caught a popup of a bunt that was all of 5 feet away from home plate. He basically turned around and fell down to make the catch. Apparently though, according to the SC anchors, 'That's why he was an All Star.' . . . . . Uhh, yeeeeeaaah. That's the reason. :neutral:

[quote]Reporter: “Is that a rhetorical question?”
SOD: “A what? What’d you call me?”

ROTHFLMAO!

SOD? Shoe, meet mouth. It's not just that he's stupid, it's that he's stupid.

Bighat should send him roses for being even a bigger jerk than him.

And this last jewel from the latest washed up, weak hitting second baseman to be employed at BoSPiN (is there some kind of quota there I don't know about?).

As you are probably all aware, since they mention it about once every 7 1/2 seconds, the latest talk is A-Rod to the Red Sox next year. In the opinion of Fernando Vina, if A-Rod were to go to Boston and Fenway, he'd hit '80-90 home runs a year.' Not he might approach that number one year . . . Not said with a smile, chuckle, or tongue in cheek . . . He said straight out and straight faced that A-Rod 'could hit 80-90 each year' if he moved to Boston!

Sheesh, Manny . . . Have you ever been underachieving!

.



.


.


Oh, btw . . . Steve Perfume, or whatever his name is, mentioned at the end of Baseball Tonight that Comedy Centr . . . Uhh, I mean ESPN thinks it a good idea to put Steve Phillips and John Kruk on a set alone and run the cameras! Tomorrow during the mid-day BBTN, Dumber and Dumberest will be 'hosting' there own show . . . a-l-o-n-e!

I won't be around for it, but bet your bippie I'll be taping that comedic milestone!!!

[quote]

zwilnik:

ROTHFLMAO!

SOD? Shoe, meet mouth. It's not just that he's stupid, it's that he's stupid.

Bighat should send him roses for being even a bigger jerk than him.
Or maybe some flax seed oil . . . ?

[quote]

hunteralan:

SportsCenter's Top 10 list tonight had Victor Martinez at #4. Martinez caught a popup of a bunt that was all of 5 feet away from home plate. He basically turned around and fell down to make the catch. Apparently though, according to the SC anchors, 'That's why he was an All Star.' . . . . . Uhh, yeeeeeaaah. That's the reason. :neutral:
That's one of the sad aspects about BoSPiN beating a horse to death and so focusing on play back east, but back east is what they focus on and games out west get played after the folks back east have gone nighty-night. To wit:

* They focus on a defensive play by Vic because he plays within a time zone of Naw Yawk-Bahstahn, and plays for a team that plays a fair amount against the Yanks and BoSox.

* They focus on a defensive play by Vic as he is a great hitter, especially for a catcher, and being such an accomplished hitter seems to make many players much better defenders than otherwise for some reason in the minds of some pundits.

* They focus on a defensive play by Vic as there aren't that many above average defensive plays to focus on as half the games have yet to be played out west when BBTN airs at 9:00 PM EST.

Meanwhile, I have been catching a few games on EI around the Dodgers games over the past few night.

A kid named Salazar made a tremendous catch in RF for the Snakes against the Pods Friday night, where he leaped up at the wall, using his off hand to further propel himself from the top of the wall and caught a HR ball off of the bat of Brian Giles at least 3 feet above the 8 foot wall. However, that play was made after midnight back east.

Last night a kid 3B for the Tigers dove into the stands to snag a pop-up down off of 3B against the M's. BoSPin would love to show a defensive high-light for the Tigers, as they play their home games within 1 time zone of Naw Yak-Bahstahn and play a fair amount against the Yanks and BoSox , but alas this play occured in Seattle around midnight EST.

[quote]

kennerbuggy:

[quote]

hunteralan:

SportsCenter's Top 10 list tonight had Victor Martinez at #4. Martinez caught a popup of a bunt that was all of 5 feet away from home plate. He basically turned around and fell down to make the catch. Apparently though, according to the SC anchors, 'That's why he was an All Star.' . . . . . Uhh, yeeeeeaaah. That's the reason. :neutral:
That's one of the sad aspects about BoSPiN beating a horse to death and so focusing on play back east, but back east is what they focus on and games out west get played after the folks back east have gone nighty-night. To wit:

* They focus on a defensive play by Vic because he plays within a time zone of Naw Yawk-Bahstahn, and plays for a team that plays a fair amount against the Yanks and BoSox.

* They focus on a defensive play by Vic as he is a great hitter, especially for a catcher, and being such an accomplished hitter seems to make many players much better defenders than otherwise for some reason in the minds of some pundits.

* They focus on a defensive play by Vic as there aren't that many above average defensive plays to focus on as half the games have yet to be played out west when BBTN airs at 9:00 PM EST.

Meanwhile, I have been catching a few games on EI around the Dodgers games over the past few night.

A kid named Salazar made a tremendous catch in RF for the Snakes against the Pods Friday night, where he leaped up at the wall, using his off hand to further propel himself from the top of the wall and caught a HR ball off of the bat of Brian Giles at least 3 feet above the 8 foot wall. However, that play was made after midnight back east.

Last night a kid 3B for the Tigers dove into the stands to snag a pop-up down off of 3B against the M's. BoSPin would love to show a defensive high-light for the Tigers, as they play their home games within 1 time zone of Naw Yak-Bahstahn and play a fair amount against the Yanks and BoSox , but alas this play occured in Seattle around midnight EST.

So it should be a morning show? If the host has nice gams, wears short skirts, and doesn't have a desk, I'm all for it. (Unless the host is Kruck or some such nonsense.) Ms. Guerrero? I see your next position.

:fingersear: