Comments on: Ibanez to Philly

By: DJP

DJP — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:17:17 +0000

Good luck to Raul, I will miss chanting his name while he was at the plate. Raaaaaauuuulllllllll! and as bad as he was, at least he wasn’t Al “the butcher” Martin who made even the most routine catch of a flyball look like it should have been on webgems.

By: joser

joser — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 01:24:31 +0000

Good lord is Hickey RBI-obsessed. Fortunately by all evidence so far Zduriencik knows enough to look for talented hitters, not RBIs.

By: joser

joser — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 20:55:08 +0000

Wow, the comments on that Rob Neyer article are just classic. My favorite:

ibanez is no doubt a step up from burell. both r great clubhouse guys but ibanez strikes out much less has a much better batting average, they both r poor in the field, and ibanez had more rbi's last year than burell.

And somebody else took Dave to task for listing Werth, Victorino, and Jenkins as good fielders, which they are (even when you're not comparing them to Burrell and Ibanez).

By: Paul B

Paul B — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 17:34:05 +0000

Three years.

Thirty million.

Just… wow.

By: The Ancient Mariner

The Ancient Mariner — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 16:04:37 +0000

For my part, certainly, I’m not saying RaÃºl is in any general sense a blockhead, and there’s no question he’s a hard, hard worker. That doesn’t change the fact that his decision-making in the field is quite poor, and not all that intelligent. I’m not saying I personally would have described him as a lumbering oaf (though I am the guy who said that watching Glenallen Hill play the outfield was like watching a squirrel trying to cross a freeway, so I can’t say for sure), just that it doesn’t necessarily indicate personal disdain. (And from the context, as far as I can tell, it doesn’t.)

By: MattThompson

MattThompson — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 07:12:35 +0000

Just jumping in to say that I haven’t seen it mentioned yet that Rob Neyer quoted a big chunk of Dave’s post in his column today (as well as a Phillies’ blogger who agrees).

By: diderot

diderot — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 05:44:45 +0000

Ancient,
You’re one of the smartest posters here…so I’m guessing you’d agree that words like ‘blockheaded’ (i.e., not very smart) or oaf (‘simpleton’), may not be the most accurate descriptors.
The distinction I’m trying to make is that Raul is on one hand not very proficient as a fielder (granted) but at the same time that may not be because he’s not smart enough to play the position, or doesn’t try hard enough.
From what I saw, I think the guy deserves credit for trying…and in many cases, very hard.
But as I indicated earlier, that may not have been Dave’s intent at all.

By: The Ancient Mariner

The Ancient Mariner — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 05:35:37 +0000

I’m not going to speak for Dave, but I would note that describing RaÃºl afield as a lumbering, clumsy, blockheaded fielder is, relative to MLB standards, fair; and that would be fairly summarized as “a lumbering oaf.”

By: diderot

diderot — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 04:29:22 +0000

Dave (or Derek or Conor or whomever chooses to reply for him),
Something troubles me about Dave’s original post. And in raising this, maybe I’m making something out of nothing…which I’m sure you’ll be willing to verify if that’s the case.
Here’s my take:
1- The highest value of this site is to use reason over emotion or ‘conventional wisdom’ or ‘baseball knowledge’ or however you choose to describe it
2- That same approach, although not quantifiable, also seems like it should apply to semantics as well as statistics; that’s what this site it about
3- therefore, when Dave describes Raul as ‘a lumbering oaf’, this seems to be emotionally charged and decidedly different than a ‘grossly deficient outfielder’, or something more descriptive in this vein.
4- the term ‘oaf’, itself, is described thusly:
1. a clumsy, stupid person; lout.
2. a simpleton; dunce; blockhead.
3. a deformed or mentally deficient child.

Is this is what was meant to be said? I doubt it…but the lingering impression is that the disdain for Raul is not statistical, but on some level personal.
Would be interested in any reaction.

By: Jack Howland

Jack Howland — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:41:07 +0000

Willie is 254/328/297 in the 9th inning lifetime.

Ichiro is 303/371/391. Easily his worst performing inning.