[quote name=josh]True enough. In all honesty, he doesn’t have a very good looking swing.[/quote]Zambrano’s hitting line is extremely strange. Besides his hilarious K/BB ratio, he does weird things when he makes contact. He has a higher BABIP than Albert Pujols, as well as a much higher HR/FB. Too bad he’s an extreme ground-ball hitter!
Weird play at the plate in the Mariners/Boston game. Ellsbury nearly knocked it out of the catcher’s hand, but the catcher pinned the ball to his arm and never full let go. Initially called safe for dropping the ball, then the umpires convened and he was called out, resulting in Terry Francona getting ejected. It was the right call in the end, but I’ve never seen one overturned like that.
Barry Bonds was mentioned in the last blog post as an example of a guy who the organization had to put up with but the difference between him and guys like Sosa and Zambrano wasn’t so much that he started to suck, but that he was old. Check out his age 42 season (his last, in 2007)…
I was surprised that either nobody wanted to sign him, or he just didn’t want to play anymore. But it would have been very interesting to see what he could have done in 2008 and beyond, had someone given him the chance.
Bonds would have been a usable DH, perhaps a very good one. I think no teams were really willing to deal with him, though, even if he still had value on the field.
[quote name=ACT]Bill James and Tangotiger discussed Bonds’ usefulness: http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/comments/barry_bonds_bill_james_and_me/%5B/quote%5D I never read that before just now. 2007 was the first year after I had moved from CA (Bay Area, ergo my man-crush on Bonds the player) to Chicago and I made a quickie list of teams that could have used Bonds besides the Giants and couldn’t really think of a contender with enough money to splurge on him. It’s been long enough that I don’t recall the details, but I think I came to the same basic conclusion as Bill James in the article you posted, although I shared Tango’s skepticism that nobody wanted to throw a few million at Bonds just to kick the tires for at least part of a season in case he does collapse.
Of course, with Bonds’ giant-sized head and ego, he probably wouldn’t have settled for a paycut. Which I think is part of the reason why Sabean didn’t bother to re-sign him.
How to handle an in-house problem like a member of the cast of Mean Girls:
Cubs general manager Jim Hendry called Braves counterpart Frank Wren on Saturday to apologize for Carlos Zambrano throwing at Chipper Jones twice. “It was uncalled for,” Hendry said of Zambrano’s actions. “And anything at all that tarnished the evening for such a great baseball man like (retired Braves manager) Bobby Cox … was totally inappropriate.”
OMG MEGAN, CARLOS LIKE TOTALLY RUINED BOBBY’S BIG NIGHT OMGOMGOMG
How to handle an in-house issue like a professional and an adult:
“I don’t take anything personal,” manager Mike Quade said. “This is about Carlos and the way he handled the situation (Friday) night … Sometimes you’re disappointed, and in this case I was. To me, it ends in a bad situation, and there’s no sense in going back over it. What took place was unfortunate, and to dwell on it makes no sense to me at all.”
While Hendry was presumably placing calls to all the otheer GMs to apologize for Carlos Zambrano’s actions, Quade also took time to point out that even though Hollandsworth isn’t playing anymore, he’s still fouling balls off his own shins:
“I disagree with (Hollandsworth’s claim that Ramirez is a bad influence on Castro and Barney) totally,’ he said. “I think they are improving. … People have their opinions, and that’s fine. But I don’t find that to be at all true. The kids are going to get better. They have gotten better, I believe. Anyone who has watched us play baseball, particularly defensively, should be able to see that during at least the last five or six weeks. They were good tonight, thank God.”
That’s some incredible luck and/or concentration by the catcher to not have the ball dislodged after that epic hit he took.[/quote]I think it was just blind-ass variance.
[quote name=ACT]Wow, I’m pretty skeptical of the hit-and-run play in general, but it gave Barney two gift hits there.[/quote]Brenly was saying it can be effective against sinker ballers, since you know there is a higher probability of hitting it on the ground. Especially sinker ballers with good command, like Lowe, since they’ll throw strikes in strike counts, thought he second Barney hit was definitely not a strike.
Seriously, Z is his own worst moron, but he has basically been fired for leaving work early.
If it wasn’t for that, but for a catalogue of non-public shit, why wasn’t he fired before?[/quote]I’d be interested in seeing a poll of professional athletes regarding what they would think if a teammate “left work early.” I mean I can’t see it as anything but a dick move. If it happened in Little League, kid would be kicked off the team and thought of as a selfish prick. It’s a way of saying “this is my show, and everyone will be made aware of that fact.” It’s taking your ball and going home. It’s childish and shitty. It says you’re more important than the other guys and thus should have been treated special. Fuck that. Z fucked up a lot. Seems like a really nice guy and all, but what he did was more than skip out on a few minutes of work, what he did was say to the other guys “this is a job that I hate, and by the way fuck you.”
[quote name=Suburban kid]OK, he was fired for being totally unprofessional (throwing at Chipper to get tossed) and then leaving work early. [/quote]I think that’s definitely the feeling among the coaching staff, that he didn’t want to pitch anymore and so tried to get tossed. You can see it in the way he walks off the field, but there may also have been indications in the conversations between innings or on the mound that we don’t hear.
[quote name=Berselius]From the title I thought that he had gone out wearing, say, Prince Fielder’s jersey (dying laughing)[/quote]This is where I wish the Brewers played outdoors, so I could Photoshop “FIELDER” onto their tarp.
Although a Google image search for anything resembling a Milwaukee Brewers tarp did lead me to this:
“I don’t take anything personal,” manager Mike Quade said.
Um…yeah he does. That’s why this is even more of a story than it is otherwise, though to be fair because Z basically said “Fuck you guys” it was a big story anyway. I just mean that because he took it personally, it wasn’t kept as internal as it could’ve been. At the same time he pretty much had to say something or else the media makes up their own narrative anyway, which they will do regardless…geez, what a mess. I guess there’s really no way to keep something like this under wraps.
Just a thought on Bonds. I think the guy was basically blacklisted out of baseball. I wouldn’t be surprised if Selig or one of his minions didn’t make it known to all the GMs that Bonds was not to be offered another contract by any team in MLB. As the article showed, Bonds was very likely to still be a far above average hitter.
Of course, it is also possible that Bonds or his agent made it clear to all the teams that he expected to be paid at the same level of his last contract and he was basically priced out of the market. Who can say for sure?
I think that zambrano has done worse. I think punching barrett, and the Lee incident were worse. I was under the impression that once starters were done they left a lot
Comments
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
AndCountingQuote Reply
Woosa…
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=josh]True enough. In all honesty, he doesn’t have a very good looking swing.[/quote]Zambrano’s hitting line is extremely strange. Besides his hilarious K/BB ratio, he does weird things when he makes contact. He has a higher BABIP than Albert Pujols, as well as a much higher HR/FB. Too bad he’s an extreme ground-ball hitter!
ACTQuote Reply
Wow, today’s game looks like it was interesting. Too bad I missed it.
ACTQuote Reply
ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb reports that an aTm source has Mizzou, Florida State, and Clemson to the SEC
BerseliusQuote Reply
Weird play at the plate in the Mariners/Boston game. Ellsbury nearly knocked it out of the catcher’s hand, but the catcher pinned the ball to his arm and never full let go. Initially called safe for dropping the ball, then the umpires convened and he was called out, resulting in Terry Francona getting ejected. It was the right call in the end, but I’ve never seen one overturned like that.
binkyQuote Reply
Nice little players…
Castro:
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=17998975
Barney:
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=17998977
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Wow, I’m pretty skeptical of the hit-and-run play in general, but it gave Barney two gift hits there.
ACTQuote Reply
Here ya go Josh:
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=17998545
That’s some incredible luck and/or concentration by the catcher to not have the ball dislodged after that epic hit he took.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Barry Bonds was mentioned in the last blog post as an example of a guy who the organization had to put up with but the difference between him and guys like Sosa and Zambrano wasn’t so much that he started to suck, but that he was old. Check out his age 42 season (his last, in 2007)…
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bondsba01.shtml
28 HR, batting .276/.480/.565, OPS+ = 169
I was surprised that either nobody wanted to sign him, or he just didn’t want to play anymore. But it would have been very interesting to see what he could have done in 2008 and beyond, had someone given him the chance.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Bonds would have been a usable DH, perhaps a very good one. I think no teams were really willing to deal with him, though, even if he still had value on the field.
ACTQuote Reply
Bill James and Tangotiger discussed Bonds’ usefulness: http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/comments/barry_bonds_bill_james_and_me/
ACTQuote Reply
[quote name=ACT]Bill James and Tangotiger discussed Bonds’ usefulness: http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/comments/barry_bonds_bill_james_and_me/%5B/quote%5D
I never read that before just now. 2007 was the first year after I had moved from CA (Bay Area, ergo my man-crush on Bonds the player) to Chicago and I made a quickie list of teams that could have used Bonds besides the Giants and couldn’t really think of a contender with enough money to splurge on him. It’s been long enough that I don’t recall the details, but I think I came to the same basic conclusion as Bill James in the article you posted, although I shared Tango’s skepticism that nobody wanted to throw a few million at Bonds just to kick the tires for at least part of a season in case he does collapse.
Of course, with Bonds’ giant-sized head and ego, he probably wouldn’t have settled for a paycut. Which I think is part of the reason why Sabean didn’t bother to re-sign him.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
How to handle an in-house problem like a member of the cast of Mean Girls:
OMG MEGAN, CARLOS LIKE TOTALLY RUINED BOBBY’S BIG NIGHT OMGOMGOMG
How to handle an in-house issue like a professional and an adult:
While Hendry was presumably placing calls to all the otheer GMs to apologize for Carlos Zambrano’s actions, Quade also took time to point out that even though Hollandsworth isn’t playing anymore, he’s still fouling balls off his own shins:
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
What a weekend… I mean i am a little depressed
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
Also has Z been allowed to eat dinner yet?
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
[quote name=bubblesdachimp]Also has Z been allowed to eat dinner yet?[/quote]After taking his things?
Seriously, Z is his own worst moron, but he has basically been fired for leaving work early.
If it wasn’t for that, but for a catalogue of non-public shit, why wasn’t he fired before?
Suburban kidQuote Reply
[quote name=Rice Cube]Here ya go Josh:
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=17998545
That’s some incredible luck and/or concentration by the catcher to not have the ball dislodged after that epic hit he took.[/quote]I think it was just blind-ass variance.
[quote name=ACT]Wow, I’m pretty skeptical of the hit-and-run play in general, but it gave Barney two gift hits there.[/quote]Brenly was saying it can be effective against sinker ballers, since you know there is a higher probability of hitting it on the ground. Especially sinker ballers with good command, like Lowe, since they’ll throw strikes in strike counts, thought he second Barney hit was definitely not a strike.
binkyQuote Reply
OK, he was fired for being totally unprofessional (throwing at Chipper to get tossed) and then leaving work early.
Yeah, dude should probably be suspended without pay at least.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
[quote name=Suburban kid]After taking his things?
Seriously, Z is his own worst moron, but he has basically been fired for leaving work early.
If it wasn’t for that, but for a catalogue of non-public shit, why wasn’t he fired before?[/quote]I’d be interested in seeing a poll of professional athletes regarding what they would think if a teammate “left work early.” I mean I can’t see it as anything but a dick move. If it happened in Little League, kid would be kicked off the team and thought of as a selfish prick. It’s a way of saying “this is my show, and everyone will be made aware of that fact.” It’s taking your ball and going home. It’s childish and shitty. It says you’re more important than the other guys and thus should have been treated special. Fuck that. Z fucked up a lot. Seems like a really nice guy and all, but what he did was more than skip out on a few minutes of work, what he did was say to the other guys “this is a job that I hate, and by the way fuck you.”
binkyQuote Reply
[quote name=Suburban kid]OK, he was fired for being totally unprofessional (throwing at Chipper to get tossed) and then leaving work early. [/quote]I think that’s definitely the feeling among the coaching staff, that he didn’t want to pitch anymore and so tried to get tossed. You can see it in the way he walks off the field, but there may also have been indications in the conversations between innings or on the mound that we don’t hear.
binkyQuote Reply
Fixed.
GBTSQuote Reply
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110813&content_id=23180050&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
(dying laughing)
GBTSQuote Reply
[quote name=GBTS]http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110813&content_id=23180050&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
(dying laughing)[/quote]
From the title I thought that he had gone out wearing, say, Prince Fielder’s jersey (dying laughing)
BerseliusQuote Reply
[quote name=Berselius]From the title I thought that he had gone out wearing, say, Prince Fielder’s jersey (dying laughing)[/quote]This is where I wish the Brewers played outdoors, so I could Photoshop “FIELDER” onto their tarp.
Although a Google image search for anything resembling a Milwaukee Brewers tarp did lead me to this:
GBTSQuote Reply
Suburban kidQuote Reply
GBTSQuote Reply
Um…yeah he does. That’s why this is even more of a story than it is otherwise, though to be fair because Z basically said “Fuck you guys” it was a big story anyway. I just mean that because he took it personally, it wasn’t kept as internal as it could’ve been. At the same time he pretty much had to say something or else the media makes up their own narrative anyway, which they will do regardless…geez, what a mess. I guess there’s really no way to keep something like this under wraps.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Just a thought on Bonds. I think the guy was basically blacklisted out of baseball. I wouldn’t be surprised if Selig or one of his minions didn’t make it known to all the GMs that Bonds was not to be offered another contract by any team in MLB. As the article showed, Bonds was very likely to still be a far above average hitter.
Of course, it is also possible that Bonds or his agent made it clear to all the teams that he expected to be paid at the same level of his last contract and he was basically priced out of the market. Who can say for sure?
FrankQuote Reply
PLEASE put a straightjacket on Q there, GoBackToSchaumburg.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
I think that zambrano has done worse. I think punching barrett, and the Lee incident were worse. I was under the impression that once starters were done they left a lot
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
Rice CubeQuote Reply
http://www.bleachernation.com/2011/08/14/tom-ricketts-leaning-toward-retaining-jim-hendry-for-2012-not-so-fast/
BerseliusQuote Reply
[quote name=GBTS]
[/quote]
I like how in this picture, Ryan Braun’s helmet actually doesn’t seem out of place.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
This is a criminally underused gif
BerseliusQuote Reply
Ask and, as long as I’m not busy, you shall receive.
GBTSQuote Reply
[quote name=GBTS]Ask and, as long as I’m not busy, you shall receive.
[/quote]
(dying laughing) (dying laughing) (dying laughing)
(dying laughing) @ #10 patch (dying laughing)
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Holy shit do I want one of these:
GBTSQuote Reply
the #10 patch makes it epic win, GBTS (dying laughing)
BerseliusQuote Reply
I figured the Cubs would have at least a couple straight jackets made this season.
GBTSQuote Reply
I swear there should be gif off between Dr. Gumb Ryno-Taint and GBTS. They regularly win the internets.
The little details like the commemorative patch make these exceedingly (dying laughing) worthy.
Well played, sir.
frysredjacketQuote Reply
[quote name=GBTS]Holy shit do I want one of these:
The cap seems too small for his head.
And he looks like Michael Rooker from Mallrats.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=frysredjacket] gif off [/quote]
I’ll just pre flag this one myself.
frysredjacketQuote Reply
[quote name=Rice Cube]The cap seems too small for his head.
And he looks like Michael Rooker from Mallrats.[/quote]
He just needs a chocolate covered pretzel in his hand
BerseliusQuote Reply
new post http://obstructedview.net/chicago-cubs/articles/braves-qaa.html
BerseliusQuote Reply
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ランニングシューズ 直営Quote Reply