Pierre hot because of the grass?

[thedaymen]

Keith Hernandez on SNY says the high grass at Wrigley is part of the reason for Pierre's slump and he heat up when management decided to cut the grass.

 

Assuming Keith is correct, and thats a big assumption, we can add it to the list of "duhs" to the Front office....if they were grooming the ballpark as though this were one of the power teams of the past even while signing toolsy speed guys, well, its stupid to give other teams the home field advantage when they visit the confines.

[Jon]

They secretly cut the grass a while ago and he was still sucking pretty hard. If anything, it would seem like he'd benefit from a slower infield. His infield choppers to second will only reach the second baseman sooner with a quicker infield.

 

And I'm sure the pitching staff loved the decision.

Edited July 14, 2006 by Jon

[jyoung55]

I don't understand the logic behind that statement. I guess they are saying that he is more effective at bunting in low grass. But shouldn't the opposite be true. If the grass is higher it is going to take fielders longer to get to it and thus he is further down the baseline by that point. Or am I wrong here?

[Stu]

When Cey and Bowa were there they practically kept that grass knee-high. By that time those 2 were pretty much finished, and had no range whatsoever. The Cubs were such a better, smarter organization under Dallas Green.

[ConstableRabbit]

Are there any official rules regarding how high a park's grass can be?

[Tracer Bullet]

I don't understand the logic behind that statement. I guess they are saying that he is more effective at bunting in low grass. But shouldn't the opposite be true. If the grass is higher it is going to take fielders longer to get to it and thus he is further down the baseline by that point. Or am I wrong here?

 

The only logical explanation that I can come up with is that the shorter grass allows his grounders to get through the IF whereas tall grass slows them down so that fielders can get to them. Frankly, since he hits most of his grounders directly at the second baseman, I don't think the length of the grass matters.

[CuseCubFan69]

Are there any official rules regarding how high a park's grass can be?

 

I think there is one about how high on grass you can be but I'm not sure about how high the grass should be. I think it's up to each team but it does make sense that it couldn't be higher than X.

[UMFan83]

I thought you meant Pierre was on dope and that is why he has been streaking

[soccer10k]

Keith Hernandez on SNY says the high grass at Wrigley is part of the reason for Pierre's slump and he heat up when management decided to cut the grass.

 

Assuming Keith is correct, and thats a big assumption, we can add it to the list of "duhs" to the Front office....if they were grooming the ballpark as though this were one of the power teams of the past even while signing toolsy speed guys, well, its stupid to give other teams the home field advantage when they visit the confines.

 

Either way somebody looks stupid for this statement. Either Hernandez is incorrect and he's an idiot for saying this or Hernandez is correct and management are idiots for not doing this sooner.

[Outshined_One]

I'm Keith Hernandez!

[ConstableRabbit]

Are there any official rules regarding how high a park's grass can be?

 

I think there is one about how high on grass you can be but I'm not sure about how high the grass should be. I think it's up to each team but it does make sense that it couldn't be higher than X.

 

That's what I was thinking. Or maybe it's just an unwritten rule that has never really come up.

[CuseCubFan69]

I thought you meant Pierre was on dope and that is why he has been streaking

 

He plays ball the old school way.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I'm Keith Hernandez!

 

Okay, now this is just awkward.

[Irrelevant Dude]

Keith Hernandez on SNY says the high grass at Wrigley is part of the reason for Pierre's slump and he heat up when management decided to cut the grass.

Steve Stone said the same thing.

[thedaymen]

Keith Hernandez on SNY says the high grass at Wrigley is part of the reason for Pierre's slump and he heat up when management decided to cut the grass.

Steve Stone said the same thing.

 

Even cooler if its in the Cubs' media notes.

 

I'm guessing Stoney told Keith.

[TB_11]

If that logic holds (and I'm not sure that it does), the Cubs groundball pitchers like Z and Maddux are feeling the offsetting effect.

[danonwaveland]

from the Houston Chronicle. . .

 

"Heading into the second half of the season, the good folks at STATS Inc. distributed some interesting numbers.

 

Among players with at least 1,000 career at-bats after the All-Star break, Todd Helton's .349 batting average is the highest. According to STATS, Helton is followed by Albert Pujols (.340), Ichiro Suzuki (.326), Derek Jeter (.322), Vladimir Guerrero (.321) and Juan Pierre (.320) among active players."

 

JP heating up for contract time?

[hitamprun]

It appears to me Pierre has been hitting a lot of line drives that would not have been effected by the grass. You knew at some point he would start to hit. A career .300 hitter will come around at some point.

[Fred Hornkohl]

Seems Juan started his post ASG onslaught a little early this year.......

 

06/11 - 07/16      AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR   TB  RBI   BB   SO     BA    OBP    SLG    OPS
Pierre            129   14   47    7    3    1   63    8    5    7  0.364  0.401  0.488  0.890

[soccer10k]

Seems Juan started his post ASG onslaught a little early this year.......

 

06/11 - 07/16      AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR   TB  RBI   BB   SO     BA    OBP    SLG    OPS
Pierre            129   14   47    7    3    1   63    8    5    7  0.364  0.401  0.488  0.890

 

Wow. Still not walking but when you're hitting .364 that doesn't matter as much.

[wastra]

It appears to me Pierre has been hitting a lot of line drives that would not have been effected by the grass. You knew at some point he would start to hit. A career .300 hitter will come around at some point.

 

He's definitely been hitting more line drives of late. It would be interesting to see his ground ball ratio from before his hot streak and since. Hitting the ball more sharply has also made his bunting and the grouders he does hit a little more effective, since defenses now have to respect the fact that the balls not going to ALWAYS be chopped to the 2B.

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

Keith Hernandez's daughter is going out with a friend of mine, and I recently found out she lives in my apartment complex. Met her at the pool last weekend. When she saw my Cubs tatoo, she said, "Are you serious? They are the worst team in baseball history." I replied, "Yeah, I put a joke ON MY SKIN."

 

She had one of his gold gloves from the year she was born. Kinda cool.

[CubinNY]

Keith Hernandez's daughter is going out with a friend of mine, and I recently found out she lives in my apartment complex. Met her at the pool last weekend. When she saw my Cubs tatoo, she said, "Are you serious? They are the worst team in baseball history." I replied, "Yeah, I put a joke ON MY SKIN."

 

She had one of his gold gloves from the year she was born. Kinda cool.

 

Does she have a sweet pornstache and a penchant for the nose candy too?

[Soul]

I think Pierre's improved performance less to do with the grass, and more to do with the fact that the games no longer matter.

[TheDude]

I think Pierre's improved performance less to do with the grass, and more to do with the fact that the games no longer matter.

How does that make any sense? Pierre doesn't have a reputation as a soft player under pressure.