Hey Bruce, Nice job on TV!

[ConstableRabbit]

Maybe sending in a book wouldn't be the greatest idea, but the concept of all of us sending him something could be really effective.

 

Like if we all sent him a a letter every day -- it could be copies of a single letter that we draft -- and we could stagger it so we wouldn't have to pay daily postage.

 

If the letter was coherent and professional (e.g. no Krispy Kreme references), he just might look at it.

 

After all, it worked in The Shawshank Redemption...

[TruffleShuffle]

Bruce,

 

One other thing. On the radio today, Jim Hendry stressed that he considers the most important offensive statistic to be hitting with RISP. He said something like, "For me, that's what it's all about offensively".

 

One would assume that, since this is philosophy, he would attempt to acquire players who do well in this area. Do you think that Jim realizes that BA with RISP is almost entirely a random statistic? My guess is no, since they continue to value players whose offensive upside is limited to the largely random event of hitting singles.

 

Has anyone informed Jim that the Reds are last in the NL in BA with RISP ? Somehow, they are leading the Wild Card. And that Boston team, they are 13th in the AL in BA with RISP.

 

Bruce, could you mention this stat at some point to Baker or Hendry ? You couldn't fit any curve in the world to batting with RISP.

 

I will mention it to Jim and his people as I've done in a million different discussions. There are scant few of us here in the media who see the whole idea of the importance of OBP, SLG and their result: OPS. (A TV guy asked the OBP questions yesterday, and good for him). The Cubs must outslug their opponents at this ballpark.

Maybe they don't want to listen to some writer and his stat-geek friends. LOL.

 

Bruce says this jokingly, but it's become very common for the old guard within baseball to look down their noses and sneer at people like him who are more stats-oriented and place a greater emphasis on things like OBP. It's the old "you've never played the game at this level so what do you really know?" defense.

[Jon]

Bruce, any chance you can take them to task on their complete lack of a plan when it comes to pitching? Pulling Guzman after an inning at AAA because they might need him for a double header despite having plenty of pitching handy and him already warming up/throwing one inning is one of the more idiotic things I have heard this season.