Juan out for season

[haltz]

But admit that Womack is luck.

That was the Cardinals m.o. with 2B for quite a while. Grudz, Womack, Miles, Belliard, Vina, Spivey, Hart, Luna, now Kennedy, ugh ... some work out, some don't. It's not a bad strategy. You can't look at Womack's year in a vacuum.

 

Womack had a 93 OPS+ thanks to an inflated batting average. That's a lucky thing, sure, but it also isn't what made that an 855-run offense. [insert John Mabry joke here]

[SouthSideRyan]

The problem with Sosa is that '97 was out of line with where he was trending.

 

In '93 he hit 1 HR every 18.12 ABs

In '94 he hit 1 HR every 17.04 ABs

In '95 he hit 1 HR every 15.66 ABs

In '96 he hit 1 HR every 12.45 ABs

Then there's '97

In '98 he hit 1 HR every 9.74 ABs

 

That progression really doesn't look that outrageous when you consider how Sammy barely had a muscle on his body when he came up and the players' power peaking around that age.

 

He'd go on to plateau hitting them at 1 every 9.92, 12.08, 9.01, 11.34, 12.92, and 13.65 again in line with a player peaking, and then declining.

 

So the only question is what the hell happened in '97. He was awful in April of '97 which could be wrote off to not being fully ready for baseball after missing the last month+ in '96 due to injury. But he had an amazing May following that, then mixed in a few horrendous months the rest of the way.

 

Another thing I think that is important to note is that people always talk about Sammy's walk rate one way or another, be it that the walk rate was due to the HRs, or the HRs were due to the walk rate. It's pretty undeniable that Sosa stopped chasing the low and away pitches as much as he did when he was younger. His monthly splits in '98 lend creeednce to the belief that the walks lead to pitchers being forced to pitch him in the zone and Sosa's always prodigious power was then put on display.

 

In April-May of '98 he drew 27 walks, hit 13 HRs. Then obviously in June his HR totals exploded, 20 there, with 6 walks. Very simplistic way to go about it, but I think it at least shows that the BBs weren't solely a function of pitchers pitching around him. There was a change in Sosa's plate discipline, and that played a larger role in Sosa's increased HR production than any PEDs ever could.

Edited September 2, 2007 by SouthSideRyan

[soccer10k]

I went back and watched the play on the archived MLB.TV and man that did not look good. Hopefully he can make a comeback at some point.

[haltz]

In April-May of '98 he drew 27 walks, hit 13 HRs. Then obviously in June his HR totals exploded, 20 there, with 6 walks. Very simplistic way to go about it, but I think it at least shows that the BBs weren't solely a function of pitchers pitching around him. There was a change in Sosa's plate discipline, and that played a larger role in Sosa's increased HR production than any PEDs ever could.

There's also the assumption that PEDs solely and magically make people hit taters. It's easy to assume that Brady Anderson was juicing in 1996, but it's not like Randy Velarde ever hit 50 bombs.

 

I don't really want to get into a debate about whether steroids even help all that much or not, and what kind of conclusions we can draw from weight gain, and Triple Crown stats. Apparently my views aren't widely held.

 

Anyway, Sosa's pitch data summary on B-Ref supports your assertion. His P/PA went up and his Swing% (strikes only) went down. First pitch swinging went way down. Steroids or not, I'm pretty sure a change of approach precluded his sustained peak.

[SouthSideRyan]

In April-May of '98 he drew 27 walks, hit 13 HRs. Then obviously in June his HR totals exploded, 20 there, with 6 walks. Very simplistic way to go about it, but I think it at least shows that the BBs weren't solely a function of pitchers pitching around him. There was a change in Sosa's plate discipline, and that played a larger role in Sosa's increased HR production than any PEDs ever could.

There's also the assumption that PEDs solely and magically make people hit taters. It's easy to assume that Brady Anderson was juicing in 1996, but it's not like Randy Velarde ever hit 50 bombs.

 

I don't really want to get into a debate about whether steroids even help all that much or not, and what kind of conclusions we can draw from weight gain, and Triple Crown stats. Apparently my views aren't widely held.

 

A very valid point. For every Giambi and Palmiero you have an Alex Sanchez and Jorge Piedras.

[Keener98]

Sounds like Juan E. career may be over. He may never get his vision fully back in the left eye. Pretty sad story really.

 

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/5B3CA01947C9DC5B86257349005F8F5B?OpenDocument

[KyHen]

[Cardinals team Doctor] Paletta said the eye socket was essentially crushed on impact, comparing the injured area to the disintegration of an egg shell or ice cream cone, and that the optic nerve had sustained severe trauma. Reconstructive surgery may not take place for several days while doctors wait for swelling to subside.

[CubinNY]

One time I was pitching at half distance in the cage before a game and got a comebacker that just cleared the elbow of L screen. It hit me square in my right eye. The only thing that saved me was the balls were probably pretty soft (shag balls) and I was wearing plastic sunglasses. The glasses frame completely embedded in my eyebrow and down the side of cheeck and cut to the bone. I had 75 sttches and sitll have numbsness around my eye socket.

 

And I was lucky.

[Faceman]

One time I was pitching at half distance in the cage before a game and got a comebacker that just cleared the elbow of L screen. It hit me square in my right eye. The only thing that saved me was the balls were probably pretty soft (shag balls) and I was wearing plastic sunglasses. The glasses frame completely embedded in my eyebrow and down the side of cheeck and cut to the bone. I had 75 sttches and sitll have numbsness around my eye socket.

 

And I was lucky.

 

good lord that is some story.

 

and yes the Juan E. story is just unbelieveably sad. Sounds like he is a real clubhouse favorite / good guy.

[Derwood]

that is one replay i hope to never see

[mjohnson71]

that is one replay i hope to never see

 

That ranks up there with the Theisman MNF leg break replay.

[FergieJ31]

that is one replay i hope to never see

 

That ranks up there with the Theisman MNF leg break replay.

 

I haven't seen this yet either and I hope I never do. There are a handful of replays that I don't care to see again - Theisman is one, the Beltran - Cameron collision is another.

[Derwood]

that is one replay i hope to never see

 

That ranks up there with the Theisman MNF leg break replay.

 

I haven't seen this yet either and I hope I never do. There are a handful of replays that I don't care to see again - Theisman is one, the Beltran - Cameron collision is another.

 

the worst one ever was the hockey goalie who took a skate blade to the throat. they showed that once on some ESPN special and it was the only time i can remember having my blood run cold and feeling light headed

[Drew Doughty]

clint malarchuk was the one who took the skate blade to the throat.

 

i remember being mesmerized by Willis McGahee's injury when that happened.

[SouthSideRyan]

College basketball player (Allan Ray?) getting his eye ripped out of the socket anyone?

[FergieJ31]

clint malarchuk was the one who took the skate blade to the throat.

 

Yeah that Malarchuk injury was absolutely gruesome. The story I heard was that at least one spectator suffered a heart attack and three of his teammates vomited while still on the ice.

 

back to Juan E - I read the article from the Stl paper. Really cool to see he kept his sense of humor, busting Aaron Miles chops for striking out in that AB. He seems like a great teammate.

[soccer10k]

clint malarchuk was the one who took the skate blade to the throat.

 

Yeah that Malarchuk injury was absolutely gruesome. The story I heard was that at least one spectator suffered a heart attack and three of his teammates vomited while still on the ice.

 

There's a video of that on youtube. Absolutely disgusting.

 

And, without a doubt, I would have been one who puked had I been on the ice when that happened.

[Derwood]

clint malarchuk was the one who took the skate blade to the throat.

 

Yeah that Malarchuk injury was absolutely gruesome. The story I heard was that at least one spectator suffered a heart attack and three of his teammates vomited while still on the ice.

 

There's a video of that on youtube. Absolutely disgusting.

 

And, without a doubt, I would have been one who puked had I been on the ice when that happened.

 

i highly recommend that no one watches that video unless a lot of blood and someone almost dying does something for you

[imb]

I never thought the Malarchuck thing was that bad. I remember reading about it in the sporting news in some feature article when i was like 8.

 

Bone breaks are far worse.

[Derwood]

I never thought the Malarchuck thing was that bad. I remember reading about it in the sporting news in some feature article when i was like 8.

 

Bone breaks are far worse.

 

have you seen the video

[imb]

I never thought the Malarchuck thing was that bad. I remember reading about it in the sporting news in some feature article when i was like 8.

 

Bone breaks are far worse.

 

have you seen the video

 

Yeah, it's just blood to me. I don't know, it's never phased me, and I'm a guy that doesn't particularly like copious amounts of (real) blood.

[Derwood]

I never thought the Malarchuck thing was that bad. I remember reading about it in the sporting news in some feature article when i was like 8.

 

Bone breaks are far worse.

 

have you seen the video

 

Yeah, it's just blood to me. I don't know, it's never phased me, and I'm a guy that doesn't particularly like copious amounts of (real) blood.

 

you're a stronger man than I. it's not so much the fact that it's blood, but that it goes from clean ice to a 3 foot wide pool of blood in about one second

[Mark_R]

Am I the only one who doesn't see the skate go across his throat? Was the video edited?

 

Weird. all of a sudden, there's a pileup on the net (but away from the fall, it appeared) and then there's a massive pile of blood.

[Derwood]

Am I the only one who doesn't see the skate go across his throat? Was the video edited?

 

Weird. all of a sudden, there's a pileup on the net (but away from the fall, it appeared) and then there's a massive pile of blood.

 

don't know what the youtube video shows (and i'm not going to look) but the shot that ESPN showed on their special was just a long shot of the two players plowing into the goalie, then the blood. no closeup of the cut or anything