Anyone else less than impressed w/ Gerald Perry?

[badnews]

but how can fans of this team say 'not much you can do with a veteran hitter' when Sammy Sosa became a superstar in his tenth year in the league

 

Is that the same "timing mechanism" Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire used?

[Rob]

but how can fans of this team say 'not much you can do with a veteran hitter' when Sammy Sosa became a superstar in his tenth year in the league

 

Is that the same "timing mechanism" Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire used?

 

To be fair, Sammy's rise to stardom coincided with the time he finally figured out how to control himself on pitches low and away... and his star faded when he lost that corner.

[Derwood]

but how can fans of this team say 'not much you can do with a veteran hitter' when Sammy Sosa became a superstar in his tenth year in the league

 

Is that the same "timing mechanism" Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire used?

 

To be fair, Sammy's rise to stardom coincided with the time he finally figured out how to control himself on pitches low and away... and his star faded when he lost that corner.

 

Jeff Pentland also lowered his bat position and kept him from swinging his bat around

[jersey cubs fan]

who knows about Perry at this point. I am a little disturbed that they lead the word in bad g/f ration until the outburst in September. I'm also a little disturbed that the same types of pitchers dominate them over and over with no adjustment. whether that's the players or the coach, who knows.

 

but how can fans of this team say 'not much you can do with a veteran hitter' when Sammy Sosa became a superstar in his tenth year in the league after learning a timing mechanism from Pentland, and Derrek Lee had an MVP season after Clines taught him to open his hips and start pulling the ball in his ninth season in the league?

 

I don't expect Perry or any hitting coach to pull this off every year, but saying a hitting coach will have no effect on veterans is wrong.

 

It's not about having no effect, it's about having a big effect in one year. DLee was a Cubs for a full year before his 2005 turnaround. He also had that season in his age 29 season, much like Sosa. So he was still in his peak range.

 

Perry had one spring and one season to work with these guys. Many of them are in their 30's with well established track records and entranched methods. That's hard to crack. Hopefully he does some good with the Cubs younger players, and maybe he can even get a little more out of Ramirez, who is already a great consistent hitter. But guys like Jones, Soriano and DeRosa, on the wrong side of 30, probably aren't going to see much improvement no matter how coaches them.

[Sammy Sofa]

If facing left handed pitchers continue to be such a glaring weakness, I'm going to be a LOT more concerned. It's ridiculous that the Cubs are so easily stiffled by southpaws, especially younger ones.

[nilodnayr]

cubs this year: .271/.333/.422

 

cubs 2006: 268/.319/.422

 

nearly identical to last year but with an improvement in patience. i don't think perry has hurt the cubs, but he hasn't made them an incredible offensive force, which no hitting coach could do.

 

Everybody says "You can't turn impatient hitters into patient ones" but Soriano did take more walks than ever in 2006.

 

Soriano didn't take them, he was given them. He had 16 intentional walks (as opposed to 4 this year) and God only knows how many unintentional-intentional walks because he was on team with a very weak offense.

 

So, you are saying that Soriano turned from an impatient hitter his whole career, to a patient hitter in 2006 and then back to an impatient hitter in 2007?

[RynoRules]

Perry isn't the problem. We needs more guys who can hit.

 

Blaming the coaching staff made sense under the last administration. Now its time to hold the players and the guy who brought them here responsible.

[jjgman21]

who knows about Perry at this point. I am a little disturbed that they lead the word in bad g/f ration until the outburst in September. I'm also a little disturbed that the same types of pitchers dominate them over and over with no adjustment. whether that's the players or the coach, who knows.

 

but how can fans of this team say 'not much you can do with a veteran hitter' when Sammy Sosa became a superstar in his tenth year in the league after learning a timing mechanism from Pentland, and Derrek Lee had an MVP season after Clines taught him to open his hips and start pulling the ball in his ninth season in the league?

 

I don't expect Perry or any hitting coach to pull this off every year, but saying a hitting coach will have no effect on veterans is wrong.

 

It's not about having no effect, it's about having a big effect in one year. DLee was a Cubs for a full year before his 2005 turnaround. He also had that season in his age 29 season, much like Sosa. So he was still in his peak range.

 

Perry had one spring and one season to work with these guys. Many of them are in their 30's with well established track records and entranched methods. That's hard to crack. Hopefully he does some good with the Cubs younger players, and maybe he can even get a little more out of Ramirez, who is already a great consistent hitter. But guys like Jones, Soriano and DeRosa, on the wrong side of 30, probably aren't going to see much improvement no matter how coaches them.

 

great. another off season of misuse of the already over-generalized "peak seasons." hurrah.

 

in any event, I was not bashing Perry, so I don't know why you even went there. of course it's tough to crack, but it's been done many times with many players on many teams with many different hitting coaches. several posters said or implied that hitting coaches have little to no effect on veteran hitters, and despite your splitting of hairs, that's wrong.