Why is Dusty in Cincinnati?

[Banedon]

Dan Bernstein read a collection of new Dusty-isms this spring. He actually has used the "clogging the bases" line again this spring.

 

EDIT: I posted the quote below.

[Banedon]

"Baker said it's possible the Reds could carry three catchers. "It depends on how things go," Baker said. "Late in the game, you'd love to have a guy like Bako behind the plate for a double switch or to pinch-hit.

 

Oh yeah, that Bako, he's a heckuva pinch hitter.

 

"All I've seen is stats. There's more to being in the big leagues than just stats. Everyone is so stat-conscious. You get away from: Can he do the little things ... to play winning baseball?"

 

"What you do is run the pitcher's count up, that helps," Baker said. "You put him in the stretch, that helps. But your job in the middle is to either score them or drive them in. The name of the game is scoring runs. Sometimes, you get so caught up in on-base percentage that you're clogging up the bases."

 

Baker said he sometimes sits in his office staring into space, pondering and pontificating over things of this nature, "And sometime I just sit here and nothing comes."

[Roast]

"Baker said it's possible the Reds could carry three catchers. "It depends on how things go," Baker said. "Late in the game, you'd love to have a guy like Bako behind the plate for a double switch or to pinch-hit.

 

Oh yeah, that Bako, he's a heckuva pinch hitter.

 

"All I've seen is stats. There's more to being in the big leagues than just stats. Everyone is so stat-conscious. You get away from: Can he do the little things ... to play winning baseball?"

 

"What you do is run the pitcher's count up, that helps," Baker said. "You put him in the stretch, that helps. But your job in the middle is to either score them or drive them in. The name of the game is scoring runs. Sometimes, you get so caught up in on-base percentage that you're clogging up the bases."

 

Baker said he sometimes sits in his office staring into space, pondering and pontificating over things of this nature, "And sometime I just sit here and nothing comes."

 

 

What would be the difference between "score them" and "drive them in?"

 

Also, that last quote is awesome.

[mul21]

What would be the difference between "score them" and "drive them in?"

 

Also, that last quote is awesome.

 

I think he meant your job is to score runs (like you crossing the plate yourself) and drive them in, but it did sound odd the way he said it.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Baker said he sometimes sits in his office staring into space, pondering and pontificating over things of this nature, "And sometime I just sit here and nothing comes."

BRILLIANT!

[BigbadB]

Baker said he sometimes sits in his office staring into space, pondering and pontificating over things of this nature, "And sometime I just sit here and nothing comes."

BRILLIANT!

 

Yeah, but what does he do between games? :D

[TruffleShuffle]

the better question is, why does dusty have a job in professional baseball?

[Derwood]

the better question is, why does dusty have a job in professional baseball?

 

he was on deck when Hank broke the record

[CubinNY]

the better question is, why does dusty have a job in professional baseball?

He's a BS maestro.

 

In this postmodern world the less sense one makes, the more one makes sense. Or so it seems.

[Derwood]

the better question is, why does dusty have a job in professional baseball?

He's a BS maestro.

 

In this postmodern world the less sense one makes, the more one makes sense. Or so it seems.

 

and being a former ballplayer guarantees you a job much like being a former NBA player guarantees you a spot on any ESPN NBA studio show

[frostwyrm]

Dusty on Joey Votto: "He needs to swing some more," Baker said. "I talked to him about that. Strikeouts aren't the only criteria. I'd like to see him more aggressive."

 

I pity that kid.

[Roast]

Dusty on Joey Votto: "He needs to swing some more," Baker said. "I talked to him about that. Strikeouts aren't the only criteria. I'd like to see him more aggressive."

 

I pity that kid.

 

Imagine some of the incredible young stars we could have in this league if not for Bakers influence.

[Clem Fandango]

Well, whatever beneficial offensive skills Corey Patterson learned in Baltimore are probably going bye-bye now

[tfarks]

Dusty on Joey Votto: "He needs to swing some more," Baker said. "I talked to him about that. Strikeouts aren't the only criteria. I'd like to see him more aggressive."

 

I pity that kid.

 

Imagine some of the incredible young stars we could have in this league if not for Bakers influence.

 

We're all participating in the bystander effect right now, we see this bad thing happening yet we just don't help. Dusty is going to set that organization back another 3 years.

[TakeMeOutToTheBallGame]

Apparently Lou thinks you can do such a thing as clog up the bases as well...

 

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080308&content_id=2413328&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=chc

 

Arizona pitcher Micah Owings batted seventh on Saturday, instead of ninth, which is where most pitchers are inserted in the lineup.

 

"He's a legit hitter," Piniella said.

 

What about Chicago's Zambrano? Big Z hit six homers one year. Would Piniella ever consider moving the right-hander up in the batting order?

 

"Zambrano swings the bat well, obviously, and so does [Jason] Marquis, although he didn't hit all that well last year," Piniella said. "I don't think Lilly or [Rich] Hill or whomever [fills the fifth spot in the rotation] would force us to do anything like that. I don't think so -- just hit the pitcher ninth and forget about it."

 

However, Piniella did briefly consider tweaking the order on Wednesday, when the Cubs played Arizona and Zambrano was starting.

 

"I was going to do that the other day when we went to Tucson, just joking around with [catcher] Henry Blanco a little bit, but I didn't," Piniella said. "I was going to put Zambrano eighth and Blanco ninth.

 

"If we ever did anything like that -- which I don't anticipate doing -- it'd have to be a speed guy in the ninth spot so it gives us the look of an American League ninth hitter," Piniella said. "A [Felix] Pie, a [Ryan] Theriot, somebody like that, but not to hit a catcher ninth, no, and clog up the bases."

 

St. Louis manager Tony La Russa has most of his pitchers hitting eighth.

 

"I like the pitcher hitting ninth -- the heck with it," Piniella said.

 

Zambrano, who already has one home run this spring, will probably be knocking on Piniella's door to try and convince the manager to change his mind.

 

"Zambrano wants to make sure he doesn't play in these American League parks and we use the DH," Piniella said. "He looks to see where he's scheduled so he can get his at-bats."

 

Owings never got a chance to bat Saturday. He was pulled after giving up four runs in 1 2/3 innings.

 

](*,)

[CubColtPacer]

That usage of clogging up the bases doesn't strike me as wrong. You do want to set your lineup if you can so that really slow people are not followed directly by really fast people, because then a big element of the fast person's game (legging out extra base hits) is lessened.

 

The difference is that Lou is talking about how to set his lineup. Dusty talks about clogging up the bases in reference to how hitters should approach an at-bat (by refusing to walk). That's two very different concepts, and Dusty's is clearly detrimental, while Lou's is not likely to have much of an effect either way.

[rocket]

ehh, it'd be worse if he referred to clogging the bases when a player draws a walk.

[Wheelimus]

Yeah, I think he's just saying he wouldn't hit Soto 9th and make Soriano follow. Which is actually sound reasoning.

[Banedon]

Yeah...clogging the bases doesn't sound as bad in that instance...it's just unfortunate he used that wording because of the Baker association. Baker uses it to dismiss OBP, which is a far cry from what Lou did.

[Roast]

Yeah, that's actually sound reasoning. I'm behind that.

[Monco]

A base clogger would be the guy who drew the 2 out walk with runners on to bring Jacque Jones or Corey Patterson to the plate to face a lefty.

[Jon]

He may not have been referring to walks directly like Dusty does, but I still don't like the reasoning:

 

-Getting on base is NEVER a bad thing

-Having a pitcher make outs in front of a leadoff hitter is not better than having a slow baserunner get on base in front of a leadoff hitter. The middle of the order needs all the guys on base they can get.

-We don't have a speedy leadoff hitter who provides a significant enough contribution by attempting to steal bases

-We don't have a speedy leadoff hitter who gets on base good rate

-If you want the look of an "American League lineup," how about not trying to steal bases and hit more HRs?

-And most of all, there's no such thing as clogging up the bases

[Tyrant]

Dusty on Joey Votto: "He needs to swing some more," Baker said. "I talked to him about that. Strikeouts aren't the only criteria. I'd like to see him more aggressive."

 

I pity that kid.

 

Imagine some of the incredible young stars we could have in this league if not for Bakers influence.

 

What "incredible young stars" would there be?

[imb]

Dusty on Joey Votto: "He needs to swing some more," Baker said. "I talked to him about that. Strikeouts aren't the only criteria. I'd like to see him more aggressive."

 

I pity that kid.

 

Imagine some of the incredible young stars we could have in this league if not for Bakers influence.

 

What "incredible young stars" would there be?

 

hee seop choi duh

[UK1679666180]

Baker is correct as far as Votto and Dunn becoming more aggressive.

 

Of course, Votto did that last year, he was more aggressive and did strikeout less.

 

Same thing with Dunn, he had 345 PAs with two strikes. He's a much better earlier in the count.

 

I'm willing to give Baker the benefit of the doubt and assume when he's talking about aggressiveness, he's talking about being more aggressive with pitchers in the strike zone.