Lou: We will try to steal third base

[seanimal]

Also, I'm thinking that given that Felix Pie is/was:

 

-for all his shortcomings obviously better at baseball than Sam Fuld

-victim to a 'win now, develop never' attitude surrounding last season,

-because of such developed confidence issues due to the fact that there was nothing he could do short of morph into Barry Bonds to get more pt last season

-Lou Piniella is actually not a moron

-FOR ALL HIS SHORTCOMINGS IS OBVIOUSLY BETTER AT BASEBALL THAN SAM FULD

 

that the whole Sam Fuld "competing for a starting position on a major league baseball team" thing is just Sweet Lou's way of fixing some of the damage to the young, emotional (you know, cause he's a fiery minority from a tropical climate) player. Plus Sam Fuld gets to tell his grandchildren that at one point, he was almost an elite baseball player. EVERYBODY WINS

 

 

 

 

I have no explanation for the Theriot thing though, but that's because the general concept is too maddening to even process right now.

 

edit: I hope Transsexual Tiger (see what I did there) is channeling his inner Nostradamus as to how the line-up situation will pan out over ST.

[Soul]

"I'm big on driving in runs and scoring runs," Baker said. "Guys in the middle should score about close to equal to what they drive in. On-base percentage, that's fine and dandy. But a lot of times guys get so much into on-base percentage that they cease to swing. It's becoming a little bit out of control.

 

"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."

 

Lou does some stupid things, but I thought we needed a little perspective.

 

Hehe.

 

Also -- Lou likes to say things like this off the cuff, I can never tell if it's just bluffing or if he's really serious, or if he's just saying stuff to say stuff. And that's probably the point; it's not necessarily a serious comment.

[BigbadB]

I think we should steal early and steal often when Jason Kendall is behind the plate. He owes us a lot of extra bases from last season.

[Soul]

If Kendall throws out a runner against us I'm liable to jump through the TV screen and choke said runner to death.

[CuseCubFan69]

I'd love to see Ward steal on Kendall. I can just see the SS and 2nd baseman having a beer and shooting the bull until either the ball or Ward actually get there.

[mul21]

I'd love see see Ward steal on Kendall. I can just see the SS and 2nd baseman having a beer and shooting the bull until either the ball or Ward actually get there.

 

And I've found my new sig, if it's OK with you.

[brinoch]

I'd love see see Ward steal on Kendall. I can just see the SS and 2nd baseman having a beer and shooting the bull until either the ball or Ward actually get there.

 

So long as Ward does a tumble when he slides, I'm all in favor of said action.

 

In all seriousness, I would try and steal on Kendall with the right personnel, i.e. anyone not named Soto and Ramirez (and Ward, too). I would pretty much never try and steal on Molina. I say try because, well, you're likely to get thrown out.

[CuseCubFan69]

I'd love see see Ward steal on Kendall. I can just see the SS and 2nd baseman having a beer and shooting the bull until either the ball or Ward actually get there.

 

And I've found my new sig, if it's OK with you.

 

I don't mind as long as you get rid of my see see!

 

Situations determine what you do and if the opportunity is there to take third, do it. Is it always the best thing to do, no. But....depending on the situation it may be advantageous to do so. As you guys said, if Kendall is catching and it's a 1-1 game with a pitcher who is on, that steal of third might win the game if there is less than 2 out.

[Guest]

Why stop at third? Let trying stealing home 20 or so times this year. Maybe we could also petition the league to add a new rule so we can steal first base somehow.

 

Pirates' McClendon Steals 1st Base

[TheGrinch]

Why stop at third? Let trying stealing home 20 or so times this year. Maybe we could also petition the league to add a new rule so we can steal first base somehow.

 

Pirates' McClendon Steals 1st Base

That is maybe my favorite ejection tantrum of all time.

[javy knows my name]

Damn, I wish I were as smart as the two of you think you are...

 

Remember, when this is over, that you invited this response.

 

--------

 

-In 2007, the league average for SB attempts in the NL was 130.

-In 2007, the Chicago Cubs attempted to steal a base 119 times.

 

Not a huge difference, but clearly below league average.

 

Now, one could assume that the amount of sb a team attempts is largely a function of how fast their players run. But don't fall in this trap, lest you want to get laughed at by Dusty Baker-managed baseball teams. You see, a team can attempt to steal a lot of bases because they have some players who are specifically good at it. Hello New York Metropolitans. Other teams can attempt to steal lots of bases because they think, in general, that it is a good thing to try to do a lot. Some teams do this even though they are obviously bad at it. There's Dusty again.

 

Now, you may also notice that the success rate of stealing bases by the Chicago Cubs (72%), like their amount of attempts, is below league average (74%). Me, the method actor that I am, decided that in order to fulfill my facade of false-intelligence, put on my thinking cap. I thought to myself, "what could these two sets of numbers possibly have to do with each other?"

 

Accidentally, I came up with the conclusion that one informs the other. I was like, "maybe, that rascal Lou realizes that his team isn't very good at one thing, so he's instructing his team to do that thing less". I know, a stretch considering his lack of success as a baseball manager.

 

Then, in what was almost a blinding explosion of rational, sensible thought on my part, I thought of something else:

 

Lou Piniella was born in 1943. I see that you have trouble processing information so I'll put it bluntly: he's old. When I think about old people, my first thought is most definitely not "jesus, I wish those old geezers would just make up their mind and stick to it instead of waffling all the GD time."

 

So, if Lou Piniella has shown himself willing to "manage" the amount of times his team does something based on its relative success rate, and sans any traumatic head injuries over the off-season, I'm thinking maybe he's going to stick to that. Yes, regardless of what he says to some dumb stiff.

 

--------

 

Now, back to the guy from Wisconsin's Cleveland.

 

You're very clearly trolling my posts, not out of something I say specifically (which I actually wouldn't mind, it's flattering), but just because you don't like "me". "blah blah blah you're an arrogant jerk stop pointing out how dumb some of the things people say on here are blah blah blah." Great, I've heard it. But unless you'd actually like to consider contributing something of value, I suggest you keep your mouth shut (keyboard... less typed...) to avoid one of these dust-ups again.

 

First of all, you give yourself too much credit. This was not a personal attack on you, but about this leap of faith you took in what seemed to be an arrogant manner:

He's said equally dumb things in the past and never went through with them. He's attempting to play mind games, to get the opposing managers and pitchers to worry about whether or not whoever is on second is going to steal.

My suspicions were proved correct by your last post. As for Piniella being old as a rationale for these shrewd mind-games, I don't buy it. I think he's losing it a bit and I could see him regressing a bit to old-timey bs that he may have done in the past, which would include running himself into outs.

As for the personal stuff (which you have triggered), are you trying to fill the void left by nice Meph? If so, you are doing a hell of a job!

Oh and please, please spare me any more of your "dust-ups" because I don't think my weak brain can abide another one.

[Guest]

Why stop at third? Let trying stealing home 20 or so times this year. Maybe we could also petition the league to add a new rule so we can steal first base somehow.

 

Pirates' McClendon Steals 1st Base

That is maybe my favorite ejection tantrum of all time.

 

Same here. I remember waking up in the morning, opening up the sports section and reading that headline and wondering WTF are they talking about.