Baseball Pet Peeve Thread

[erik316wttn]

I can't believe how many people hate Kenny Mayne. This is ridiculous.

 

The guy is so incredibly smarmy... you can just tell he thinks he's the funniest man alive.

[ConstableRabbit]

I can't believe how many people hate Kenny Mayne. This is ridiculous.

 

I can't believe how many people here still like Jon Stewart... He started off funny, but he's just become spiteful and hate-filled.

[Tracer Bullet]

I can't believe how many people hate Kenny Mayne. This is ridiculous.

 

I can't believe how many people here still like Jon Stewart... He started off funny, but he's just become spiteful and hate-filled.

 

I think he excels in interviews, especially with people whose views he doesn't share. He's still snarky with them, but the ones who know what they're getting into and are prepared for it make for good tv.

[Andy]

I can't believe how many people hate Kenny Mayne. This is ridiculous.

 

The guy is so incredibly smarmy... you can just tell he thinks he's the funniest man alive.

I don't recall your views on him (you may not have posted them), but I find this sentiment ironic considering Keith Olbermann, who might be the most egotistical prick in the entire universe, is getting a lot of praise in here. I can't watch his Countdown show for more than 50 seconds before finding something to get pissed about.

[Tracer Bullet]

I can't believe how many people hate Kenny Mayne. This is ridiculous.

 

The guy is so incredibly smarmy... you can just tell he thinks he's the funniest man alive.

I don't recall your views on him (you may not have posted them), but I find this sentiment ironic considering Keith Olbermann, who might be the most egotistical prick in the entire universe, is getting a lot of praise in here. I can't watch his Countdown show for more than 50 seconds before finding something to get pissed about.

 

Keith and Dan both seem to be pretty egotistical now. I didn't get that sense 10-15 years ago (whenever they started doing SC).

[jersey cubs fan]

I can't believe how many people hate Kenny Mayne. This is ridiculous.

 

The guy is so incredibly smarmy... you can just tell he thinks he's the funniest man alive.

I don't recall your views on him (you may not have posted them), but I find this sentiment ironic considering Keith Olbermann, who might be the most egotistical prick in the entire universe, is getting a lot of praise in here. I can't watch his Countdown show for more than 50 seconds before finding something to get pissed about.

 

Keith and Dan both seem to be pretty egotistical now. I didn't get that sense 10-15 years ago (whenever they started doing SC).

 

They came across then as far more egotistical than Kenny Mayne ever has.

[Tracer Bullet]

I can't believe how many people hate Kenny Mayne. This is ridiculous.

 

The guy is so incredibly smarmy... you can just tell he thinks he's the funniest man alive.

I don't recall your views on him (you may not have posted them), but I find this sentiment ironic considering Keith Olbermann, who might be the most egotistical prick in the entire universe, is getting a lot of praise in here. I can't watch his Countdown show for more than 50 seconds before finding something to get pissed about.

 

Keith and Dan both seem to be pretty egotistical now. I didn't get that sense 10-15 years ago (whenever they started doing SC).

 

They came across then as far more egotistical than Kenny Mayne ever has.

 

I can't stand either of them now, but they certainly didn't seem that bad then. Of course, I don't really have an issue with Kenny Mayne as an egomaniac.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I'm guessing it's been around 10 years since I've watched SC

[OleMissCub]

I don't recall your views on him (you may not have posted them), but I find this sentiment ironic considering Keith Olbermann, who might be the most egotistical prick in the entire universe, is getting a lot of praise in here. I can't watch his Countdown show for more than 50 seconds before finding something to get pissed about.

 

His smugness is suffocating. Like, it's literally painful to watch.

[sneakypower]

2nd basemen playing 1st base

 

or DH

[Ski]

stupid nicknames for Curveballs

 

yacker, hammer, bender

 

Stupid names for home runs:

 

Dinger, Tater, etc

Steve Berthiaume saying "Fill thine horn with oil, and go"

 

But then again, we could go another 30 pages on ESPN things that tick us off.

I love the Souveniour City Chamber of Commerce, Eric Young president hr calls.

[Tracer Bullet]

2nd basemen playing 1st base

 

or DH

 

Having five 2nd basemen on the field at once.

[MPrior]

My number one baseball pet peeve, and it's not particularly close, is making outs on the basepaths. I HATE it. No one on he Cubs should ever, under any circumstances, attempt to steal third base.

[David]

My number one baseball pet peeve, and it's not particularly close, is making outs on the basepaths. I HATE it. No one on he Cubs should ever, under any circumstances, attempt to steal third base.

 

 

I absolutely hate it, too.

 

I think I'd think about trying it in the bottom of the ninth of a tied game with one out, depending on who the basestealer was and who the hitters coming up were.

 

But that's about the only time I'd ever be ok with it.

[MasterBlaster]

What is the thinking behind stealing 3rd anyway? You score from 2nd on a base hit most likely. The possibility of scoring on a wild pitch is so infrequent it can't possibly be worth risking an out for it. Stealing 3rd seems like pure stat padding. Double steals are pretty fun though.

[SouthSideRyan]

What is the thinking behind stealing 3rd anyway? You score from 2nd on a base hit most likely. The possibility of scoring on a wild pitch is so infrequent it can't possibly be worth risking an out for it. Stealing 3rd seems like pure stat padding. Double steals are pretty fun though.

 

Stealing 3rd with 2 outs is collosally dumb. Stealing it with less than that makes sense if you can make it.

[MPrior]

What is the thinking behind stealing 3rd anyway? You score from 2nd on a base hit most likely. The possibility of scoring on a wild pitch is so infrequent it can't possibly be worth risking an out for it. Stealing 3rd seems like pure stat padding. Double steals are pretty fun though.

 

Stealing 3rd with 2 outs is collosally dumb. Stealing it with less than that makes sense if you can make it.

 

Well sure, if you can make it. Stealing a base ALWAYS makes sense if you can make it.

 

The problem is, there's no way for you to know if you can make it. The risk:reward ratio for steals in general is already so high that you have to have a roughly 75% success rate just to break even in terms of productivity (the number varies depending on the source, but it's usually around 75, isn't it?). Well, that ratio is even higher as far as stealing third. The potential benefit of stealing third is you move a runner in scoring position into... more scoring position. The only real boon is the possibility of sac flies and advancing groundouts, which is minimal. You don't help stay out of a double play, and you don't dramatically increase the likelihood of that player scoring. The benefit of stealing third is therefore much smaller than it is for stealing second. The cost of creating an out is also higher. Not only do you create an out, but you take a runner in scoring position off the basepaths. So it stands to reason that, since the risk:reward ratio is even higher than normal for stolen bases, that it would require an even higher success rate to make it worthwhile, probably at least 85-90% (I've not seen a study done on this, so I'm approximating). But, to make matters even worse, stealing third is harder than stealing second. There are very few baserunners who could reasonably be expected to maintain even a 75% success rate stealing third, let alone 85-90%. It's simply never really worth it to try.

 

I suppose I could be convinced that the scenario David mentioned would be a possibility, but there'd have to be some pretty extreme circumstances (excellent runner and basestealer, awful catcher at throwing out base stealers, terrible hitters coming up to the plate, etc.). Even then I'm not sure I'd buy it.

[SouthSideRyan]

But, to make matters even worse, stealing third is harder than stealing second. There are very few baserunners who could reasonably be expected to maintain even a 75% success rate stealing third, let alone 85-90%. It's simply never really worth it to try.

 

I know that Lou took some mocking for his comment about it in spring training, but I think he's right. You get a much bigger lead at 2nd, and can establish a walkign lead that you can't really do at first base. In my opinion this cancels out the difference in the distance of the throws. Additionally when you've got a right handed batter up the catcher's throw isn't as natural as even if the batter hits the deck to avoid interference, it's still an obstacle in his way.

[Mugged By Fluffy]

Sometimes stealing third is just a matter of taking advantage of an ideal opportunity when it presents itself. Big lead at second and the pitcher isn't paying attention to the runner,maybe a fake bunt on pitch 1 has the third baseman running in on pitch 2 and opening up the bag for the runner. Maybe you have a catcher with an injury behind the plate that slows down his footwork or his throw.

[MasterBlaster]

What about pickoff moves to 2B? I think this is related to stealing 3B. Personally I don't like them, even though Zambrano has been somewhat successful with them. There certainly appears to be a higher margin for error on the maneuver, which requires much more timing and precision with the SS or 2B in motion. I think it's a high risk, high reward deal though, moreso than stealing 3rd. Making an out on defense is a higher reward than offensively stealing 3rd base. Maybe, or tell me how I'm wrong. I like to learn. Sometimes.

[SouthSideRyan]

It's a lot easier to pick off a dumb player from 2nd than 1st.