The Quotable Joe Maddon (pure goodness thread)

[RynoRules]

From last night after his ejection for (righteously) arguing balls and strikes:

 

"It was egregiously bad," Maddon said. "You cannot permit that to happen. We're trying to ascend and we're not going to take that from anybody, anywhere at any time."

 

"I'm not going to put up with anything," Maddon said. "I'm not. And I'm not going to allow our guys to get shortchanged based on the fact they have haven't been here a long time."

 

"We play a veteran club with a veteran battery against guys with barely two months in the big leagues; I'm not going to take it. Our guys deserve equal treatment, and I'm not going to take it."

[Careless]

What happened? I missed the middle of the game.

[NonProfitCow]

What happened? I missed the middle of the game.

the strike zone was pitiful

[Guest]

What happened? I missed the middle of the game.

the strike zone was pitiful

 

The 5th inning ABs that set Maddon off:

 

Bryant

http://i.imgur.com/B1INbx0.png

 

Soler

http://i.imgur.com/9GiILFL.png

[NonProfitCow]

I don't think it had anything to do with picking on the kids, that ump was just terrible at his job.

[Bull]

Do those dots represent the center of the ball? If so, the two on Bryant are close enough.

[RynoRules]

Regardless, it was a freaking great moment with a useful purpose in terms of supporting his guys and perhaps motivating the ump to get his head out of his ass.

[Guest]

Do those dots represent the center of the ball? If so, the two on Bryant are close enough.

 

If that's "close enough" then we shouldn't even bother having balls and strikes.

[Bull]

Do those dots represent the center of the ball? If so, the two on Bryant are close enough.

 

If that's "close enough" then we shouldn't even bother having balls and strikes.

If that is the center of a 3" diameter sphere, then the edge of than sphere is almost touching that 17" box.

Edited May 7, 2015 by Bull

[scarey]

Do those dots represent the center of the ball? If so, the two on Bryant are close enough.

 

You realize the scale for those plots are in feet, right?

[scarey]

I don't think it had anything to do with picking on the kids, that ump was just terrible at his job.

 

My guess is Maddon has been keeping tabs on called strike out of the zone for the rooks vs. league average and last night was his chance to grandstand about it. If so, that makes this even better.

[Guest]

Jesse Rogers ‏@ESPNChiCubs 4m4 minutes ago

League says they are "reviewing the situation regarding Joe Maddon's comments last night" re home plate umpire DJ Reyburn.

[Bull]

Do those dots represent the center of the ball? If so, the two on Bryant are close enough.

 

You realize the scale for those plots are in feet, right?

Yes and a 3" diameter ball puts those pitches an inch or two low or outside. Bad call, but not egregiously so. The one to Soler, however, wow.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I want to see some data to back this up, but this season has shown me some of the worst from behind the plate that I have ever seen.

[jersey cubs fan]

I mean, I agree with him and think this points to some of the flaws in the framing assumptions (in short, the umps sucks are biased and give the benefit of the doubt to established players / traditionally good teams), but nothing good can come of this. He's running the risk of getting suspended and this probably only pits the umps against him and the Cubs.

[sneakypower]

yeah, watch Maddon get suspended meanwhile Matt Holliday saunters to first with every 3-ball take and the umpires capitulate and shrink their strike zone to better accommodate his team

[RynoRules]

I mean, I agree with him and think this points to some of the flaws in the framing assumptions (in short, the umps sucks are biased and give the benefit of the doubt to established players / traditionally good teams), but nothing good can come of this. He's running the risk of getting suspended and this probably only pits the umps against him and the Cubs.

 

Based on the above, I don't agree. The league is paying attention and Joe is a very well-estbalished and respected manager who is not otherwise known for going ape [expletive]. When you don't have a Piniella-like rep for being a whiner or throwing tantrums you tend to get a better response when you stop to "raise your hand" (voice).

Edited May 7, 2015 by RynoRules

[Sammys Boombox]

I have been pretty happy with K zone in general the last few years. Felt it was really consistent. This year (at least in Cubs games) it has been ridiculous. And I think Cubs got more help than harm on Monday.

[Andy]

yeah, watch Maddon get suspended meanwhile Matt Holliday saunters to first with every 3-ball take and the umpires capitulate and shrink their strike zone to better accommodate his team

The Dusty/Lou era seemed like it was full of ridiculous suspensions of Cubs players and managers, so it would follow that now that we're competitive they'd go back to it.

[Guest]

yeah, watch Maddon get suspended meanwhile Matt Holliday saunters to first with every 3-ball take and the umpires capitulate and shrink their strike zone to better accommodate his team

The Dusty/Lou era seemed like it was full of ridiculous suspensions of Cubs players and managers, so it would follow that now that we're competitive they'd go back to it.

 

I don't remember this being a thing at all. Did that happen?

[Guest]

I don't think it had anything to do with picking on the kids, that ump was just terrible at his job.

 

I don't think the Cards really had a huge advantage with the zone(I spot checked the bad calls for Lester v. Lynn and Lynn got maybe 1 or 2 more, nothing egregious), but even though he used the words he used I don't think that was the point. He doesn't want Bryant, Soler, and the rest of the rookie hitters changing their approach in response to bad umpiring, but he can't run out to home plate and yell that at the umpire. Sure there's probably some competitive fire/irrationality that means he's not just making up the feelings on the spot, but my feeling is the ejection was for the young hitters to see more than to claim the team was being put in a hole by the umpire.

[Andy]

yeah, watch Maddon get suspended meanwhile Matt Holliday saunters to first with every 3-ball take and the umpires capitulate and shrink their strike zone to better accommodate his team

The Dusty/Lou era seemed like it was full of ridiculous suspensions of Cubs players and managers, so it would follow that now that we're competitive they'd go back to it.

 

I don't remember this being a thing at all. Did that happen?

Probably more personal annoyance than anything, but it seemed like Dusty and Lou would always get popped for more games than you'd expect after getting into arguments with umps. Z and Wood got dumb suspensions too a couple of times I think. I'm mostly thinking of 2004 when we seemed to get into fights or ump arguments a lot (which is probably why those suspensions happened).

[Guest]

Do those dots represent the center of the ball? If so, the two on Bryant are close enough.

 

You realize the scale for those plots are in feet, right?

Yes and a 3" diameter ball puts those pitches an inch or two low or outside. Bad call, but not egregiously so. The one to Soler, however, wow.

 

I'm pretty sure the black box already considers the width of the ball. I didn't get out a ruler, but the box goes .8 feet in either direction(maybe a bit more), which is already 2+ inches wider than the actual plate.

[Bull]

Do those dots represent the center of the ball? If so, the two on Bryant are close enough.

 

You realize the scale for those plots are in feet, right?

Yes and a 3" diameter ball puts those pitches an inch or two low or outside. Bad call, but not egregiously so. The one to Soler, however, wow.

 

I'm pretty sure the black box already considers the width of the ball. I didn't get out a ruler, but the box goes .8 feet in either direction(maybe a bit more), which is already 2+ inches wider than the actual plate.

Gotcha. Retracted.

[Gilby]

I like that Joe is sticking up for his team, but I think this was more about having a young, inexperienced umpire back there than anything else. Lynn had some close pitches called balls early in the game where he reacted and the ump motioned to their dugout a few times saying where those pitches were. I think the Cardinals frustration led to some (horrible) makeup calls on Bryant and Soler.