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Sammy Sofa

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Everything posted by Sammy Sofa

  1. Sammy Sofa
    Actually, the Prior stuff just played to these type of base prejudices, since the underlying current to pretty much all of the criticism/jokes was that he was weak and unmanly, so just substitute one prejudice for another. Toss on the anti-illectualism because of his degree and the perception of him being "arrogant" because of it and you've got a nice, roiling meatball stew going. The Wells stuff I honestly don't remember at all. And you're right about the expectations with someone like Soriano, but again, I'd argue a lot of that is fueled by inherent frustration and resentment over "one of them" getting that kind of money. He's obviously a flawed player, but the unwritten goal with him has seemingly been to pounce on anything and everything he does "wrong" since he got here. I mean, really, should be surprised that what fans often want, and what sports journalists often cater do, are just our dumber, more base instincts? And there's little more base than playing on our fears/resentment of "the other."
  2. Sammy Sofa
    And hey, you know what trying to avoid taxing Strasburg is? AN ATTEMPT TO BE ABLE TO WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS.
  3. Sammy Sofa
    That's not how starting pitching works.
  4. Sammy Sofa
    That was Reed Johnson. Exactly. To really oversimplify something I think is pretty complex, I think there is this undercurrent of anger and frustration and resentment towards Latino or black players who seem to be effortlessly talented, to the point that the almost automatic reaction is to prop up or root extra hard for white players who have to work that much harder just to stick around. Those talented non-white players often can't win for trying; if they're outgoing and gregarious or even just have strong opinions they're seen as being arrogant and cocky. If they're quiet and keep to themselves then they're selfish and bad leaders and clubhouse cancers.
  5. Sammy Sofa
    Like how they savaged Rod Beck? It sounds like you're perceiving this as some kind of racially-motivated quest to attack minority players; it's not. The basis is that racism and racial prejudices are so deeply ingrained with so many in this country that they jump to certain criticisms based out of those prejudices without even thinking twice about it. It's not an active idea like "oh man, I hate that dirty brown Starlin Castro, I'm gonna go get him!" It's something buried deep inside so that when they see him forget how many outs there then the "natural" response is to think, "oh, he's lazy, he can't focus!" and make a big deal out of it and then not give it a second thought when someone like Rizzo does it.
  6. Sammy Sofa
    Hill and (especially) Borowski had their fans because of stupid [expletive] like sawing off fingers and inexplicably being perceived as an excellent defensive catcher (again, this comes into play when it was just automatically assumed time and time again that Hill was better defensively and called a better game than Soto) or being really, really sweaty. The crux of this is stereotypes when it comes to criticisms. Hispanic and black players are typically "lazy, can't focus, don't have their head in the game, don't try, aren't leaders, whiners, crybabies," etc..
  7. Sammy Sofa
    Ryan Theriot is kind of the gold standard of the double standard. That guy managed to screw up pretty much every possible way you can on the field, acted like a raging douche, didn't have half the talent of Starlin Castro, yet you STILL have Cubs fans who bemoan that he's gone and would rather have him over Castro.
  8. Sammy Sofa
    We're not saying they're automatically racist against all non-white players; the idea is that many are too quick to jump to cliche, racial tropes as soon as they decide they don't like a non-white player, often for things said or mistakes that white players can seemingly get away with.
  9. Sammy Sofa
    [expletive], even that is revisionist history; you had guys slamming him as "selfish" before 2002.
  10. Sammy Sofa
    When did Sammy Sosa ever get demonized? He pretty much just faded into obscurity once he stopped being good. Sammy Sosa was loved by most of the fanbase until he started declining,a and then he did a few things that made it seem like he didn't care about the team. If Sammy Sosa became a hitting coach right now, he'd probably be treated the same as McGwire. Yeah, no. Until that recent TV spot with a bunch of Cubs HR he was basically persona non grata for nearly a decade with the organization. Hell, talk to the average group of fans and you'll find a bunch of them can't stand Sosa and will claim they never did. Plus, like I said, the guy got a ton of criticism at home even when he was at his best. Giants fans showed more group love for Bonds at the height of his steroid scandal than Cubs fans did of Sosa.
  11. Sammy Sofa
    Relative to him being Jeromy Burnitz, yes, ridiculously so. Especially when contrasted with Sosa. I mean, really, people talked about him running out pop-ups and ground-outs like he was healing sick kids with his grit and belly-fire.
  12. Sammy Sofa
    That's really, really glossing over things. Yes, Sammy was beloved, but I struggle to think of another major sports star who was simultaneously that insanely popular and also despised/criticized by his local fanbase and media for every little slip up he had (or perceived slip up, like how he only hits home runs when it doesn't matter or there's nobody on base or he only cares about himself and his stats and blah-blah-blah).
  13. Sammy Sofa
    Relative to him being Jeromy Burnitz, yes, ridiculously so. Especially when contrasted with Sosa.
  14. Sammy Sofa
    Hundley got hated on because he sucked, he was expensive and he complained and acted like an [expletive]. He basically went out of his way to make himself as hateable as possible, like a junior-league Milton Bradley. He's definitely an extreme exception in how despised he was.
  15. Sammy Sofa
    Wait, why talk about him getting the last 5 outs? Part of what was so stupid about what happened was that he was, yet again, still pitching in a game he didn't need to still be pitching in.
  16. Sammy Sofa
    Tim mentioned there are a "lot" of studies out there that apparently would argue in favor of being cautious with Strasburg; maybe he can point some of them out.
  17. Sammy Sofa
    By next April he'll have wasted away to nothing!
  18. Sammy Sofa
    Do elite Boras clients ever sign huge extensions before they hit FA?
  19. Sammy Sofa
    Well, I don't think it's a stretch to think the Nationals will be regularly competitive for a while, and unless they simply can't or won't match the highest offer I'd have to think they have the inside track in locking him up long term.
  20. Sammy Sofa
    We can do it now.
  21. Sammy Sofa
    Rizzo's played longer and should know better. Y'know, if we're going by meatball standards.
  22. Sammy Sofa
    Especially since they have a new TV deal coming their way which could potentially add on another $40-$60 million on its own.
  23. Sammy Sofa
    Why exactly won't the Nats be able to re-sign him?
  24. Sammy Sofa
    Castro was getting slammed the first time he made a "major" error.
  25. Sammy Sofa
    I know BR has a football version. I haven't really explored it much. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/
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