Magnetic Curses

23% of walker's AB's were against lefties, which is slightly higher than soriano's. i don't see much of a difference. stats may lie, but they aren't the liars that eyes are. The Cubs, as a team last year, faced lefties 28.4% of the time (Walker faced only 22.9% lefties). The Rangers last year faced lefties only 23.8% of the time (Soriano faced about the same—22% lefties). (Walker has batted against even fewer lefties (21.4%) over the past three years. Soriano has batted against lefties 29.2% of the time during that three-year span.) There appear to be some statistical trends over time. Walker gets taken out of the line up against lefties because, over the last three years (and at least four), he doesn't hit them as well as he does lefties (and I'd bet that he usually doesn't hit against the toughest lefties). If the current trends continue Walker will bat against fewer lefties than Soriano (and, IMO, the lefties he bats against will be the “weaker” lefties). If the current trends continue Walker will continue to hit against righties and fewer lefties thus increasing his BA, OBP, SLG, OPS, etc. vs. what he would have done had he faced his team’s % of lefties. If the current trends continue Soriano will play against just about anyone (because he isn't replaced by managers for PH, PR or defensive subs) and frequently lead his league in innings at 2B thus giving you more value. you made him sound like a platoon player, though, which he is not. he has played a majority of the tiem against lefties. that's all i'm saying.

can we have a poll on this topic? we don't even have to include player b's road splits. I didn't say by most on this board. I know what most on this board think without a poll to show me. There's a world outside this board. yes, a frightening world full of casual fans that thought neifi was our savior last year. i'll take the opinions of pretty much anyone that i respect on this board over conventional wisdom. the people that i talk to about baseball outside of this board have no idea what they are talking about, it's often painful to listen to them and have to hold my tongue or not roll my eyes. "So, Juan Pierre's the best leadoff man in the game, eh? Ya don't say?" Arrogance alert, arrogance alert. Go get a job in baseball and educate people about how smart you are and about how dumb everyone is who doesn't agree with you. Or instead you can stay in front of your computer monitor and pontificate for the rest of your life. arrogance-schmarrogance, i just find it hard to listen to people who have no idea what they're talking about. I think that if you are absolutely certain you are not one of those people it's not schmarrogance. if by "one of those people" you mean an edward k-type, then i'm certain.

can we have a poll on this topic? we don't even have to include player b's road splits. I didn't say by most on this board. I know what most on this board think without a poll to show me. There's a world outside this board. yes, a frightening world full of casual fans that thought neifi was our savior last year. i'll take the opinions of pretty much anyone that i respect on this board over conventional wisdom. the people that i talk to about baseball outside of this board have no idea what they are talking about, it's often painful to listen to them and have to hold my tongue or not roll my eyes. "So, Juan Pierre's the best leadoff man in the game, eh? Ya don't say?" Arrogance alert, arrogance alert. Go get a job in baseball and educate people about how smart you are and about how dumb everyone is who doesn't agree with you. Or instead you can stay in front of your computer monitor and pontificate for the rest of your life. arrogance-schmarrogance, i just find it hard to listen to people who have no idea what they're talking about. Wow. And how do we identify who those people are? Just b/c he/she does not believe in the same methedology as you? i don't even consider myself as knowing that much, but i sure as hell enjoy reading the posts and articles. off the top of my head, the people who i consider as knowing what they're talking about include but are not limited to: raw, t2e, UK, BK, Tim, tree, cpatterson27, wastra, goony, and JC to start with, i'd recommend anything by any of them

can we have a poll on this topic? we don't even have to include player b's road splits. I didn't say by most on this board. I know what most on this board think without a poll to show me. There's a world outside this board. yes, a frightening world full of casual fans that thought neifi was our savior last year. i'll take the opinions of pretty much anyone that i respect on this board over conventional wisdom. the people that i talk to about baseball outside of this board have no idea what they are talking about, it's often painful to listen to them and have to hold my tongue or not roll my eyes. "So, Juan Pierre's the best leadoff man in the game, eh? Ya don't say?" Arrogance alert, arrogance alert. Go get a job in baseball and educate people about how smart you are and about how dumb everyone is who doesn't agree with you. Or instead you can stay in front of your computer monitor and pontificate for the rest of your life. arrogance-schmarrogance, i just find it hard to listen to people who have no idea what they're talking about.

can we have a poll on this topic? we don't even have to include player b's road splits. I didn't say by most on this board. I know what most on this board think without a poll to show me. There's a world outside this board. yes, a frightening world full of casual fans that thought neifi was our savior last year. i'll take the opinions of pretty much anyone that i respect on this board over conventional wisdom. the people that i talk to about baseball outside of this board have no idea what they are talking about, it's often painful to listen to them and have to hold my tongue or not roll my eyes. "So, Juan Pierre's the best leadoff man in the game, eh? Ya don't say?"

Is it ok to not like Steve Alford for allowing a man convicted of rape to continue to play? This is a legitimate question. And I liked Sammy when he was here, but he hurt nobody but himself with his actions in his latter years. My "sympathy meter" isn't bleeding for him. the alford/pierce incident is totally different. rape and being perceived as lacking moral character are 2 different things. i wasn't asking you to have sympathy for sammy. if he committed a heineous crime, i wouldn't want him on the team. he did nothing more than ruin some casual fan's dream of the altruistic superstar and the perfect clubhouse atmosphere. why should i care about that? what i care about is the production he gave the cubs in the middle of the order. It also depends on whether you believe Sammy hit his wife with that bottle many years ago. And Sammy's production was fantastic. For that I'm grateful, but again, he has nobody to blame but himself for his perceived image. that was a rumor. pierce was convicted twice in a court of law. if i was sammy i would unapologetic about my past. he was paid to play baseball, not win congeniality awards. he seldom turned down autographs, was rarely rude to the press, gave a great show every day, played every day, and treated the RF fans very well. I remember going to several games in which he'd jet out to right field at the beginning of the game with a glove full of balls and then start lofting them into the bleachers. the fans turned on him very quickly, and it's a damn shame. Not to nitpick, but Pierce was never convicted of rape, and he was never convicted of any serious crimes TWICE while he was still on the team. He pled down a 3rd degree sexual abuse charge (deferred judgement) and was immediately dismissed from the team when he was still considered a suspect in his most recent arrest. Alford gave him a 2nd chance after Pierce was forced to sit for an entire season, and he responded with a lot of character by dismissing his best player before an arrest was ever made. I am certainly not defending Pierce or his actions. I am also no fan of Steve Alford. I do, however, get irritated by the unnecessary hits Alford has taken in regards to Pierre. i don't want to get into it over pierce. suffice it to say that the situiations are different.

This may be true if things like speed and actually being on the field didn't matter. Walker's managers DO PH (remember he's lefty only), PR (he's 2/6 in SB in the last 3 years) and sub for him on defense (while Soriano's mgrs leave him in). And Walker gets hurt while Soriano doesn't. What you get then are the subs totals added to Walker's. That and the kind of difference that 30SB in 32 attemps can make means this isn't even close. Metrics like Runs Created include SB, and Walker still tops Soriano as a rate. You can't punish Walker for getting leg-whipped by Carlos Lee, or for the incompetency of managers. Walker's "metrics" as a "rate" recieve a bump by not having to bat against lefties. Also, Walker hasn't played in 150 games more than 2X in his career (8 full seasons). Soriano's career is shorter but he has 4/5 years over 150. Regardless of why that happens it has happened with 5 different managers. 23% of walker's AB's were against lefties, which is slightly higher than soriano's. i don't see much of a difference. stats may lie, but they aren't the liars that eyes are.

oh, sorry, excuse me for wanting to clog up the bases. OBP is valuable everywhere in the order, and i value the ability to get on base over every other ability there is. not making an out = good job

judging from his AA numbers, it would appear that he was locating his fastball quite well. and it has been a plus pitch for him in the past, so what makes you think that it's too straight and he doesn't locate it? the thing that makes zito so great ISN'T his curveball alone, it's the fact that one cannot tell the difference between his curveball and fastball until it's too late. i think this is where we get the comparison to hill. it's not just because he's a lefty with a good curve. hill has been successful in disguising his curveball in AA, which has made him pretty hard to hit. this also makes his curveball a double pitch, so to speak. not only is it a very good curveball, but also acts as a changeup if it's a hanger. so, the fact that you can say that hill only has 2 pitches is misleading. he pitches at 2 speeds effectively, thus far. the lefties who can do this are generally successful at whatever level they're at.

why would you even want to talk B10 hoops with me anyway? i don't matter, I'm an illini fan. :P some of it's hyperbole and some of it's truth.

sammy became a much more offensively productive player when he stopped stealing bases. 97 was the last season he stole more than 20 bases, it was also his last full season in the bigs in which he did not even come close to scoring 100 runs. sosa scored 146 runs in 2001, it was, statistically, the single greatest season that any cub player has EVER had. if you take away several seasons by bonds and ruth, it might be the best season in the history of the game. make no mistake about it, sammy became a great player once he lost the base stealing part of his game. i grew up watching sandberg and grace play, i matured watching sosa play--and i mean this as no disrespect, i love Ryno, and always will, but Ryno gave nowhere near the production that sosa gave. it's really sad to see that people don't care about what he did for the cubs anymore.

translation: the big ten has sucked the last 2 years because illinois has won it. despite putting 2 teams in the final four, the big ten sucked because illinois won it. illinois could win 8 national titles in a row and each of those 8 years would be a "down year for college basketball". what a joke. people are so afraid to give illinois any credit for anything they do. Do any group of fans whine more about "no respect" than Illinois fans? Who cares what people say, prove them wrong on the court, like Illinois has done the past couple years. If your wining it shouldn't matter what others say. The inferiority complex is getting old. this is a message board, the place for whining. and what's getting old is the repeated lack of respect for the illini, who, as you've said, should have earned it with their performances over the last few years. i don't know if the illini just aren't exciting enough for some people, or maybe it's that they don't have the program pedigree of an MSU or IU, or even an OSU, or maybe they don't like players who get angry with their girlfriends when refuse to watch roots--i don't know--you tell me. why do you think the illini get disrespected every year? I don't think they get disrespected every year. Everybody heaped praise on Illinois last year, and deservedly so. I don't think its a slap in the face to not predict them #1 in the conference this year. There are some very good teams in the Big10 this year. Hell, finishing 2nd or 3rd this year could still equal a top 10 team. Illinois is undefeated, but besides a win against a young (up and down) UNC team, who have they beaten? Xavier is a decent squad, but not top 25 material. They are a good team, but I don't think they are top 5 in the country good. Michigan state has had its ups and downs as well, same can be said for IU. But again, It wouldn't surprise me to see any of those teams win the conference. Nobody is out to get Illinois, picking them third still means they are a damn good team. i think that they've returned enough players from the 2004-2005 team to deserve respect as the #1 team in the conference until someone knocks them off. and i think it patronizing to tell the two-time returning big ten champs that a #3 finish would be at all validating. illinois hasn't finished below 2nd in the Big Ten standings since the 1999-2000 season. finishing below #1 would be a major disappointment for them and their fans.

Is it ok to not like Steve Alford for allowing a man convicted of rape to continue to play? This is a legitimate question. And I liked Sammy when he was here, but he hurt nobody but himself with his actions in his latter years. My "sympathy meter" isn't bleeding for him. the alford/pierce incident is totally different. rape and being perceived as lacking moral character are 2 different things. i wasn't asking you to have sympathy for sammy. if he committed a heineous crime, i wouldn't want him on the team. he did nothing more than ruin some casual fan's dream of the altruistic superstar and the perfect clubhouse atmosphere. why should i care about that? what i care about is the production he gave the cubs in the middle of the order. It also depends on whether you believe Sammy hit his wife with that bottle many years ago. And Sammy's production was fantastic. For that I'm grateful, but again, he has nobody to blame but himself for his perceived image. that was a rumor. pierce was convicted twice in a court of law. if i was sammy i would unapologetic about my past. he was paid to play baseball, not win congeniality awards. he seldom turned down autographs, was rarely rude to the press, gave a great show every day, played every day, and treated the RF fans very well. I remember going to several games in which he'd jet out to right field at the beginning of the game with a glove full of balls and then start lofting them into the bleachers. the fans turned on him very quickly, and it's a damn shame.

strikeouts don't necessarily mean a lack of discipline. in many cases, strikeouts actually point to a higher degree of plate discipline--and mean more pitches seen per PA. what bothers me is that he never walks.

Is it ok to not like Steve Alford for allowing a man convicted of rape to continue to play? This is a legitimate question. And I liked Sammy when he was here, but he hurt nobody but himself with his actions in his latter years. My "sympathy meter" isn't bleeding for him. the alford/pierce incident is totally different. rape and being perceived as lacking moral character are 2 different things. i wasn't asking you to have sympathy for sammy. if he committed a heineous crime, i wouldn't want him on the team. he did nothing more than ruin some casual fan's dream of the altruistic superstar and the perfect clubhouse atmosphere. why should i care about that? what i care about is the production he gave the cubs in the middle of the order.

i really like the concept of putting people's names in quotation marks if i don't like them. it doesn't really mean anything, but it seems like you're sincerely questioning their character. that's right, i asked tim to do that last year. it really doesn't help illustrate my point here, though.

appreciation is all about living in the past. it's about being happy about the things that have already taken place. shut up! "Sammy" sosa is the worst person on earth. don't you know that he lost us the pennant on the last day of 2004 by walking out before the game was over? that was worth like 20 games right there. and he really should learn to speak english, who cares if his lawyers told him to go with the interpreter so he wouldn't be misunderstood? and i know that it was him that stole christmas by thinking he was bigger than the game (whatever that means). seriously, if you want to stop living in the past, you need to stop remembering every cubs player that has ever lived. forget sandberg, grace, santo, kessinger, williams, sutcliffe, etc. this sammy hatred has gone too far. he's the most productive offensive player in cub history, a first ballot hall of famer, and a guy that brought people back to the game. oh yeah, and he was the only reason to turn on wgn for years. but "stop living in the past"--i hear that sammy wasn't a saint, so we all should hate him. if you start liking or disliking players based on their personal lives or decisions, you need to get a life.

soriano hasn't been able to unlearn any of his problems thus far in his career, and it's unlikely that the cubs coaching staff would even see these things as negatives anyway. if soriano wants to get better, chicago is probably the worst place for him.

Actually, that's exactly the offer the Sox have made for Tejada: Contreras, Uribe and a prospect. Unless the Cubs include Zambrano or Prior, my opinion is that the Sox have a better shot of getting Tejada than the Cubs do. As for Contreras, he's entering the last year of his 4 years $32M deal, and despite the fact that most think he's nearing 40, he is probably going to get at least a 2 year deal around $16M from somebody. One writer told me that he'd get Matt Morris' deal 3 years $25M from several teams. While I too feel Zambrano is a better pitcher, it's difficult for me to accept your characterization of him as "somewhat serviceable" when in the 2nd half he was basically the best pitcher in the AL, and carried the Sox to victory. he had a great second half, no doubt, but to put him in the league of a zambrano, who's at least 10 years younger and had a noticeably superior second half--or a mark prior, who's never really had a poor season-and is at least 10 years younger as well, is almost unconscionable. furthermore, to throw juan uribe, a player whom only edward k. (or a sox fan) could love, and a prospect (probably not johnson or mccarthy--most likely borchardt) and call it superior to the MINIMUM that the cubs could come up with is insulting. i hope hendry never even thought about it, because if he did, we could be in big trouble.

translation: the big ten has sucked the last 2 years because illinois has won it. despite putting 2 teams in the final four, the big ten sucked because illinois won it. illinois could win 8 national titles in a row and each of those 8 years would be a "down year for college basketball". what a joke. people are so afraid to give illinois any credit for anything they do. Do any group of fans whine more about "no respect" than Illinois fans? Who cares what people say, prove them wrong on the court, like Illinois has done the past couple years. If your wining it shouldn't matter what others say. The inferiority complex is getting old. this is a message board, the place for whining. and what's getting old is the repeated lack of respect for the illini, who, as you've said, should have earned it with their performances over the last few years. i don't know if the illini just aren't exciting enough for some people, or maybe it's that they don't have the program pedigree of an MSU or IU, or even an OSU, or maybe they don't like players who get angry with their girlfriends when refuse to watch roots--i don't know--you tell me. why do you think the illini get disrespected every year?

is anybody else really happy that we don't have to play the redskins in the second round? it seems like joe gibbs has our number in the playoffs. crusty old jerk.

i don't think that you can say that he's more milton than zito (although i find the zito-milton comparison farfetched as well) without seeing him get a few more starts under his belt. you can't just throw a guy out there for a few starts and some relief appearances and declare him a bust or a star.

if you don't miss the 2001 sammy, you're edward k.

what's more is that on the score on saturday afternoon, i heard this guy (chris ronjay or something) talking about how the white sox have 6 starters and can trade for tejada while the cubs are pretty much out of the derby. don't get me wrong, i'm glad the cubs appear to be out of the race, but this guy was pretending like the sox could get tejada for "contreras and a prospect or two". none of the callers mentioned that the reports indicated that the orioles had asked for zambrano. are sox fans really that stupid that they'd equate contreras with zambrano? i wouldn't even equate contrares, a somewhat serviceable pitcher looking for a big payday at the tender age of "unknown", with matt clement.

why is it that casual fans are continually hired to write for major newspapers?