GaryWoods

Hmm...let me see....Fredi Gonzalez, Larry Dierker, Tony Pena, Rene Lacheman, the list goes on.... The "College of Coaches" would be better than Baker.

I don't think walks are the opposite of strikeouts like that. When one goes up, the other doesn't necessarily (or even usually) go down. In fact, the easiest way to cut down on strikeouts would be to cut down on walks as well by swinging early in the count and just trying to make contact. This would result in reduced production for most players though. Excellent assessment. It's possible to have excellent plate discipline and yet still strike out. Strike outs are no worse than any other out. I agree in theory. But in the context of this discussion, the prevailing idea is that Sammy's increase in walks was primarily the result of developing greater plate disipline. To me that means he stopped swinging at bad pitches for strike three and started taking them for ball four. For that to be the case, his strikeout rate would have had to decline at about the same rate as his walk rate increased; in this case, it didn't. I believe that what led to Sammy's increase in walks was primarily his improvement at situational hitting. He still swung at plenty of pitches over his head or at his shoes; but he came to understand that there were situations where those were the only pitches he was going to get, and learned to leave the bat on his shoulder in those cases. And that is a form of plate disipline, I guess, but I don't think that's the kind that's being discussed in the article that started this thread. EDIT: I've been a little distracted today, so for some reason I have been using the phrase "plate discipline" in place of "strike zone judgement." Although one is a component of the other, they are certainly not interchangeable terms. I do believe that Sammy dramatically improved his plate discipline in 1998; it's his strike zone judgement that I don't think ever significantly improved. Sorry for the confusion.

Simple mathematics would suggest that if increased walk totals were always the result of improved plate discipline, then decreased strikeout totals would be another result. But while Sammy's walk rate improved from .065 in 1997 to .101 in 1998, an increase of 3.5%, his strikeout rate remained pretty consistant (.251-.241, a 1% change). Sammy may have become somewhat more selective when he changed his approach in '98. But I think his increased walk totals were more due to the fact that he batted in way more situations where he knew he wasn't going to get anything to hit.

That's not even an opinion. It's a fact. He said he didn't take steroids, while under oath, before the US Congress, then tested positive. He'll be lucky not to have perjury charges thrown at him (though it would be tough to prove that he was taking steroids at the exact time of the hearings) It doesn't need to be at the exact time of the hearing. It just needs to be at some date before the hearing took place, be it a day or 15 years. Exactly. As I recall, his quote was "I have never, ever taken steroids."

His numbers are very similar to those of Bernie Williams, and I don't think Bernie is a lock. 3-4 more seasons performing at his current level would make Chipper a strong HOF candidate.

It just hit me that Sosa was hit in the head by Solomon Torres, and Dickie Thon was hit in the head by Mike Torrez. Coincidence? I think.....................well, yeah, it probably was.

At the time, I didn't think the beaning had anything to do with Sammy's decline for the reasons CIE mentioned. But I watched an Oriole game the other night. Sammy was flailing at pitches on the outside corner that he used to drive to right field. He didn't seem to have any trouble getting around on the ball; the problem was that he was standing farther back off the plate than he used to, and stepping to toward third when he swung. These are things I would expect from somebody who was gunshy from a beaning. But why it would take months or even years to manifest itself doesn't make sense. Maybe he's had a couple more close calls since then that have scared him? I don't know, but it's sad.

That was proven a while back, so start hurling.

Dusty's probably thinking about benching Lee. After all, all those walks are clogging up the bases.

No, because Hairston and the prospects would get claimed. Then why didn't the Cardinals' prospects get claimed last year when they did the Walker deal? It's unlikely somebody would claim a player placed on waivers for the purpose of making a deal unless they wanted to make a deal for that player themselves. The waivers are revocable, so it's not like the Cubs would lose the players if they were claimed.

Rick Reuschel won 214 games with that velocity.

Actually, a compelling argument is frequently made that players will run more often on a guy with a poor arm, giving him more opportunities to get assists. They tend to stay put when the ball is hit to a guy with a cannon, giving him less chances to get an assist and, subsequently, fewer assists.

McGwire didn't have much range; I do believe he was better defensively than you give him credit for, but I'm going to let it go at that. It's too hard to quantify defensive play, and I don't have the time to get together and watch old tapes with you. At any rate, he certainly didn't suffer a defensive decline during or after the 1998 season beyond what you would expect from any 34-year-old ballplayer with bad feet. And I haven't seen this gradual decline in Sammy's defense. He was always a guy who could occasionally make the spectacular catch, and also miss a routine fly ball. I don't think anything's changed there. Yes, his arm isn't what it once was. In his prime he had an arm like Clemente. He still throws like a former Pirate outfielder; unfortunately the former Pirate outfielder he now throws like is Omar Moreno. But as I said before, that didn't happen until his offensive skills were also in decline in 2002 or 2003. So it can hardly be said that it was the result of too much focus on hitting.

Second. His first wife, Cindy, was famous for her extramarital affairs; problems with his first marriage led to his short-lived first retirement.

I just read the transcript in full for the first time, and I agree. In the intended context, I don't think he was pointing the finger at anybody; he was just quoting himself responding honestly to Harry's question and expressing surprise that anyone would expect him to ignore one facet of the game to focus on another.

Neither Sosa nor McGwire gave up anything to hit more homers in 1998. And I wouldn't describe either one as one-dimensional. McGwire was always a good OBP guy, and he posted his second-best OBP total that year; so it's not like he became an all-or-nothing guy like Deer, Kingman, or many others previously mentioned. And his defense remained at his typical slightly-above-average level. And Sosa didn't just start hitting home runs in 1998; he actually became an overall better hitter. Sure, he stopped stealing bases. Big deal. I'll take a 1.000+ OPS with 10 steals over .840 with 34 steals any day of the week. And Sammy's defense, especially his arm, didn't start to decline until about 2002-2003.

Rickey says "Rickey will get in. Did you forget about Rickey?" I'm guessing Gwynn and Ripken won't have any trouble, either.

Didn't Chief running back Joe Delaney die trying to save a kid from drowning? I don't really disagree with your base premise, that athletic achievement shouldn't be confused with heroism. But there have been plenty of sports figures who are true heroes. Um, Drew Rosenhaus (sp) also saved a kids life recently, and nobody's calling him a hero. I'd be willing to bet the kid's parents are. But that's beside the point. Nobody was calling Rosenhaus a hero for anything he did before saving this kid. So his example doesn't fit the context of the discussion.

This is exactly what went through my mind when I first read OleMissCubs current sig: The answer could very well be, "Back in your day, Ryno." Don't get me wrong, I'm sentimental for the "Good Old Days" myself. But there were at least as many and probably more one-dimensional sluggers in Sandberg's day than there are now. Add Dave Kingman, Darrren Daulton, Oxxie Virgil, and Cliff Johnson to your list. Good point about the Pittsburgh drug trials, too. I remember when that was going on wondering if there was anybody in baseball who didn't do coke. Now it's steroids. Difference is, players take steroids in an effort to make themselves better; those doing recreational drus like cocaine back in the '80s were doing it in spite of the fact that it could likely make them perform worse.

I think Robin Yount blows the "70's and 80's" shortstop myth. He led the majors in hits in the 80's.... Yount played more games in the outfield (690) in the '80s than at shortstop (639). As far as "blowing the myth" goes: Yount was the exception to the rule as a shortstop during the time he played that position. In Yount's MVP season of 1982, the immortal Fred Stanley posted a whopping .537 OPS for the A's. He's not the norm either, of course; but you can't look at one extreme or the other and say "this is typical."

Didn't Chief running back Joe Delaney die trying to save a kid from drowning? I don't really disagree with your base premise, that athletic achievement shouldn't be confused with heroism. But there have been plenty of sports figures who are true heroes.

The only thing Edmonds has over Andre is that he wears eye makeup. My Jimmy, you look so cute. Dawson wore it, too, as did pretty much everybody who played in the 1970s and '80s. So I guess Edmonds doesn't have anything over Dawson. :wink:

If you can't deny something, doesn't that mean that it's NOT arguable?

The properties in steroids that allow athletes to quickly build muscle tissue to enhance performance also work to repair damaged muscle tissue after an injury. I had to take steroids for an eye injury a few years ago, and the doctor gave my wife a shot when she went into labor early to give our daughter's organs a last-minute growth spurt. And I've had several friends who've taken them for various leg and arm problems. So it's entirely possible that an athlete who tested positive could have a perfectly legitimate medical reason if they were rehabbing from some sort of injury. But if that were the case, I think a guy would be up front about it rather than say "Gol, I don't know how them things got in there!"

Too late, it already is.