TOP 10 HOLIDAY-THEMED ITEMS BLOGGERS SHOULD DISCUSS
Given that it’s the festive holiday season where giving is en vogue,
I thought I’d help out my fellow bloggers with some creative, original
ideas for a post. I know lots of bloggers have been and still are busy
traveling and visiting family, so the time to brainstorm ideas is
significantly shortened. You’ll thank me later.
As promised, I am going to delve into the new look of the Phillies’ outfield, and I also want to criticize Gerry Fraley for a ridiculous article he wrote for The Sporting News. Being the lazy person that I am, I’d like to kill two birds with one stone. I’m going to break it down Fire Joe Morgan-style (his words in bold; mine will follow in regular typeface).
In two seasons without center fielder Aaron Rowand, the Chicago White Sox are a .500 team and heading south.
You know this is going to be a pro-Rowand article based on the
title, so let me just get this out of the way right off the bat: the
White Sox are not bad because Aaron Rowand left. In 2007, they had the
league’s worst offense, and the third-worst pitching. Rowand can’t
pitch and I’m pretty sure he’s not potent enough to bring his team from
a 4.28 runs per game average to around 5 per game, which would put them
slightly behind sixth place. Barry Bonds might have been able to do
that, but certainly not Aaron Rowand.
The White Sox were bad in ‘07 because Paul Konerko had a .091 point
decline in OPS from the previous season, Jermaine Dye had a .204
decline in OPS, and Jim Thome was the only potent offensive force in
the lineup. Jon Garland has been decidedly mediocre, and the back of
their starting rotation was about as unproductive as it could have
been. And aside from Bobby Jenks, their bullpen was nearly as bad as
the Phillies’.
After saying he wanted to stay with the Phillies, Rowand
swerved and signed a five-year, $60-million deal with San Francisco.
His change of heart puts the Phillies in a bind.
“Bind” is hyperbole. The Phillies would have preferred to keep
Rowand in his age 30-32 years, but he wanted five years at $12 million,
which is what he got from the Giants. He simply wasn’t worth it.
Jayson Werth isn’t a terrible Plan B, and Rowand’s departure simply
made the Phillies look for a Plan B2 and B3, which was searching for
either another regular center fielder (Cameron), or moving Victorino to
center and finding a platoon partner for Werth (Geoff Jenkins).
Look at it this way, using simple OPS:
Aaron Rowand: .779 OPS vs. RHP (68% of career PA); .862 vs. LHP (32%); .805 vs. both.
Shane Victorino: .741 OPS vs. both.
Mike Cameron: .767 OPS vs. RHP (75% of career PA); .843 OPS vs. LHP (25%); .786 vs. both.
Geoff Jenkins: .883 OPS vs. RHP (76% of career PA)
Jayson Werth: .864 OPS vs. LHP (29% of career PA)
Here are the expected OPS, based on career averages, out of the possible CF and RF combinations:
Rowand/Victorino: .773 OPS
Cameron/Victorino: .764
Victorino/(Werth+Jenkins): .787*
* Because Jenkins will face RHP, and batters see RHP about 3 times
more than LHP, I weighted Jenkins and Werth’s OPS to reflect this. I
assumed that the two will combine for 625 at-bats (which is generous
considering how potent the Phillies’ lineup is and how adept they are
at getting on base).
Jenkins: Averages 1 base every 2.0 at-bats. With 75% of 625 at-bats,
that’s 469 at-bats, giving him about 235 total bases, and a slugging
percentage of .501.
Werth: Averages 1 base every 2.3 at-bats. With 25% of 625 at-bats,
that’s 156 at-bats, giving him about 68 total bases, and a slugging
percentage of .436.
Add ‘em together (.485 + .348 ) and you have an expected .833 OPS out of right field. *
Phew.
They previously traded center-fielder-in-waiting Michael
Bourn to Houston in the Brad Lidge deal. Plan C for the Phillies calls
for moving Shane Victorino, whose durability is in question, to center
and going with a platoon of Jayson Werth and Geoff Jenkins in right.
While the Phillies had some expectations of Bourn when he was
considered a top prospect in their farm system (not hard to be,
actually), he only showed Juan Pierre-esque ability: great speed,
ability to bunt, and above-average range in the outfield. They already
have a guy like that (but better) in Shane Victorino. Bourn simply
didn’t fit and was thusly expendable.
And Fraley has the plans all messed up! Bourn is Plan B? Any team
who has a Plan B as replacing a center fielder with decent defense and
some power potential with a slap-hitter is clearly a team general-managed by Ned Colletti.
Shame on this guy also for not tiering the Plan B’s.
The Phillies will also learn what the White Sox now know. Rowand is harder to replace in the clubhouse than on the field.
Whenever sports journalists wax romantic on intangibles, the
cholesterol lining my arteries gets a little bit harder. But I should
know — intangibles have been tangiblized (hat tip to FJM).
Rowand is an NFL free safety masquerading as a center
fielder. He plays relentlessly, a style the Phillies privately feared
may shorten his career, and that rubs off on teammates. He is a leader
in the true sense of the word.
First, I don’t see how being akin to an NFL free safety makes you a
valuable baseball player. Then Gerry contradicts himself by saying the
Phillies didn’t like his balls-out style of play because it increases
his risk of injury and a “shortened career.”
Gerry, however, rebounds by saying that this career-shortening style of play is rubbing off on teammates! Hopefully not in the way it rubbed off on Chase Utley.
That is why the White Sox and the Phillies both wanted to
sign Rowand. They have seen first-hand how valuable he is to the
dynamic of a winning team.
Phillies players as or more important to the NL East pennant than
Rowand: Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Brett
Myers, J.C. Romero (arguably).
I get it: take Rowand away and the Phillies don’t win the East. But
that can also be said of Russell Branyan, who was with the Phillies for
all of 9 at-bats, one of which won them a game in Washington. And the Phillies won the East by one game.
Seasons of catering to Barry Bonds turned their clubhouse
into a nest of apathy. Near the end of the season, manager Bruce Bochy
said the last-place club lacked “a warrior spirit.”
The king of the team lacking “a warrior spirit” put up an OPS+ 170
with a knee that gets regular fluid injections at age forty-two.
Forty-two. Save his injury-plagued 2005 season, Bonds has led the
National League in on-base percentage every season since 2001.
The Giants were bad last year because, aside from Bonds and Randy
Winn (barely), no one in the lineup was hitting at or above the league
average, which makes it easy to believe that they had the league’s
second-worst offense. They had a good, but not great starting rotation,
and a decent bullpen. Blaming Bonds for the Giants’ failures last
season (or in any season) is beyond reprehensible and downright
ignorant.
San Francisco may remain stuck in last in the demanding National League West, but the Giants will not go quietly.
Earlier in the article, Fraley contends that teams that have Aaron
Rowand win, and teams that lose him end up losing. Now Fraley says that
the Giants get Rowand… but they “may remain stuck in last”?
In explaining the signing, general manager Brian Sabean said
Rowand was “far and away a plus” in the areas of concern for the
Giants.
“His no-nonsense approach is known throughout the game,” Sabean said. “Including inside the clubhouse.”
So, the areas of concern for the Giants aren’t offense, starting
pitching, and the bullpen? It’s a no-nonsense approach? No wonder they
haven’t reached 77 wins in three seasons.
Busted Coverage put the top 64 Ballhype sports blogs in an NCAA-style bracket, and seeded them in four groups, #1-16.
Surprisingly, Crashburn Alley is on there, even if it’s as a #16
seed. It’s up against some extremely fit competition, so I may only
shed a few tears following my inevitable first-round exit.
Following the New England Patriots’ complete destruction of the Buffalo Bills’ defense, we learned two things: Andrea Kremer would totally go out with Tom Brady, and the Patriots are offensive (pun!!1!) simply by taking the field and playing the game they’re paid to play.
It wasn’t the first time the Patriots have beaten an opponent as
severely as they beat the Bills, and, not surprisingly, it wasn’t the
first time they’ve been accused of “running up the score.”
24, 24, 31, 21, 17, 21, 45, 4, and 46. Those are the Patriots’
margins of victory in their ten games this season. That’s an average
margin of victory of over 23 points.
The latest wails of “running up the score” came after the Patriots
twice went for the touchdown on fourth down instead of settling for a
field goal in the Bills game. The oft-cited “unwritten rules” were
brought up, that it is unethical to go for it on fourth down if you’re
enjoying a comfortable lead.
This rule applies to almost any team sport, especially baseball,
where, if you’re up by about 8 runs or so, it becomes unethical to
steal bases, bunt, bring in your better pitchers, and try trick plays.
It’s just an example of how no one can be offended anymore in this
country. On this blog, as well as in many other venues, I’ve made what
some consider extremely liberal claims (e.g. drugs should be
legalized), but one liberal issue I completely abhor is political
correctness. It’s often hypocritical and almost always an infringement
on First Amendment rights. The Patriots didn’t even speak — they simply
played a game well.
Here’s a list of people you can’t offend in this country:
Homosexuals
Bisexuals
Transgenders
Christians
Jews
African-Americans
Women
Anyone who knows anyone who knows anyone who is in the armed forces
The Bush administration, and the government in general
The disabled (note: not referring to the Bush administration)
People who are squeamish when it comes to violence or “foul” language
NEW: Bad sports teams, or otherwise good teams simply getting demolished
It’s politically correct to not run up the score. It’s politically correct to not brag and to modestly acknowledge your success.
It’s politically incorrect to humorously reference a movie about
homosexuality — still a fine source of humor for many in the comedy
industry — and analogize it to basketball, as Phil Jackson did.
Back to the Patriots — what did the P.C. people want Belichick to do
instead? Kick a field goal and tack on more points? At least if he goes
for it on fourth down, he gives the Bills defense a chance to step it
up and prevent them from scoring any points. At that point, with the
Patriots leading as emphatically as they were, the difference between a
touchdown and a field goal (four points) was moot anyway.
Isn’t it more insulting to “play down” to your opponent after you
get out to a sizable lead? It says, at least to me, “I’m so good, I
don’t even need to try hard to beat you. I can take out all of our best
players and play second- and third-stringers.”
Don’t want the Patriots to run up the score? Keep them out of the end zone. That was the response Leon Grant of the Seattle Seahawks gave to reporters
when asked about Chad Johnson’s touchdown celebrations (another thing
you’re not allowed to do when the P.C. police are around):
And though none of the Seahawks wants to witness
one of Johnson’s elaborate celebrations, they are more concerned with
the reason it would occur rather than the act itself.
“My mentality is that if you don’t want a guy to do all of that on you, just keep him out of the end zone,” Grant said.
The Patriots will continue to win by at least three touchdowns, and
will kick sand in the face of their opponents as they go for the fourth
on fourth down.
I’ve been doing some thinking lately (not a frequent activity of mine), and I have some questions that need some answers. Maybe my readers can help me out.
Warning for those with weak stomachs: Heavy political content.
Hopefully, I will find out answers to these questions. I'm not trying to diminish that about which we are vocal, but I think it's interesting to note where our priorities lie.
Visit my new website -- Crashburn Alley!>
Crashburn Alley is a fusion of the phrase "crash and burn" with Ashburn Alley, which is beyond the center field fence at Citizens Bank Park. You can read more about Crashburn Alley here.>
I'm a diehard Phillies fan who is still reeling from the 1993 World Series and Joe Carter's three-run homerun in Game 6.
