As everyone knows, Ken Griffey, Jr. was traded to the Chicago White Sox yesterday. My in-depth thoughts on the deal will come next week, but I wonder what ESPN Sportsnation thinks about th
e trade? Is Griffey enough to get the White Sox over the hump? [Checks poll to right.] Griffey can’t even get on a poll that includes Rich “Probably Make Two More Starts Before My Shoulder Falls Off” Harden (that’s a long nickname)!?!? That’s how far he has fallen. He is a terrible, terrible player that will only make Chicago worse. Thank you very much, Mr. Ken Williams. The two players you gave us are probably dog shit, but all else equal, I’d prefer cheap dog shit over $16.5M dog shit.
Onto tonight’s slate of games:
Pittsburgh 3 – Cubs 0: Former Indian Jason Michaels homered to beat Chicago. Suck it, Cubs fans.
Angels @ Yanks: Sidney Ponson is pitching tonight for a Major League Baseball team fighting for a playoff spot. Drink that in, Yankees fans.
Tigers @ Rays: Overpaid mediocrity takes on the gritty newcomers. Color me excited.
Reds @ Nats: On his quest for 75 homers, the Adam Dunn Express makes a stop in the Nation’s capital. Thank you, Walt, for not trading Dunn. It almost makes up for signing Corey Patterson.
ChiSox @ Royals: Tune in, if only to see if Griffey starts in center field. If he does, hilarity will ensue.
Phillies @ Cards: Two MVP candidates square off tonight. Pujols vs. Utley. Pujols has been a much better hitter, and he’s the best fielding 1B, but he probably missed too many games to overtake Utley. At least a DESERVING Phil will win this year.
Douchebacks @ Dodgers: Game 1 of the Manny Experiment begins tonight. The Dodgers are my World Series pick, so I have a rooting interest here. Andohbytheway, Ned Colleti is a fucking retard.
Enjoy your weekend!
First!
You seem to have forgotten the Marlins and Rockies. Sure I’ll just be watching an animated box score on MLB.com – intermittently at that – but I think it deserves mentioning.
I am happy to see Nick shit all over a First Ballot Hall of Famer..even one on the downside..and be excited that Dave Kingman Jr. has stayed on the Reds…excellently done
I’m a realist, Romie.
Also,
Kingman career OBP .302
Dunn .381
Otherwise, same exact d00d.
the next time roman correctly evaluates a ballplayer it will be the first time
Well, the evolution of the walk has definitely increased the value for a guy like Dunn…It wasn’t as highly valued in the 70’s and 80’s so guys like Rice and Dawson are getting shit on now because they were swing first guys…which a lot of sluggers were back then
fetch..lick balls
That was a sick burn, fetch. Roman’s gonna shank your ass.
Roman: That implies that walking is not a skill. That is wrong. If guys could walk, they would.
Throughout history, the very best hitters have taken shitloads of walks.
If Rice was as good as the Boston media made him out to be, he would have walked more.
seriously…Anyone who wants Adam Dunn can have him…obviously no one did…he is not a winner..he is a Home run hitter…and this is not me talking..these are people who actually pore over the little stats you love so much and get payed to make these decisons..he is a marginal player with one talent..THE FUCKING END
Rice was a real good Hitter…Dawson is getting a Raw deal..that guy was a great player..As he said on Costas Baseball Special..IF they would have told me I needed to take more walks to get into the Hall of Fame I would have…
Eddie Gaedel = skilled ballplayer
/Nick P
Rice was a decent hitter, largely a product of Fenway Park.
Home: .920 OPS
Road: .780 OPS (this is fucking terrible)
For comparison…
Dunn (in one of the better hitter parks in the league)
Home: 937 OPS
Road: .873 OPS
Dawson [paraphrasing]: “If they had told me outs were so damn bad, I wouldn’t have made so damn many of ‘em. I thought making outs was good!”
I don’t know Nick…Rice put up numbers in an era were those numbers were not being put up when Dunn has numbers (granted his HR total is on the higher side) the other guys in his era are putting up..I think you need to look at the Era a guy played in and not easily slide it in to today’s numbers or even the numbers of the 30′ 40 50’s. In the 60’s they built those big cookie cutter ballparks..it cut down on a lot of the power numbers
Nick…I t was a different time..it was a swing first ERA…you can’t fault guys for that…get you nose out of the stat sheet and look a the bigger picture
OPS+ takes era into account. It’s relative to the people you played with.
Jim Rice played in one of the best offensive environments and eras there ever was. Grab Baseball by the Numbers and read it, Roman
Jim Rice has a similar OPS+ to Billy Williams
Rice 128
Williams 133
anyways, folks I’m heading out of town for the weekend. have a good one
According to this, Rice was more than 30% better at home.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/bsplit.cgi?n1=riceji01&year=00
The 1970’s were a good offensive Era? Did I miss something?
Hef..I know..His numbers at Fenway are great but it is not like he totally fell of the shelf away..especially during his best 10 years
Check out Sidney Ponson right now. He’s in the midst of one of the luckier starts EVER.
1 K / 4 BBs (this is awful)
78 pitches – only 39 strikes (terrible)
2 groundballs – 12 fly balls (fucking junk)
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=280801110
And just 1 hit!!
Nick..I don’t know how the hell Ponson is doing it..in his first start against the Mets he loaded the bases in 3 straight innings with less than 2 outs and gave up one run
I think he is getting bombed before every start and using his drunk luck to get him through
Pitchers need to do 3 things:
1. Miss bats.
2. Throw strikes.
3. Keep ‘em on the ground.
He’s failing at all 3 and throwing a “gem.”
I am watching the Mets in Houston..I hate the fact that there is a light pole in CF..that is just retarded..I do like the hill
Brandon Backe just crushed a ball deep over the CF wall against Pedro…Petey ain’t Petey no more
Roman, it’s a flag pole, but I didn’t know you hated America.
/USA! USA! USA!
Tatis strikes again…I love this guy..I am glad I own Tatis jersey T-shirt
what is tatis most famous for…
anyone…anyone?