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Friday, October 12, 2007
“I’m into sabermetrics” says Joel Skinner
By Tangotiger, 01:58 PM
He didn’t say it in so many words, but he may as well just have:
Well, the best way to shut down the running game is to keep them off base in the first place, but if the Red Sox *do* get on base, we’re not going to do a damn thing differently, and if Boston wants to run into outs in front of Ortiz and Ramirez, God bless ‘em.
Which is exactly why you don’t want to put speedsters in front of those guys.
Two guys who are definitely not into sabermetrics are Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. This is shooting fish in a barrel, but here’s three foolish remarks made in the bottom of the first alone:
1) Tim McCarver praising David Ortiz for chasing a pitch off the plate and softly tapping it into center for a hit. If Jhonny Peralta has better range or is shifted over more as many teams do (which may or may not be correct), it’s an easy double play. I wonder if McCarver praises Ortiz’s approach then? I wish I had a nickel for every time a broadcaster put over a PA like this.
2) The typical nonsense about batter v. pitcher matchups.
3) Joe Buck claiming Manny Ramirez is worth “every cent”, see MGL’s article on this site for more on this fallacy. And keep in mind that article refers to a younger and more productive Manny.
Also, could we possibly move up the postseason thread below? There was some fine discussion there and I reckon it should be featured more prominently. Thanks.