THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball

Monday, October 22, 2007

When good writing and facts collide

By Tangotiger, 04:12 PM

For whatever reason, I have a soft spot for Doug Minky. Pizza doesn’t think much of him as a ballplayer. Minky has a career .271/.358/.407 line, which when combined with his excellent fielding, was good enough to get him over 3500 career PA in MLB. And this year, he had a .277/.349/.440 line with the Yanks in limited playing time. The Fans also appreciated his fielding, though not as much as Twins fans have in the past. In short, Doug Mientkiewicz delivered this year what he has always delivered in his MLB career. Andy Phillips, on the other hand, is a replacement-level player.

• Blogging

#1 (see all posts) 2007/10/22 (Mon) @ 23:52

For the record, it was the bullpen that got Torre fired, not Douggy performing in line with his career rates.

#2 Pizza Cutter (see all posts) 2007/10/23 (Tue) @ 08:09

Tom, are you Joe Torre in disguise?

I do worry a little bit that people mis-interpreted my piece as one about Doug Min… Men… Mien… that guy… when in reality my point was more about Steinbrenner. Several commenters on the original piece have properly brought up that Minky is a decent (although no one will ever convince him with “outstanding") first baseman, and their points are all well-taken. Torre, on the other hand, did just about what any of us would have done with his player personnel decisions. Those players generally did what they do best, and the Yankees still lost a playoff series. And for that, Torre was fired. That’s the Yankee way.

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THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball

Monday, October 22, 2007

When good writing and facts collide

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