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Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Poz sees what Cubs fans see
Talking about Andres Blanco:
And then … there was Sunday. Did you see the play? I won’t be able to describe it well enough if you didn’t … Jeff Francoeur hit a ground ball up the middle. And Blanco — playing for the Cubs now — dived over the middle, gloved the ball. And then — this is the hard part to describe — he sort of rolled over and threw the ball to first in one motion. It was … well, frankly, it was ludicrous. It looked like something you would see in cartoons. “That’s as good a play as I’ve ever seen made at the big league level,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella told reporters after the game.
To which Cubs rookie pitcher Randy Wells said: “That’s nothing compared to some of the plays he’s made in Iowa.”
Cubs fans have him as one of the best-fielding infielders in baseball (I have him at 2B because that’s where he played the most at the time I generated the list). Not to discount Poz’s observations, but basically he saw someone with incredible talent, and Cubs fans see that alot (but not as strongly as Poz did).
I don’t have any major point other than to say that any one’s single observation has to be regressed toward the mean because you don’t know if what he’s seen is indicative or a fluke. It’s nice to get the manager and his teammates input. The same, it should be said, happened with Betancourt. You can have all-world talent for any one single play, but the real talent is based on those who can do it game-in and game-out.
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