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MLB 2014-2015 Offseason |OT| Playoff Dreaming

Schilling has the postseason stats, multiple WS titles, WS MVP, and so called clutch factor yet the HoF kicked him to the curb.
Because he's a douchebag to baseball writers in his current profession and turned a lot of them off him.

He'll get in, just gonna be a bit.
 

BFIB

Member
I'm not really sure they do deserve high praise. In some cases, I think the sense that someone is "clutch" is mostly illusory; what happens is that the player makes a couple clutch plays early on in their career, and then confirmation bias sets in, where any case that a person fails is seen as unusual.

When you look at (for instance) Brady or Jeter's lifetime postseason figures, or their figures in the red zone or with two strikes, their figures aren't clearly better than their historic norms nor are they better than players who are not perceived as "clutch" such as Peyton Manning or Albert Pujols. Please note that all of the people I just mentioned are hall of famers, and all have good postseason stats, but only the first two are viewed as "clutch" even though their actual performances are very similar.

And lastly, most players who truly do have better stats "in the clutch" -- that is, they aren't just perceived as such, and genuinely show much better numbers when playing in the postseason -- are often people with relatively small sample sizes. Frankly, I don't think it's fair to give a player significant kudos because he just so happened to get hot in the 10-15 postseason games he plays in his career, while another player has the misfortune of getting hot in the middle of a season for a couple weeks.

In short, I think some sports writers attribute this hot streak to magical clutch power, while I attribute it to random distribution. In any 10-15 game stretch, someone is going to be "hot."

Once you start bringing in the intangibles, the problem is, everyone's intangibles differ. Take Jeter for your example. One of the greatest plays he's known for is that out of position flip to get Jeremy Giambi at the plate. Time and time again he is praised for that play. If Jeremy does what any ball player should do, and slide, he's likely safe and it doesn't matter anyway. But once the media builds an aura around a player, those intangibles stand out more.

I can't really say I've seen Ortiz offer any sort of "intangible".
 
Once you start bringing in the intangibles, the problem is, everyone's intangibles differ. Take Jeter for your example. One of the greatest plays he's known for is that out of position flip to get Jeremy Giambi at the plate. Time and time again he is praised for that play. If Jeremy does what any ball player should do, and slide, he's likely safe and it doesn't matter anyway. But once the media builds an aura around a player, those intangibles stand out more.

I can't really say I've seen Ortiz offer any sort of "intangible".

Idk Boston media loves the guy despite the fact that he's quite a bit of a diva.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Once you start bringing in the intangibles, the problem is, everyone's intangibles differ. Take Jeter for your example. One of the greatest plays he's known for is that out of position flip to get Jeremy Giambi at the plate. Time and time again he is praised for that play. If Jeremy does what any ball player should do, and slide, he's likely safe and it doesn't matter anyway. But once the media builds an aura around a player, those intangibles stand out more.

I can't really say I've seen Ortiz offer any sort of "intangible".

Is the Jeter Fruit Basket an intangible?
 

ampere

Member
I can't really say I've seen Ortiz offer any sort of "intangible".

4Mc5J3g.gif


Intangible because if you touch it you'd break your hands
 

Enron

Banned
uh oh.

Ken Rosenthal @Ken_Rosenthal · 21m 21 minutes ago
Asked a baseball executive if Hamilton’s discipline was for PEDs. His response: “Worse.” The executive declined to elaborate.

josh hamilton about to be banned for life. I hate josh hamilton, but that sucks because that means the angels won't have to pay him.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Manfred doesn't care about this stuff anymore, so he's in the clear there.

Players trying to throw games for gambling-related reasons isn't quite the same as wanting the public to be able to legally bet on a sports game.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
This is the only thing I can think of from the stand point of MLB that would be worse than PEDs.

I remember hearing some local honk try and argue that PEDs and Pete Rose's thing were equivalent and that letting A-Rod back into baseball is just like letting Rose back in as though those are somehow equivalent.

I don't see how that is worse for MLB. Unless Rosenthal is just being a twat.

Gambling and Crime have a tendency to associate themselves with being a drug and alcohol fiend. You have to remember that one of the last time this guy relapsed he ended up shirtless in a bar looking for crackhouses.
 

aFIGurANT

Member
I mean if he'd killed someone (again) wouldn't that be more like a police sort of scenario vs. the MLB HQ in NY? This seems weird and I'm thinking that that executive of Rosenthal's was blowing some serious smoke. Just IMO.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
I mean if he'd killed someone (again) wouldn't that be more like a police sort of scenario vs. the MLB HQ in NY? This seems weird and I'm thinking that that executive of Rosenthal's was blowing some serious smoke. Just IMO.

That just leaves gambling on baseball. When was the last time that came up? Was it actually Pete Rose?
 
Once you start bringing in the intangibles, the problem is, everyone's intangibles differ. Take Jeter for your example. One of the greatest plays he's known for is that out of position flip to get Jeremy Giambi at the plate. Time and time again he is praised for that play. If Jeremy does what any ball player should do, and slide, he's likely safe and it doesn't matter anyway. But once the media builds an aura around a player, those intangibles stand out more.

I can't really say I've seen Ortiz offer any sort of "intangible".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNZlB3748Y4
 
I only feel bad for him and his family. Drug addiction is not a joke.

It's really not. If he's back on coke I'm praying for him and I honestly think he needs to just stop playing baseball and focus on keeping himself healthy and sober. He took two years away and it didn't help, at this point he just has to choose to walk away.
 
Man I was actually hoping it wasn't relapse because that's the most depressing outcome. I hope he is able to overcome it and lead a healthy rest of his life.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Not enough Dodger talk in this thread.

Fangraphs - Puig's BABIP

it gives us a pretty perfect comp for Puig, in someone that’s gotten by as a very good hitter with the same unique skill set. These are career numbers:

Name LD% GB% FB% IFFB% IFH% Spd HR/FB% BABIP
Hunter Pence 16% 51% 33% 11% 10% 5.1 15% .319
Yasiel Puig 17% 51% 32% 9% 12% 5.6 15% .366

By all accounts, it’s essentially identical, and this should be almost everything that could reasonably explain one’s BABIP — luck excluded. Puig pops out a bit less than Pence, and is a bit faster, but Pence also goes up the middle more often than Puig (not pictured). Yet, in the end, we still have nearly a 50-point difference in BABIP.

So what gives? My gut tells me Puig can’t keep this up. Of course, I’m not exactly going out on a limb by saying the guy with the .366 BABIP can’t keep it up. But with a guy like Marte, you see a strong line drive rate, you see an avoidance of pop-ups, you see the speed, and you see a .350+ BABIP that actually seems pretty reasonable. With Puig, all you really see is the speed. He doesn’t hit line drives, he doesn’t avoid the pop-up, he doesn’t spray the ball. All he’s really got going for him, in terms of his BABIP profile, is the speed that leads to infield hits.

Of course, this isn’t to say that Yasiel Puig is going to fall off a cliff. This isn’t even to say that Yasiel Puig isn’t going to continue being a great hitter — he probably is. After all, Pence has still sustained a .320 career BABIP with essentially the exact same profile, and Puig’s strength and athleticism make him unlike almost any other player in baseball. But there’s still something that gives me pause, in that it’s pretty tough to explain Yasiel Puig’s BABIP.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Schilling has the postseason stats, multiple WS titles, WS MVP, and so called clutch factor yet the HoF kicked him to the curb.

Isn't it because everyone thinks he's a dick?
 

jbug617

Banned
More info coming out.
@JonHeymanCBS: Hear hamilton had relapse. Believe occurred a couple months back. Involved at least cocaine. Honorably, he confessed.

@JonHeymanCBS: There's no word of a failed test. Word is, Hamilton told mlb about relapse. He'd be put in program as 1st time offender.
 

Enron

Banned
He should have never left Texas.

Money or not he had a better setup there instead of near a place like LA.

I despise josh hamilton but im not happy that he's back on drugs.

I am glad, however, that his ass is no longer a Texas Ranger and that he's now LAAAAAAAAA of A's problem. Maybe glad is the wrong word. More like "relieved".
 

aFIGurANT

Member
Damn but this has been a juicy offseason. The last bit of news is more TMZ-style but still it goes into the intrigue folder for sure. All we needed was for A-rod to press charges and we'd be sitting on a gold mine.

Now all that's left to see is if Latos gets beaned in Cincy as a reward for his INCENDIARY comments (/s).

BTW: The 154 game season may be a thing again....
 

cashman

Banned
Bonds didn't win a World Series; Ortiz has won 3. Bonds was never a world series MVP; Ortiz has been.

That's really the obvious difference here. I think it's clear that the Hall disproportionately rewards people who happen to get hot in the small stretch of 10-50 postseason games they play in their career or who happen to play on better teams. Ortiz has been on some very good teams and been the star on several of those world series winners; that virtue (which I would attribute almost entirely to randomness) clearly trumps almost any other concern.

The ringzzzzz argument doesn't hold the same weight in baseball as it does in football and basketball.
 
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