Can I Quote You on That?

[Jimmie Foxx] has muscles in his hair – Lefty Gomez

It looks like big muscular guys aren’t anything new after all. There’s always somebody who is going to be bigger and stronger than everyone else. That guy is going to be able to put up some pretty amazing numbers. Foxx could simply do things with a baseball that other people in his era couldn’t do. Frankly, I don’t think there are many people in any era who could put up his kinds of numbers.

Jimmie Foxx is a guy that always seems to get overshadowed in my mind, and that’s too bad. For the Boston Red Sox in 1938, look at this line. .349 batting average, 50 HR, and 175 RBI. What about the newfangled numbers? His OBP that year was .462. Add that to his .704 slugging, and you end up with an OPS of 1.166. The scary part? That wasn’t Foxx’s career year. I’ll give that honor to his 1932 season with the Philadelphia A’s. That year he went .364-58-169. His OPS of 1.218 comes from an OBP of .469, and a SLG of .749. Absolutely amazing. Why isn’t this guy more revered? Am I just missing the hype? Especially if you consider that he played in Philly and Boston. It’s not like he was hidden in Milwaukee his whole career? Is it simply a case of Ruth, and everyone else? If you weren’t wearing pinstripes in those years, you’re not worth it?

Where’s the love?

Can I Quote You on That?

Guys who can field you can shake out of any old tree. Find me guys who can hit. – Rogers Hornsby

Hmmm. Maybe Rogers Hornsby needs to have a short chat with Theo Epstein.

Although, I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that Hornsby was one of the great hitter of his, or any, era. Of course he’d think that what he excelled in should be more important than other areas. But, the man has a point.

What he didn’t say was that guys who could field exceptionally you can shake out of any tree. Adequate fielders are all over the place. Most any guy playing Major League Baseball can get to most any ball hit towards his position. Even David Ortiz can snag most balls hit in the first base area. Think of your average infielder. How many times does he really need to run 10 steps to get to a ball? Not very often. How about the outfield? Think of Jacoby in left. Then think of Manny in left. Now, think of a Red Sox game. How many balls during a game does Jacoby’s defense make a difference? Is it even 1? Don’t get me wrong…every out counts. But, you can see Hornsby’s point. “Fielders” are everywhere. “Great fielders” might not be. Although, the same is probably true with hitters. “Hitters” abound, in the ranks of MLB at least. “Great hitters” are rare. I always thought, though, that I could be an adequate major league fielder. I can move well enough that I could get to most balls at, say, second base. I could probably cover enough ground to get to quite a few balls in left field. I have no hope, however, of making contact with a major league pitch. Maybe that’s what Rogers had in mind. Every neighborhood in America probably has people who could play defensively in the majors. It’s harder to find guys who can hit.

Which is why guys who can do both are so valuable.

Can I Quote You on That?

Losing clubs bicker, and you think maybe if they pulled together they would win. No. That’s not it. If they won, they would pull together. – Jim Bouton

Ahh. The annual argument of clubhouse chemistry. Which come first…the chicken or the egg? Is life like a Disney movie? If everyone is having fun, will it make them winners? I think I’m with Mr. Bouton on this one. In baseball, it just doesn’t matter.

Baseball is rather unlike other sports in that it really is a collection of individuals, as opposed to a team. Maybe defensively, there’s some give and take between teammates. Who’s covering what when? How much should one player shade to the left if another player is shading to the right? But, on offense, it’s all about the individual. If a player gets his three hits every time at bat, it doesn’t matter what’s going on around him. He just needs to play his game. If everyone is playing their game, the team is winning, and everyone is happy. If everyone isn’t playing their game, and slumping, than they’re not winning, and nobody is happy.

I’m reminded of Darryl Strawberry. I don’t remember if it was in 1998, or 1999, but he was upset about his playing time. He thought he should be playing more than he was. It’s that sort of attitude that creates bad clubhouse chemistry. But, as Strawberry himself pointed out, the team was winning. How could he complain about his playing time if the team was on a roll? So, he kept his mouth, mostly, shut. Isn’t that exactly what Bouton was talking about? The team was winning, so they pulled together. Now, if the Yankees were in last place, I bet you Strawberry would be telling everyone he could see that he should be playing more. Losing clubs bicker.

I think it’s pretty clear that winning leads to everything else. Why can Jeter inspire his teammates to play well? Because the team is winning. Why was Milton Bradley such trouble in Chicago? Because the Cubs stunk. Players do what they do, and teams win or lose. No rah-rah cheers will change that. No Grumbling will change it.

Which is why Manny should still be in a Boston uniform.

　

Can I Quote you on that?

Show me a guy who’s afraid to look bad, and I’ll show you a guy you can beat every time – Lou Brock

I think of Joe DiMaggio every time I see this quote. I also think of Mike Scoscia. But, I think Brock makes a lot of sense. Unless you’re willing to go all out, you’re not taking enough chances.

Joe DiMaggio was well known for keeping up appearances. He was always dressed to the hilt. It’s been said that he never needed to dive for a ball. I always think that that style was exactly what Brock had in mind. If you can’t do a belly flop every once in a while after a ball, you’re letting a lot more balls get by you than you should. Even with the best positioning, there will be plays you need to take that extra step to make. Sometimes you’ll make them, and sometimes they’ll get by you. But, you have to make the effort. Manny Ramirez, on the other hand, certainly wasn’t afraid to look bad. If he needed to fall to a knee, or on his butt, to make an attempt he did that. He certainly has looked bad plenty of times. I wonder about that play in Game 1 of the 2004 World Series. You know the one. Manny went to his knees to try to make a play on a ball, dug a trench in the outfield and looked like a buffoon. Something tells me Joe D would have pulled up and played that ball on a hop. I think I’d prefer the train wreck.

Mike Scoscia also strikes me as someone who isn’t afraid to look bad. He certainly didn’t mind looking like a fool calling for a squeeze play in the ninth inning of an elimination game. In that case, it didn’t work so well for him. But, in plenty of other cases, the risk has been worth it. If you’re not willing to take some risks, you’re going to lose. What did Wayne Gretzky say? You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take? You can’t care how it will look. You have to care if it will work. There are no style points in Major League Baseball.

Thank goodness for that.