hammerhead johnson

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 09:18 PM) Looks like Andruw Jones has become Hammer's Tyson Chandler aka most recent obsession. Why, because I said he could be a .250 hitter, and that it's not extremely far-fetched for him to get a single with a man on second?

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 09:15 PM) Seriously dude? You're in an interesting mood today apparently. If he could hit .280 and put up a .350 OBP, as he is capable of, then yeah, why not? It makes a hell of a lot more sense than putting him in the 5 hole. But I never even said that I'd do it - I said that I'd think about it. I'm not in an interesting mood. It's just misunderstandings that are rampant this afternoon.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 09:10 PM) He picked up 17 hits during the spring, how many of those did you actually see? Seriously though, what can you really learn from like 25 to 30 PA? Would you trade big time prospects for a player if your scout advised you to do so based on him sitting in the stands for 5 games? If I was scouting Vernon Wells right now I'd have to say he's one of the best hitters in the game. I'm not even talking about results. He's been labeling a lot of balls, and if they happen to result in outs, who cares. The point is - he ain't no .220 hitter on April 10, 2010. More like a .250 hitter. And yes, I don't have to see all that many plate appearances to get a feel for what a guy is capable of, and neither do you.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 09:05 PM) Hammerhead, your one of my top 3 personal favorite posters. One of the rarest times I strongly disagree with you, and don't get you in this one. Hell even a freaking hit and run would have been better than a man who, prior to last season, has never bunted before in his life. I was more impressed Becks got the bunt down actually.. good technique he showed. Looks like he's been working on that. It looks like he's pretty damn good at bunting, though. It's one of the numerous reasons why I didn't have an issue with it. Again, context is everything.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 09:07 PM) So what if he is a singles hitter? He looked like a .300 hitter during the spring and has done that before in his career. If he's going to hit .300 during the regular season that OPS will be up around .780 to .800 which would make him a pretty good 5 hole hitter. Awesome 5 hole hitter with the career .410 slugging percentage. I'd consider putting him in the 2 slot, though.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 08:59 PM) Then why don't you want Mark Kotsay hitting 5th? He looked amazing last month and during September of last year. Dude is a singles hitter. The sarcasm done backfired.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 08:53 PM) I'm smart enough to know that spring results are to be taken with a grain of salt seeing as how it's glorified batting practice and what? A 60 PA sample size, that's 2 weeks worth of games. I wouldn't base an opinion on a player through the first 2 weeks of the regular season let alone spring training. But how has Andruw Jones looked in his at bats? Much better than a .220 caliber hitter, correct? He's been labeling a lot of balls. I'm talking about scouting a dude, more or less. You guys are busy telling me that I need to take spring training results with a grain of salt, something I knew back in '83 when I was a kindergartener. But thanks for reminding me. And Balta, Beckham looks like he will eventually be a .300 hitter, but maybe we're jumping the gun a little bit with this "OMG HE'S OUR BEST HITTER DON'T TAKE THE BAT OUT OF HIS HANDS" crap.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 08:51 PM) You can't possibly argue that Jones is a .275 hitter and then refuse to think that Beckham could be better than .270. When did I say that? Jones looks like he could put up at least a .250 average this season - I'd be shocked if he stayed in the .220 range. Beckham is a .280 type until further notice. And thanks to some of y'all for telling me that spring training stats don't matter - I did not know that. I don't know why I even bothered to tune in for any of the games.

Who gives a s*** about the stats. I'm just going off how certain players looked in their at bats. Hell of a concept, huh?

From what I saw of Andruw Jones throughout spring training, he's much better than just a .220 caliber hitter. A good 30 to 40 points better. I don't know how this is even arguable. I also don't know how Kalapse and Balta thought I was basing my opinion on the first three regular season games. I thought that y'all were much smarter than that.

Was spring training last year?

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 08:36 PM) We did the same thing in the 7th inning also with a righty on the mound. True. I'm mostly zoning in on the 9th inning.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 08:32 PM) k...i'm done. Whatever. From what I've seen of Andruw Jones this year, he's much better than just a .220 hitter. Not even debatable.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 08:29 PM) Well I would consider Steve Stone a pretty good baseball mind and he thought that Pierre should of tested the bad throwing catcher instead of bunting him over on the first pitch. Steve Stone is the best baseball man that I know, and I'd have been game to test Marson if they'd have had a right-handed reliever out there.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 08:28 PM) Well, then Andruw Jones is about a .220 hitter until further notice. Except we all know that he's much better than that. I don't know if Beckham can clear .275. It remains to be seen.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 08:15 PM) ahh, the defer to management because they have jobs in management and we don't so they must always be right school of thought. Brilliant. Terry Bevington, brilliant baseball mind. He was a manager, you know! But even Terry Bevington would wax anyone on this board.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 08:15 PM) but not hesitant to have your best hitter bunt because you've seen some people do it before in the same situation so it's fine. Gordon Beckham is a .270-to-.280 hitter until further notice. People already have him in the hall of fame, for some odd reason. It is also not beyond the realm of possibility for Konerko or Andruw Jones to get a base bit.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 08:00 PM) Or if the guy at 1b can steal 2b at a high success rate. We already covered this, though. Left-handed pitcher with a balkish move to first that doesn't get called. I'd have been hesitant to steal as well.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 08:10 PM) Having your number two hitter bunt isn't necessarily a bad idea, but what really sucks is when your number two hitter happens to also be one of your best hitters in the lineup and the rest of your lineup is short on legit RBI men. It sucks to take the bat out of one of your best hitters in a game situation like that. Agreed, but hey, that's just how it happened to unfold.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 08:03 PM) Why is Ozzie even there? Trust me when I say that he is at least a thousand times the baseball man that you could ever be. The fool is the one who is delusional enough to think that he'd have done a better job, given the circumstances.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 07:59 PM) This is so stupid, i can't believe we are arguing sacrificing beckham twice in the late innings as a good move. I already stated that I'd have Beckham hitting third, but since he was in the #2 slot when the leadoff hitter had reached first, it was the right move based on the circumstances. If they walk Quentin, that gives Konerko or Jones an opportunity to get a single, and much stranger things have occurred, correct?

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 07:42 PM) in which case you have 1 out with 3 of your best hitters coming up, instead of 1 out, man on second and first, with one of your best hitters who is also a DP machine, and then a not so good hitter. Yeah. But when you need one run, the highest percentage move is still to sacrifice and get the runner into scoring position with less than two outs. This will never change.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 07:37 PM) IMHO, and as someone else pointed out, I'd have taken the risk. If he successfully steals, you can put the bunt down then and have the go-ahead runner on third with 1 out for Q. If he gets picked off or thrown out, than hey, you let Beckham swing away. The guy is a doubles machine. You may end up with the same situation as you were trying to get to in the first place. I guess I'm just really conservative, because all I can think about is the worst case scenario where the baserunner gets thrown out. I'd much rather just bunt him over.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 07:32 PM) and you'd have lost the game. A runner on 2B with two outs to work with, and all you need is a single. It's a chance worth taking. Maybe they walk Quentin, but Konerko is unbelievably hot at the moment. They've been doing this since the 1860s. It's tried and true, yo.

Thank god that Bosh broke his face. I have the best avatar on this site, hands down. The baby boomers can't stand it. They young bucks can't get enough of it.