August 14, 20205 yr Growing up, I never realized how good of a player Jose Valentin was. I was a young meatball fan back then, like most are when they're young. I remember him leading the league in errors during his first year with the Sox, and thinking he was a lousy fielder. The advance metrics paint a different picture. Whether you like the stat or not, Jose's UZR at SS and 3B were very good throughout his tenure here. Below is Jose's WAR year by year during his tenure with the team: 2000: 4.5 2001: 3.3 2002: 3.5 2003: 3.9 2004: 2.2 Jose Valentin was a hell of a player with this Sox. I liked him, but didn't truly appreciate him in my younger years. Something I do remember is his walk-off against the Cubs. Man, was that sweet. https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/video/day-jose-valentin-hits-walk-homer-vs-cubs
August 14, 20205 yr Author 57 minutes ago, Blackout Friday said: Agree with you. Similar things will be said about alexei in not too long. Alexei did get ragged on a lot for his mental blunders in the field, but his range and arm were superb. He had some great years with the team. I have always been an Alexei fan.
August 14, 20205 yr Lately, I have been having the same thoughts about Jose Abreu's fielding. He seems to have worked on improving quite a bit. He no longer looks like a defensive liability.
August 14, 20205 yr 10 minutes ago, poppysox said: Lately, I have been having the same thoughts about Jose Abreu's fielding. He seems to have worked on improving quite a bit. He no longer looks like a defensive liability. he looks like he lost 15 pounds as well
August 15, 20205 yr In 2000, Valentin turned 117 double plays in only 136 starts at short stop. The greatest defensive player of all time, Ozzie Smith, never had more than 113, and that was in 158 games.
August 15, 20205 yr 4 minutes ago, Vulture said: In 2000, Valentin turned 117 double plays in only 136 starts at short stop. The greatest defensive player of all time, Ozzie Smith, never had more than 113, and that was in 158 games. The actual greatest defensive player of all time, Omar Vizquel, never turned more than 108. I'm not sure what that says. ?
August 15, 20205 yr Author 1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said: Things we were not wrong about: Ron. According to my Soxtalk profile, the people have determined my Community Reputation to be "Hall of Famer" status. I've also been deemed "winner of the day" 11 times. So SS2K5, you and all the great posters here were most definitely not wrong about Ron. You were god damn right.
August 15, 20205 yr 5 hours ago, TaylorStSox said: The actual greatest defensive player of all time, Omar Vizquel, never turned more than 108. I'm not sure what that says. ? Ozzie has the best defensive WAR in major league history and Omar isn't even close. Not that that is the be all end all, but it matches how I remember it, so I'm going with it. Point is Valentin turned a hell of a lot of double plays that year, and I'm pretty sure he had the most total chances by short stops that year as well. No one even came close to him in double plays turned. I'd argue he more than made up for the high number of errors by creating outs other short stops weren't making.
August 15, 20205 yr 3 hours ago, Yearnin' for Yermin said: According to my Soxtalk profile, the people have determined my Community Reputation to be "Hall of Famer" status. I've also been deemed "winner of the day" 11 times. So SS2K5, you and all the great posters here were most definitely not wrong about Ron. You were god damn right. That might get you a foot in the door at Manpower...
August 15, 20205 yr 2 minutes ago, caulfield12 said: That might get you a foot in the door at Manpower... He hasn't won the day in nearly five months. Hope he isn't just resting on his laurels!
August 15, 20205 yr 55 minutes ago, Vulture said: He hasn't won the day in nearly five months. Hope he isn't just resting on his laurels! That coincides with the beginning of the global pandemic. More competition, Ron’s wilting in the sun like Dutch tulips...
August 15, 20205 yr Author 9 hours ago, Vulture said: He hasn't won the day in nearly five months. Hope he isn't just resting on his laurels! 9 hours ago, caulfield12 said: That coincides with the beginning of the global pandemic. More competition, Ron’s wilting in the sun like Dutch tulips... Mic. Drop. Thanks for playing, boys Edited August 15, 20205 yr by Yearnin' for Yermin
August 15, 20205 yr 1 minute ago, Yearnin' for Yermin said: Mic. Drop. Thanks for playing, boys Rumors circulating on the Dark Web a Ukrainian troll farm was hired to hide behind VPNs and bombard SoxTalk with likes and trophies.... Mic drop only works for those 2,000 and higher...after missing most of last year, it’s a daunting challenge to get back in the “race.”
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