Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Thank You. No, Thank You

Via @Dodgers:

11 comments:

Kyle Baker said...

Your roving reporter Dusty Baker checking in...

This morning on the way to work I was listening to MLB radio on Sirius/XM. Charlie Manuel was on (he's a regular on the show). I usually turn the station so I don't have to hear his valley girl drawl and ignorant hick logic, but today I left it on because he was scheduled to talk about the ASG selection. Sweartogod he said the following re: choosing Ryan Howard over Joey Votto:

"Well, you know, like, he's like my guy you know? And when we like looked at Howard's numbers, and you know, Votto's numbers, there were like the same, except for you know, On Base Percentage, OPS, and all those other statistics."

I almost turned the car around and went back home.

Votto:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/vottojo01.shtml

56 R
92 hits
21 HR
65 SO
59 RBI
.318 BA
.418 OBP
1.017 OPS

Howard:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/howarry01.shtml

52 R
95 Hits
15 HR
59 RBI
82 SO
.296 BA
.350 OBP
.852 OPS

So he's correct about their equivalency on some old school measures. Except that Votto has better BA, one hitting above and one below .300. And Howard has a lot more SOs. But it just shows that Manuel is clueless about newer (better) measures of a fielder's performance, and is unwilling to embrace the reality that "his guy" may not be as good as the person he's comparing him to. He pulled this "my guy" shit last year, and that was more than enough. This year, it's unacceptable.

Josh S. said...

Since Howard finished second in the fan vote, all mush-mouth has to say is, "the fans want him so I want him." I think people would accept that answer more than the "my guy" stuff.

Nostradamus said...

Charlie "I need a" Manuel, indeed.

Just once, I'd like an ASG manager to just own the fact that he picked a particular player because he plays on their team.

Mr. LA Sports Czar said...

Reporter: "Why Howard?"
Manuel: "Becaue he's my guy."
Reporter: "But why not Joey Votto? He's virtually better than Howard at every statistic imaginable."
Manuel: "Well, there's something that those fancy numbers can't tell you, but I can: He's my guy."
Reporter: "But-"
Manuel: "MY GUY!"

Fred's Brim said...

and my guy gets an extra half mill for making the all-star game, and he said he'd take me fishing with him if he got it

Kyle Baker said...

No statistical analysis could take my hand from my guy
No OBP comparison could ever take the place of my guy
He may not be an All Star
But when it comes to being happy we are..

Booger said...

Broxton couldnt have spit out that gigantic wad of chew before the recording?

Unknown said...

For any true Dodger fan in Southern California, the only place to be on Saturday July 10th is Pepperdine University in Malibu where The Dodgers Legends Team plays a game of ball against the Hollywood Celebrity Team coached by Pete Rose. 6 pm game time. Eddy D Field Stadium. Here’s the lineup. Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Bill Russell, Steve Yeager, Jerry Reuss, Jay Johnstone, Maury Wills, Kenny Landreaux, Rudy Law, Mike Lieberthal, Todd Zeile, Bobby Castillo, Lee Lacy, the names go on and on. For more information go to http://www.naturalbalance.net . You can meet and get autographs and photos of many of these players at the Family Fan Festival before the game starting at 2 pm. You wont see this group on the playing field again! And Garvey has stated he would like nothing better than to beat a Pete Rose team. Can't wait to see it!

Josh S. said...

Huh. I would have thought the only place for a true Dodger fan to be on Saturday would be, y'know, AT the Dodger game.

That event sounds nice too, though.

Kyle Baker said...

For the record, Mrs Dusty, MDIL and I will be at the game on July 10. I hope that still qualifies us as real Dodger fans!

Kyle Baker said...

Per Eric Stephen:

"Before tonight's game, the Dodgers activated Carlos Monasterios from the disabled list, a move which was expected. However, the corresponding move was not expected: Ronald Belisario was placed on the restricted list for "personal reasons." This is not the first time on the restricted list for Belisario, who began the season there after showing up to camp 35 days late."

What tha--??