I just thought I’d trot out the lamest headline I could think of today.
The runners up?
– On your MARK, get set, go!
– Prior committment!
– Look out National League, The Franchise is coming to kick your butt!
Frankly, I’m going to miss the Meat Tray. But Matt Clement is due for a groin tear any day now, so the Meat Tray bought a round trip bus ticket to Des Moines in anticipation.
Hey, do you think we could go a whole day without talking about Corey Patterson?
Of course not. Rick Morrissey actually writes a pretty decent column about Corey today. But we need to revisit what intrepid reader Chuck said about Corey in a post earlier today on the thread from yesterday’s Dose.
Intrepid reader# 32: Chuck
Andy:
The reason Korey frustrates is NOT because he “played so well last year.” A look at the numbers reveals he really didn’t. He had a huge opening day, made a bunch of baserunning errors, and played a mediocre outfield.
The reason he frustrates is that he’s been given more chances than any other player with a similar record deserves. As TW and I have pointed out, other than Low A, he’s sucked at every level. He’s got an uncoachable attitude. He refuses to learn from mistakes.
What does he have going for him? The same thing John Thierry had going for him: A physique.
And for all the Moneyball sycophants out there, how long does it take people to realize that Korey is just a bad player?
Gary Scott got 175 MLB at bats before his career was over.
Kevin Orie got 1,051 MLB at bats before his career was over.
Patterson has over 1,200 MLB at bats and still going.
Those guys are missing one thing that Korey has – a bonus.
It’s just so wrong. For so many reasons. I understand the sentiment. But Gary Scott? Kevin Orie?
And this line, made me Chuck-le.
The reason Korey frustrates is NOT because he “played so well last year.” A look at the numbers reveals he really didn’t. He had a huge opening day, made a bunch of baserunning errors, and played a mediocre outfield.
So he didn’t play well last year? He wasn’t going to be an All-Star until he got hurt right as the 25th man ballotting started? We didn’t all see just how good he was in the outfield when Kenny Lofton showed up and kept watching flyballs go over his head?
Corey’s overall numbers last year.
83 games, .298 avg., 13 HR, 55 RBI
If you take away his opening day 4-6 with two homers and seven RBI (which, I’m not quite sure why you would, but you want to, so let’s…)
82 games, .291 avg., 11, 48
But I really enjoyed the comparisons to Kevin Orie and Gary Scott.
Orie’s best season was 1998 when he hit .275 with eight homers and 44 RBI.
His career numbers were a whopping .249 with 22 homers and 116 RBI.
Scott? Career numbers of .160, 3, 16.
Anyway, Chuck is a well-reasoned individual. Like all of us, he gets fired up from time to time. He wants to blame Corey for the Cubs current fourth placedness and I don’t begrudge him. I prefer to blame it on the real culprit. I’m blaming it on Chip Caray.
OK, not really. But I didn’t re-post Chuck’s post because I thought it was ridiculous. It’s not. I used it because it perfectly summed up the sentiment we get about Corey during the gamecasts. I’m part of it, too. I rip on him both as myself, or under a witty pseudonym when he does dumb things and strikes out with the bases loaded. So I don’t want Chuck to think I was picking on him. He was singing for the chorus on that post. That’s why I used it.
Anyway…
Here’s what really gets me. This is the thing that sticks in my craw. I’m not sure where the craw is located, but this is sticking in it.
We’re frustrated with Derrek Lee, there’s no doubt about it. I can’t bring myself to not like Derrek yet, though. But it could be coming.
Here are the numbers for Derrek and Corey so far this year.
Derrek Lee: .257 avg., .340 on base, .421 slg., 5 HR, 27 RBI, 42 K, 20 BB, 3 SB
Corey Patterson: .257 avg., .316 on base, .414 slg., 6 HR, 21 RBI, 44 K, 16 BB, 7 SB
Pardon me if the huge difference in these stats doesn’t leap off the page at me. Derrek has a slight edge in some categories, sure. But I just don’t see it.
Basically, what it says to me is that both Corey and Derrek have sucked so far. Throw in the abyss at shortstop and you’ve got a horribly uneven offense. Like we didn’t know that already.
If even just one of the two guys would start to play well, it’d make a huge difference.
And finally, for the last time, for those who can’t tell that we don’t actually blame the struggles of a team on Gabor Bako, but rather just enjoy making fun of a pretty lousy player, I can’t help you. You’ll fit right in over on Cubstalk.com though, so pull up a stool.
—
Here’s a really good article on Mark Prior. The best I’ve ever read on his background.
Mariotti puts down the doughnut to sink to a new low. He devotes his entire column (and I would assume most of today’s radio show) to this story about a Mark Prior autograph signing. Allow me to be the first to give this a big “Who gives a f@#$?”
Middling baseball mind Phil Rogers wrote this same, damn, thing for ESPN.com on Tuesday. Nice work if you can get it. Even if you can’t pull it off.
Did Rob Mackowiak’s wife give birth to a baby, or kidney stones? I’m confused.
Magglio has to decide whether to have his knee fixed, or continue to play on it while it’s hurt. Just how hard is that choice? Especially since the Sox 500 pound trainer, Herm Schneider contends that with rest, the knee is actually getting worse?
Seabiscuit’s Jockey reminds us of all-things absurd in Cubdom so far this year. Great?
I like Avani Patel, I think she writes good stuff, but I don’t get this thing about the Notre Dame baseball team? Does she think they’re good, or not?
John Jackson on the new Comcast Sports Channel. A few things about this. First, Gary Miller is apparently in the lead to be the “face” of the channel. Let’s just keep him away from bar rooftops. Gail Fisher’s future in Chicago is in some doubt. Which is too bad considering just recently she’s actually figured out how to comb her hair. Also, if you currently can only access Fox Sports Net Chicago through DirecTV you may well be screwed when Comcast takes over the Cubs broadcasts. Comcast and DirecTV hate each other, and while eventually Comcast will end up on DirecTV, it could take a while.
Sammy’s ready to take some “wet cuts!” Yay?
The Bulls may strike a deal for Eddy Curry after all. Re-signing him, not trading him. Sorry, Groucho.
Devin Harris is taking his overbite to the NBA. No looking back now.
Rick Telander is college pals with one of Gary Barnett’s lawyers. This column is a little less painful than most. But come on, do we really NOT think that Gary’s a scumbag?
The East St. Louis police want to chat with Darius Miles. Never a good thing. Imagine this, a Trail Blazers player under investigation for drugs? Really?
This was linked to yesterday in the discussion area of the Dose, but it needs it’s own link. Another excerpt from Jeff Pearlman’s book, “The Bad Guys Won” on the 1986 Mets. My own favorite Jeff Pearlman moment was when he sent me an e-mail to tell me I was a “wad of crap.” Hey, thanks! Now why don’t you run along and go make fun of David Wells’ mom, again?
Obviously, somebody wanted to prove that there’s more than one way to skin a cat.
Canadians don’t normally shower in car washes? They don’t know what they’re missing.
America’s finest news source says that a Minnesota man is ready to reopen his investigation of the 1998 disappearance of his rake.
Andy, I used to respect your opinions. Then you wrote that Avani Patel – possibly the worst reporter the Tribune has ever hired – "writes good stuff." Come on, dude.
Go White Sox …
Gah.,
I respected your opinion on Avani Patel. Then you said "Go White Sox…"
Come, on dude. The only time that’s appropriate is when they are contemplating a move to Milwaukee or St. Petersburg.
The Herald ran a story on Prior’s supposed evil-doing last night, and I’m waiting for Prior’s side of the story to get out there. It sounds to me like a greedy storeowner set this thing up for failure by not letting Prior reschedule this thing when it showed that today would be his big day.
Oh well. You think Fat Jay overreacted? My wife compared Prior leaving to "kicking puppies."
How about battin’ Corey lead-off? It sounds crazy, but it might work. Walker would be better in the two hole.
Dusty,
I love you and you love me. But would YOU bat me lead off? Not unless you were holding onto Rod Scurry’s crack pipe.
The Franchise will select me today to get the season turned around. Burn those blue uni’s and wear the stripes at all home games.
TJ, I read that Herald story too and it definitely gives more of Prior’s side than any other account I’ve heard or read so far. My favorite part is when the store owner is asked about the 6-9 time frame and he says "we never said that Mark Prior would be here from 6-9, we said that Cubfest would last from 6-9".
Avani Patel is the worst reporter ever hired by the Tribune? Not in my lifetime…pick one from the list:
John Kass, Terry Armour, Bob Sackamoto, Mike Holley, Skip Bayless, Bob Greene, Fred Mitchell.
come on … here’s every lead that Avani has ever written ….
"Twisting through the hallways of the Joyce Center, Chris Thomas quizzically looked at a rabid fan with his face painted the familiar hues of the blue and the gold.
Thomas led the Irish to victory, 87-36, over Georgetown on Sunday in front of a crowd of 16,547
Hey kids,
Check out my work before you have to pay for it!
Rob Me Blind Neyer, take that story backbackbackbackbackback.
what an unmitigated piece of crap. we pay your for this? you talentless hack.
Thank you, Mark Prior, for blindsiding the staff of Just Ducky Too, and the tens of thousands of terminally ill children who turned out to meet you.
I now have columns for the next seven months.
Check us out!
Buy some crap!
Hey listen to our crappy radio show today to get the scoop on the Mark Prior appearance. Since I was there, I can provide some insight. Also, Ryne Sandberg will have some comments.
RE: DLee
I for one am not surprised at his output. In fact, I distinctly remembered last October, that he was the one man in the Marlins lineup that I did not fear. Sure, he had a couple of big hits in the later games, but he died like a dog in the first four games.
He ends up with decent "fantasy stats" which is one of the reasons I hate stats. He’s offensive inconsistent, he has a big game every now and then, which just props up his stat line for the weak pop flies he hits the rest of the year.
He’s Fred McGriff with a glove. Which is fine, I guess. Just not the answer…
A point from yesterday I wanted to revisit…
Someone said the Cubs don’t develop patient hitters. Current minor league K/BB ratios for future prospects include:
Jason Dubois @ 2.08/1
David Kelton @ 2.69/1(trade bait)
Nic Jackson @ 2.79/1(trade bait)
Felix Pie @ 2.32/1
Brendan Harris @ 1.41/1
Choi @ 1.56/1
And let’s not forget Palmeiro and Grace.
Korey’s minor league ratio was 2.86/1. As of last year in the majors it was 6.19/1.
And while it’s not a 100% accurate barometer, good strikezone judgement is one of the few semi accurate predictors of future success. Bill James has written on this extensively (see Moneyball by Billy Beane). Plus, I think you’ll find the majority of teams employ stars that weren’t homegrown talent. We’re not alone there.
There are a few differences between K-Pat and Leon Lee. K/BB ratio for Lee is 2.1, Korey is at 2.75 (small number makes a big difference). Lee puts the ball in play more. How many opportunities has Korey had to score a guy or move a guy to 3rd just by making contact? Quite a few. Plus, Lee’s career averages are better than Korey’s which leads you to belive he’s more apt to bounce back to his averages than not (unless this is an off year, in which case it’s reasonably fair to expect career averages next year). Also, as much as it seems like a shite answer, Lee is playing in a new town for a new team. He’s got to be under more pressure in CHI than he was in FLA. Plus he’s hitting infront of A-Gon (he of the 8.5/1 ratio) or Ramon Martinez (he of the .288 SLG%). Korey has hit infront of Sosa and Alou. If you buy into the "which guy would you rather face" theory, that’s a huge K-Pat advantage.
Koery needs to demonstrate that he wants to get better. He hasn’t done that yet. He needs to be sat down or sent down. A trade with him and someone like Sisco, Nolasco, Jones or Ryu would garner a pretty good established player.
Hmmm…
I didn’t realize what a bargain it was when I bought the Wrigley Field thing for $79 at a local store.
You know, the one on the Just Ducky website for $299.
And, after reading the article in The Herald, now I see why people fall all over themselves for foul balls. I had no idea a baseball costs $199. I hope my local retailer doesn’t find out that he should be charging me almost 20 times more than what he does for authentic MLB baseballs.
I put the ball in play more. That’s why I hit into so many double plays.
TW…
I couldn’t bear reading your long, rambling, boring spew, but I did see my name compared with Patterson while skimming it before I fell asleep.
You forgot another difference. Corey has yet to be caught throwing his schlong in women’s faces.
I’ll be wearing this for today’s game!
Well, I used to hit behind Derrek in Florida, and I can’t imagine I helped him out much.
And take the Blackhawks with you!
To the Schaumberg Flyers!!!
Uh Alex, I hit 4th or 5th most of last year, and you hit 7th or 8th.
Actually, you had most of your at bats hitting 6th (318).
Normally I had Todd Hollandsworth (you might know him) or Mike Mordecai or eventually Jeff Conine back there.
Where’d you get your info Alex? Just curious, not bashing. Incase you couldn’t tell, I love this stuff.
What, that Lee usually batted 6th?
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlbpa/players/5775/situational?year=2003&type=Batting
Not sure if Alex did all of the research. But you can check out old boxscores at http://www.retrosheet.org
Or you can check out the season splits at espn.com’s stat pages and see how many at bats Hollandsworth had batting 7th or Mordecai or Conine or whoever.
Look bozos, I’m as good a case as any as to why you should give a youngster 1000+ ABs before coming to judgment.
Check what I did from 1989-1992….
1293 ABs
37 HRs
141 RBIs
.234 Avg
67 SBs
Here’s Corey, career to date
1285 ABs
39 HRs
146 RBIs
.259 Avg
46 SBs
This is not to say that Corey = Sammy. It is to say that he may still develop.
Thats a little misleading. In Sammy’s first 4 years the league OPS was .709, .709, .717 and .715. For Korey it was .762, .766, .756 and .768. Korey is in a slightly more offensive time period and should have better numbers. All this means is that Korey looks worse when compared to his peers than Sosa did.
Hopefully, we’re pretty well past ballplayers going from skinny 180 pounders to 230-250 pound weightlifters in the span of just a few years.
(Sosa, Bonds, Giambi, etc.)
Hey TW, in your OPS factoring, did you include my time in the AL, which had a higher OPS thanks to the DH?
Or are you just another Corey hater?
If Corey turns into a 5-9 250 lb player…he’ll turn into me.
Sammee! if you had half a brain you’d A) be an idiot and B) see that it was included. AL .715 NL .703 = .709
F off troll.
Um … wow. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/04/sports/baseball/04casey.html
I’m batting third again today.
That’s a reward for my fine performance over the past week.
for those who don’t want to subscribe for #33.
Sean Casey has been innocently playing first base for the Cincinnati Reds as base runners have turned him into a genie bottle. Casey can feel opposing players touching his leg, patting his back or brushing bodies with him, all in a superstitious search for some of Casey’s hitting magic.
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Jeff Bagwell of the Houston Astros squeezed Casey so tightly during a game last month that he might as well have been Casey’s mother. When Bagwell followed that by wiping his hands up and down Casey’s arms, Casey asked his friend for an explanation. Bagwell told Casey to share some of his hits.
"I have guys rubbing up against me all the time," Casey said this week in Miami. "It’s funny. Some guys, I don’t even know that well. I can feel like an arm or something. I’m looking at them and they say, ‘Hey, can I get a couple of those hits?’ "
Casey is having the type of season that has caused some of his peers to act strangely around him. The unexpected contact does not bother Casey, the top hitter in the major leagues, who finds it amusing that a .391 batting average has turned him into a 6-foot-4 rabbit’s foot.
There is little luck involved in what Casey is doing. He has always been a superb hitter. He entered the season with a .29965 career average. But, across the first two months of the 2004 season, Casey, 29, has found the kind of groove that hitters fantasize about. Everything feels perfect. Everything is a line drive.
"It just seems like every time he goes out there, it seems like there are already two hits on the board for him," Cincinnati Manager Dave Miley said. "He just goes out there and gets hits, and a lot of them are big hits."
Two days after Miley’s comments, Casey had two of those big hits. Casey spoiled Dontrelle Willis’s bid for a perfect game by flaring a single with two outs in the seventh inning Wednesday. Then Casey stroked a two-run homer off the left-hander Matt Perisho to vault the Reds by the Florida Marlins, 3-1, and give them a sweep of their three-game series in Miami. It gave Casey 10 homers and 42 runs batted in, so he is on a pace to exceed his career highs of 25 and 99.
Casey is a left-handed contact hitter who is equally adept against right-handed and left-handed pitchers. He crouches at the plate, with his right heel elevated as a timing mechanism, and swings from an open stance. Casey seldom strikes out, an important attribute for a player dreaming of hitting .400. He has whiffed 18 times in 50 games and has averaged 64 a season in his career.
"Usually, I put the ball in play and I’m giving myself a chance," Casey said.
But for someone who is viewed as a studious hitter, Casey sees a modest amount of pitches and does not walk often. He has seen 3.1 pitches an at-bat this season, much less than his teammate D’Angelo Jimenez’s major league-leading 4.5, and has walked only 19 times. He is also a slow runner, which will hamper his quest to become the first player since Ted Williams (.406 in 1941) to hit .400. Unless Casey’s grounders seep through a hole, they are routinely outs.
While Casey said that it was "pretty decent" that he has been near .400 into June, he added that he would not be absorbed with the idea of hitting .400 unless he were still close in two months. Casey called himself a realist, knowing how difficult it is to average two hits in five at-bats for 162 games.
Ken Griffey Jr. gushed about Casey’s abilities to make adjustments from pitch to pitch and how that separated him from hitters who are not as savvy or as knowledgeable. Griffey explained how Casey "looked so bad" flailing at Tommy Phelps’s slider in a game against the Marlins last Monday. When Phelps tossed a slider on the next pitch, Casey smacked it for a homer.
"I’ve got the best seat in the house for watching him," said Griffey, who bats behind Casey.
If Casey ever stayed close to .400, the increased media attention would probably not unnerve him. He is a gregarious sort and greets visitors with a hearty handshake, laughs at the end of his sentences and happily drives a 1995 Honda with what he described as a huge dent on the hood.
He said he did not consider himself a .390 hitter, but he stressed that he did consider himself a perennial .300 hitter who has felt great during almost every at-bat this season.
"It will be interesting to see where I am in September," Casey said.
Casey recalled how Colorado’s Todd Helton flirted with .400 four years ago before finishing at .372. Helton was still hitting .400 on Aug. 21. Casey said he was so fascinated by Helton’s pursuit that he searched for daily updates. Now Casey could be the next serious pursuer.
"If that were to happen, it would be a pretty neat thing to follow," said Casey, already bracing for the next hand on his shoulder, or the next hug.
Hey TW, I asked you a simple question. No accusation involved. Way to go overboard with the f-bomb response!
Wait, I got it: You’re Kenny Williams. Or Milton Bradley.
TW, quite pimping our copyrighted material!
I know they didn’t teach you about copyright at Moraine Vally and your "safety school," DeVry, but you’re not supposed to disseminate accounts of our reporting without the express written consent of moi.
Sorry but the link clearly states where the article is coming from and at no time did I claim I wrote it nor did I try to take credit for it. I’m in the clear. Much like your urine Grey Lady…Lay off the burbon.
As we speak, I’m taking my first "wet swings" since my sneeze, buddy. Sarge slipped in some of it, and I think he broke his tailbone, buddy.
TW, there is no link in your post, nor any sort of attribution, so what you’ve done is taken one of my articles and posted it under your initials.
I appreciate the word "advertisement" appearing in the middle of your mighty cut-and-paste job.
Get a brain! Moran!
Mark prior’s pitch count: Baker said we can’t tell anyone what it is. Come on Bakes we are all dying to know. Maybe say between 85 to 95 pitches. What a mastermind you are.
Dear Sox or Cardinals fan… A 4th grade education…get one.
"Intrepid reader# 35: TW
for those who don’t want to subscribe for #33…."
"Intrepid reader# 33: SMG
Um … wow. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/04/sports/baseball/04casey.html"
I like how the Grey Lady of Journalism gets yappy about journalistic/copyright laws on behalf of the mighty establishment that hired and staffed Jayson Blair….
Don’t worry Mark, I’ll be there to pick up the slack after you leave the game…zzzzzzzz
TW — Bait and switch, bitch. Very Fox News of you — you’ve learned from the masters!
Please get one of me Grey Lady.
My sources tell me that TW stands for Tiny Wit.
The Grey Lady, however, claims from firsthand experience that it stands for Teensy Weenie.
A) Hey, way to rhyme. That’s good for you.
B) Apology accepted.
What the hell are you guys talking about? Can’t we just all enjoy an article about the homoerotic relationship between Sean Casey and Jeff Bagwell without having it degenerate into a debate on journalistic ethics?
Apology? We only print corrections, dearie.
JB,
Really now…Aren’t we out of grade school yet? What’s next, jokes about my mother?
>>[I]f you had half a brain you’d…be an idiot
F off troll.<< I enjoy being in grade school.
CT, thanks for reminding us what really matters.
Andy:
Thanks for the Dose dose. Just read it as I got back from doing some real work.
When you check what he did last year, please be sure to look at the times thrown out on th bases and his poor throwing. Just his poor baseball instincts en toto.
He was bad.
In the hell freezes over department–
Tony Womack hit his THIRD homer of the season in the romp over the Ass-tros. Really? By my count, that’s half as many as the bonus baby Korey Patterson and the $7MM man, Derrek Lee. Wow.
Hey, the Cubs suck right now, but at least we have the excuse of not having our best hitter, 1A best pitcher, starting 2B, starting SS, and two key reserves on our roster. What is the Ass-tros excuse? They look mighty vulnerable to me.
We need to start getting concerned about the Deadbirds. Let’s see a TLR vs. Johnnie B. knock-down, full blown brawl in the coming series. A 99mph heater from the Farns in Sir Albert’s ear would be a nice start too.
I’ll be sitting this series out. Please don’t fire any fast balls into the dugout. It would interrupt my nap.