Reds Tidbits (2009 season)

[buckeyefool]

There were some vicious rumors floating around - and not that what he's actually going through is any better - but I'm glad he's at a point now where he can come forward about it.

I hope that having his comeback series in his hometown helps him, and I hope he can somehow pick up where he left off.

Yeah I hd heard some crazy ones going around

 

[jlb1705]

The next time Taveras makes it to first they should credit him with a stolen base.

 

[EDDIE GGGG27]

Why does Taveras always swing at 2-0 and 3-1 pitches? Doesnt he know his job is to get on base by any means necessary? Does Jacoby or Dusty ever go over this stuff with him?

 

[jlb1705]

Why does Taveras always swing at 2-0 and 3-1 pitches? Doesnt he know his job is to get on base by any means necessary? Does Jacoby or Dusty ever go over this stuff with him?

Of course not. If he gets on base then they're clogged - and we can't have that.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Why does Taveras always swing at 2-0 and 3-1 pitches?

Because he's a terrible hitter?

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

Tavares batting first, Dickerson batting 9th.

JFC. JFC. JFC. JFC. JFC.

[McEnroe]You CANNOT be SERIOUS![/McEnroe]

Not to harp on poor Willy or blame all of the teams issues on him, but......

Since May 13th, the day the Reds completed the sweep in Arizona and Wee Willy was batting .322 with a .382 OBP......

Willy, in 26 games, is 11-106 (.104 BA ) with 1 double, 0 triples, 0 homeruns, 2 RBI, 3 walks (3!!!!), 24 strikeouts, and 4 stolen bases (in 6 attempts). An OBP of .128.

The Reds are 10-16 in those games. They are 4-5 in that stretch when his sorry ass stays on the bench.

.128

JFC. Darnell F. McDonald would be an improvement. Strike that. Darnell F. McDonald would be a MAJOR fucking improvement.

.128

God, I hope someone makes a Youtube Hitler video about this worthless sack of batshit.

 

[jlb1705]

In statistical parlance that's called "regression to Dustyball"

And I know we pile in Dusty a lot, but I do want to echo something positive that somebody else said on RedsZone. He was the perfect manager to handle Joey Votto's situation from a human perspective. Votto says the entire organization has been supportive beyond his expectations, and my assessment is that Dusty plays a big role in that. I don't want to think of how it might have turned out if the Reds were managed by a total dick like Joe Girardi.

 

[ArmyVet83]

Tavares batting first, Dickerson batting 9th.

JFC. JFC. JFC. JFC. JFC.

[McEnroe]You CANNOT be SERIOUS![/McEnroe]

Not to harp on poor Willy or blame all of the teams issues on him, but......

Since May 13th, the day the Reds completed the sweep in Arizona and Wee Willy was batting .322 with a .382 OBP......

Willy, in 26 games, is 11-106 (.104 BA ) with 1 double, 0 triples, 0 homeruns, 2 RBI, 3 walks (3!!!!), 24 strikeouts, and 4 stolen bases (in 6 attempts). An OBP of .128.

The Reds are 10-16 in those games. They are 4-5 in that stretch when his sorry ass stays on the bench.

.128

JFC. Darnell F. McDonald would be an improvement. Strike that. Darnell F. McDonald would be a MAJOR fucking improvement.

.128

God, I hope someone makes a Youtube Hitler video about this worthless sack of batshit.

Batshit (Guano) is a mulit-billion dollar business (Ace Ventura). Now a worthless sack of puke would be more appropriate. Damn!!

Jaxbuck could not have been more right about management signing this guy. Jesus he is terrible. Dusty must have a hard-on for guys that suck ass. Patterson and Willy T stand out but God did they hire these tools to screw this once great franchise. Hell give me 70 mill to put a franshcise together that can at least compete and I could do it in my sleep. It's hard to believe that Dusty ever played an inning of baseball. He must be upset when the Big Red Machine beat the hell out of his Dodgers. Damn the Reds need major fricking reconstructive surgery from the front office down to the minors.

 

[Jaxbuck]

It's hard to believe that Dusty ever played an inning of baseball.

Thats exactly the problem with guys like Dusty, Joe Morgan, Grande, Marty and fans like H&G that take their word as gosphel. They played ball and think that they know everything there is to know about it from stuff that was flat out taught wrong.

They were taught batting average is the best indicator of offensive prowress, strikeouts were bad etc etc etc. During their formative years guys they looked up to told them it was so and in their mind that makes it so until the end of time. When you get old enough to be some kids tee ball coach it really gives you insight into how little that fucker knew when you were a kid.

The real issue is they are completely closed minded to any other school of thought no matter the amount of data put in front of them. You can explain OBP, SLG, runs created, runs allowed vs runs scored and anything else you want until you are blue in the face. All you'll get is scorn and some over simplification of the argument that always ends in a statement such as "stats don't tell you everything", "he's just a ball player" "don't talk to me about OBP", "stat heads who never played" "baseclogging" etc.

This is all smoke from the same fire...they don't understand it so they mock it. The hilarious part to me is that the first person to use OBP and SLG to determine a players true offensive value, as opposed to the traditional counting stats everyone else used, was none other than Branch Rickey in the 1950's. Yeah, THAT Branch Rickey. He was doing what any smart business man will do. Looking for the inneficencies in a market and exploiting them for his own gain. The traditionalists often attribute this behavior to Billy Beane and lump it in the "Moneyball" school of thought they have such disdain for. I would love to hear poofy haired announcers with galactic ego's play the "don't talk to me about OBP I've been around the game" card with Branch Rickey if he were still with us.

No one with a brain that looks deeper into the stats thinks any one stat can tell you everything about a ball player. There is a value on a players clubhouse presence that you cannot quantify. Defensive metrics used to be very weak but are getting exponentially better every year. Soon I think we'll have the OPS of defense so to speak, and be able to assign a true value to defense for the first time in the games history. I am not against the traditionalist point of view, I don't believe that stats can tell you everything about a player. I also think that many moneyball/saber guys take it too far.

I do however think stats are tremendously powerful tools that can tell you a lot in a short amount of time if you simply know what to look for and like any aspect of life, people who are completely closed minded to anything different or new piss me off to no end.

Just like we talk about in regards to style of play I think strict adherance to any style is a flawed approach. A blend of style is always best. Give me a GM who is comfortable and knowledgable about the SABER side of the house but also understands the human element...blend the old school and new school if you want to be really successful.

Managers/GM's who are too tightly wedded to a small ball or long ball strategy will never be as successful as they could be imo. Give me a team like the 90 Reds or better yet the late 90's Yankees dynasty. Solid defense, pitching (especially the pen) and a lot of 25 HR, 90 RBI .800+ OPS guys who can do a little of everything.

What the Reds are trying to do now is pound a square peg in a round hole. The past 10 years or so was so far to one extreme (the beer league softball teams of Bowden) that they are going 180 degree opposite just to be opposite when its not going to net you anything more in the end. You don't have to emasculate the offense to be a good pitching and defense team. You are allowed to score a lot and prevent a lot, its allowed under the rules, I checked. This fantasy of bulding a 1970's style small ball team to play in GABP doesn't jive with reality and will net you guys like Tavaras. You cannot let the wish foster the thought or some such thing.

In the end does anyone outside of a few zealots/idiots really care what style the team played all year before they went home to watch the playoffs again?

 

[Mike80]

Tavares batting first, Dickerson batting 9th.

JFC. JFC. JFC. JFC. JFC.

[McEnroe]You CANNOT be SERIOUS![/McEnroe]

Not to harp on poor Willy or blame all of the teams issues on him, but......

Since May 13th, the day the Reds completed the sweep in Arizona and Wee Willy was batting .322 with a .382 OBP......

Willy, in 26 games, is 11-106 (.104 BA ) with 1 double, 0 triples, 0 homeruns, 2 RBI, 3 walks (3!!!!), 24 strikeouts, and 4 stolen bases (in 6 attempts). An OBP of .128.

The Reds are 10-16 in those games. They are 4-5 in that stretch when his sorry ass stays on the bench.

.128

JFC. Darnell F. McDonald would be an improvement. Strike that. Darnell F. McDonald would be a MAJOR fucking improvement.

.128

God, I hope someone makes a Youtube Hitler video about this worthless sack of batshit.

Well at least he isn't wearing out your bullpen arms or throwing the younger pitchers on 3 or 4 days rest....yet.....

 

[EDDIE GGGG27]

Is any1 else watching this? Last year on this day Bronson went 1 inning gave up 10 earned runs vs Toronto and so far tonight he has given up 5 earned runs and 3 HRs in 1 inning of work.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Is any1 else watching this? Last year on this day Bronson went 1 inning gave up 10 earned runs vs Toronto and so far tonight he has given up 5 earned runs and 3 HRs in 1 inning of work.

BA has value in that he eats innings and mixes in good outings with these baby seal clubbings but that skill can be had much cheaper. He needs to go away.

I remember when a certain minority at RZ were saying to trade him after that fast start he had when the Reds first acquired him. The idea was his value was at an all time high and we needed more prospects to go with what was then our savior in Homer and Bruce down in the minors. BA was a career swingman before he came to us and chances were pretty good thats all he was ever going to be.

The "we're still in it" crowd threw a major hissy. Mostly stating that we had just stolen Cy Young from Boston for some magic beans. My trade idea was Arroyo to the Yankees for Hughes and Tabata because they were desperate for pitching and it would be a chance for the Boss to stick it to Boston.

Hughes and Arroyo would be a wash after 2006, what you don't get from Hughes in production you get in youth, upside and cost. Tabata at the time was a 17 year old 5 tool wonder kid tearing up A ball. He's now with the Pirates organization at the ripe old age of 20 and still putting up good numbers down on the farm. Pure conjecture on my part if the Yankees would have done that deal but it was the kind of thing a smart team would at least try to do.

The Reds of course decided to just hang on to Cy Young and get him a big fat extension as quickly as they could.

 

[CookyPuss]

They still have a fighting chance tonight, I have Richmond starting for my fantasy team. I haven't had a pitching win since I don't know when. Last night, I had 2 guys whose teams had leads going into the 9th and both bullpens blew it.

I was in the backroom painting and had the game on the radio. Brantley was convinced that the Jays have figured out a way to read Bronson's pitches, specifically the curve. He said they were laying off the curve and sitting fastball. He also said they were in the dugout covering their mouths with towels and laughing. Cowboy said that's a sure sign that something is up.

Marty was off tonight, so Thom was doing the game. Lots of talk about how long to wait it out with Fast Willie and Hernandez. Basically, they were saying when is this team going to decide what kind of team they are going to be and dump the chumps. Given Dusty's pregame Q&A, it didn't sound promising. When asked about what to do with guys who are struggling, he demurred about "young guys." I kept thinking WTF? Fast Willie and Roberto are not "young guys." Bruce is slumping, but he is not the reason this team sucks. Dusty is a fool. Not much coming from Walt either, denied having any discussion with anybody regarding BA. Thom seemed to be of the mind that they should be getting what they can. Cowboy worried that fans would see it as throwing in the towel on the season for a salary dump. I say bring on the dump!

 

[Jaxbuck]

I was in the backroom painting and had the game on the radio. Brantley was convinced that the Jays have figured out a way to read Bronson's pitches, specifically the curve.

They said the same thing about Danny Graves at the end of his career.

Cowboy worried that fans would see it as throwing in the towel on the season for a salary dump. I say bring on the dump!

Every year the same bullshit about people seeing it as quitting so they do nothing. You know what happens when you don't make bold moves and try to get better? Nothing.

This team isn't that far away but all they really want is a decent enough team to get decent enough attendance to make money.

 

[jlb1705]

On the bright side, Bronson probably dropped his Canadian ERA by 100 points with that horse abortion.