TCR Friday Notes
- Colin Wyers, whom writes at GROTA and Statiscially Speaking, begins a series at the Hardball Times looking at the überstat systems like Win Shares, WARP and WAR.
- The Hardball Times also looks at hitters with an affinity at swinging at first pitch fastballs - Gathright (in a bad way) and Soto (in a good way) are mentioned.
- Fantastic piece by Stats Inc. on newly acquird Aaron Heilman and his repertoire. There's some words of warning in there, but it's pretty clear he has filthy stuff.
More after the jump...
- It appears our curmudgeony manager has an aversion to pitchers. Hat tip to MLBTR for the links..
When ex-hitters become managers, some, like Lou Piniella of Seattle, never develop an understanding for pitchers. Piniella has been able to channel the manic competitiveness of his playing days into the dugout, barking at umpires, screaming at his coaches, demanding accountability for mistakes and sometimes just plain bullying his players. Hitters like Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez have responded to his intensity. Pitchers have not. Piniella ''is the manager who hates pitchers,'' says Jeff Nelson, a Yankees reliever who used to pitch for Seattle. ''It's not hard to understand why that is.''
Piniella was a great hitter for 18 seasons; his professional responsibility was to loathe pitchers. How could he just shut that off?
''He just doesn't have patience,'' Nelson says. ''He doesn't understand pitchers. He tells you, 'Throw the ball over the plate.' You feel like saying: 'Is that what I'm supposed to do? I didn't know that. I thought I was supposed to come out here and walk everyone.' ''
To quote Jim Kaat from Sunday night's BBWAA dinner, about his old Yankees teammate Lou Piniella: "I've always been amazed that a guy could be such a successful manager even though he hates pitchers."
- A look at the potential mechanical flaws with Rich Hill. I have some issues with the article since it appears to be relying on stock photos from different time periods with no true reference point. For all we know, those could be at different points in his motion and nothing has changed. For the right way to do a pitching mechanics comparision, check out a Carlos Gomez or Chris O'Leary post (NSFMPH - Not Suited for Mark Prior Haters).
Also, the article points to a re-teaming with O's pitching coach Rick Kranitz, although Hill has often given more of the credit to Alan Dunn. Of course, Dunn is the bullpen coach for the Orioles, so same difference.
- Wild-ass speculation on my part, but let me weigh in on this Blanco vs. Bako debate that seems to be raging. When the first reports of Bako signing came out I recall a throwaway line about the Cubs wanting someone who would be comfortable with not playing much. Then last week there was another throwaway line from a radio report that the Cubs weren't too pleased with Blanco last year. This leads me to the conclusion that Blanco did a bit of behind the scenes sulking about not getting into more games and probably why they chose to go another route. And Bako is one of God's People, i.e. hits from the left side.
- To follow up recent top 50 announcers of all-time lists, Yahoo Sports does the bottom 50. I respectfully disagree on #13(Gus Johnson) and #29(Dick Enberg). If you don't like Gus Johnson, you watch sports for all the wrong reasons.
- The Heckler pokes fun at the Bleacher Stalkers.
- A relative new entry in the Cubs blogosphere - Bleacher Nation - spends some time covering other Cubs blogs.
- Wrigleyville23 and Out of Right Field have taken up our MVN spot after The View from the Bleachers left. Hope it goes better for you guys. (Bites lip...checks calendar to see when non-disclosure agreement expires).
- Harry Pavils at Cubs F/x did this year's Hardball Times Season Preview entry for the Cubs.
Enjoy the weekend!
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