Thursday, June 03, 2004
HEADING NORTH
A few years ago, a purchase was made for 20 Montreal Expos ticket certificates – a partial season ticket plan. It was wicked cheap $120 CAD or $75 USD at the time for general admission tickets – trading up is not much of an issue – so it was a great deal. Plus, I got an invite to a special fan day that included two VIP tickets, Q&A with Frank Robinson, pitching instruction from Javy Vazquez and base running with Guerrero - Wilton not Vlad. To make a long story short, I was able to see Vlad play more than most Sox fans.
Even more so than Nomar, Vlad swings at everything and usually makes good contact so the Sox plan for Vlad was peculiar. Vlad crushes the ball to the tune of 389/473/769 (2001-2003) with the count 0-0. Other than Vlad’s first at-bat, Pedro threw a curveball way out the strikezone for a swinging strike then made a mistake - a hanging curveball middle-in that was deposited in the leftfield bleachers; Sox pitchers had a terrible game blowing strategy against the MVP candidate - they threw him first pitch strikes. Here are Vlad’s next plate appearances:
2nd at-bat – on the first pitch, Vlad hits a double
3rd at-bat – on the first pitch, Vlad hits a sac fly
4th at-bat – first pitch ball, second foul, third pitch Vlad hits a homer.
5th at-bat – on the first pitch, Vlad hits a single.
The Sox should not have thrown Vlad a first pitch strike or a strike anytime the count is even or the pitcher is ahead. They did not have to give into him with Jose Guillen and the no names that follow. Vlad has one weakness at the plate, over aggressiveness, and the Sox exploited it only twice getting burned both times a few pitches later. Even the best plans do not always work out as they were drawn up.
Other news and notes
• Johnny Damon does not need to be platooned. Damon’s 1-for-16 against Washburn is not statistically significant. Damon has no lefty-righty spilt. Over the last three seasons, he hit 280/337/414 against LHP and 268/343/399 versus RHP in 1875 at-bats. Damon should have been in the lineup with an off day today.
• Finally, the Pokey-Bellhorn debate gets some mainstream media attention. Eric Van on…Bellhorn ranks fourth. "But he's still 48.9 runs better than Pokey Reese . . . The conclusion is inescapable: Mark Bellhorn is at least 30 runs better at the plate than Pokey Reese [per 162 games], quite possibly 50 runs better."
• Given what fellow 40-year-olds Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson are still doing, does Saberhagen, whose career was short-circuited by a bad shoulder, sometimes wish he were still competing? "Absolutely not," he said. Sabes, my apologizes for roughing up your shoulder at Tin Roof.
• "He might be back," Francona said. "I kind of forgot to ask." That gives you some idea of how important Kim is to the current scheme of things. Tito later on in the interview, “Don’t ever mention his name in my presence again! He is dead to me.”
• John Sickels on Youk: In the long run, he should be able to provide a good batting average and excellent OBP for several years. He is a good example of how an intelligent skill approach can make a player valuable despite mediocre physical tools.
A few years ago, a purchase was made for 20 Montreal Expos ticket certificates – a partial season ticket plan. It was wicked cheap $120 CAD or $75 USD at the time for general admission tickets – trading up is not much of an issue – so it was a great deal. Plus, I got an invite to a special fan day that included two VIP tickets, Q&A with Frank Robinson, pitching instruction from Javy Vazquez and base running with Guerrero - Wilton not Vlad. To make a long story short, I was able to see Vlad play more than most Sox fans.
Even more so than Nomar, Vlad swings at everything and usually makes good contact so the Sox plan for Vlad was peculiar. Vlad crushes the ball to the tune of 389/473/769 (2001-2003) with the count 0-0. Other than Vlad’s first at-bat, Pedro threw a curveball way out the strikezone for a swinging strike then made a mistake - a hanging curveball middle-in that was deposited in the leftfield bleachers; Sox pitchers had a terrible game blowing strategy against the MVP candidate - they threw him first pitch strikes. Here are Vlad’s next plate appearances:
2nd at-bat – on the first pitch, Vlad hits a double
3rd at-bat – on the first pitch, Vlad hits a sac fly
4th at-bat – first pitch ball, second foul, third pitch Vlad hits a homer.
5th at-bat – on the first pitch, Vlad hits a single.
The Sox should not have thrown Vlad a first pitch strike or a strike anytime the count is even or the pitcher is ahead. They did not have to give into him with Jose Guillen and the no names that follow. Vlad has one weakness at the plate, over aggressiveness, and the Sox exploited it only twice getting burned both times a few pitches later. Even the best plans do not always work out as they were drawn up.
Other news and notes
• Johnny Damon does not need to be platooned. Damon’s 1-for-16 against Washburn is not statistically significant. Damon has no lefty-righty spilt. Over the last three seasons, he hit 280/337/414 against LHP and 268/343/399 versus RHP in 1875 at-bats. Damon should have been in the lineup with an off day today.
• Finally, the Pokey-Bellhorn debate gets some mainstream media attention. Eric Van on…Bellhorn ranks fourth. "But he's still 48.9 runs better than Pokey Reese . . . The conclusion is inescapable: Mark Bellhorn is at least 30 runs better at the plate than Pokey Reese [per 162 games], quite possibly 50 runs better."
• Given what fellow 40-year-olds Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson are still doing, does Saberhagen, whose career was short-circuited by a bad shoulder, sometimes wish he were still competing? "Absolutely not," he said. Sabes, my apologizes for roughing up your shoulder at Tin Roof.
• "He might be back," Francona said. "I kind of forgot to ask." That gives you some idea of how important Kim is to the current scheme of things. Tito later on in the interview, “Don’t ever mention his name in my presence again! He is dead to me.”
• John Sickels on Youk: In the long run, he should be able to provide a good batting average and excellent OBP for several years. He is a good example of how an intelligent skill approach can make a player valuable despite mediocre physical tools.
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Thank you - Red Sox!
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