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Saturday, August 19, 2006
the smartest team in the league
the yankees. i've said some disparaging things about them in these pages, and what i've said is true: their talent level is not that high. it's high, but not as high as people think. i went on to conclude they've been lucky. but what i've come to realize lately is that they're smart. they're the smartest team in baseball. that's why they win.
you gotta give credit to joe torre. the job he's done these past two years has been incredible. he's easy to overlook, because of the talent. but i'll say it again: the talent level is not that high.
what am i talking about? look at their pitching. chien-ming wang does not get strikeouts. he relies on control and intelligence. randy johnson no longer gets strikeouts. same deal. mike mussina has been good. what else do they got? how do they win all those games?
their lineup is good. not really. it's not that good, from a talent standpoint. what it is is smart. they have a lot of trouble making contact. giambi, posada, abreu, all those guys strike out. arod gets his share. cano's back that helps. and damon hits for contact. melky cabrera. but come on. you're not gonna hold up melky cabrera as the reason the yankees are good.
the reason the yankees are good is they take pitches. they walk, they get in good counts, they get good pitches to hit. the key is they walk. what makes chipper jones such a great hitter? he walks. the yankees are a lineup full of walkers.
a hitter wants to be aggressive. when you swing, you wanna swing hard. but you also have to be selective. selective and agressive. don't fear the strikeout. embrace the walk.
the key is to get on base. a walk is 100%. a ball in play? nowhere near 100%. somewhere around 30. some hitters upwards of 40. that's way worse.
so many hitters swing too much. jeff francoeur. swings too much. i'm watching him swing right now. he's good at baseball, but he's not good at playing baseball. he's got so much talent. he could be so much more.
the goal is to walk. sometimes the pitcher refuses to walk you. that's when you gotta hit it. but only then. you swing at crap, you get out. outs are bad.
get 'em on, get 'em over, get 'em in. no. get 'em on, get 'em on, get 'em on. you keep getting them on, they'll get in. just get 'em on.
so many players are good at baseball, but they're not good at playing baseball. the yankees are good at playing baseball. they understand the game.
Comments:
when you look at melky cabrera, he does get a lot of walks. so maybe he is the reason the yankees win!
damn straight. melky is solid. and it's better to have solid melky than solid milk. hell, liquid milk is pretty gross. i wonder what liquid melky would be like. i bet it'd be sweet.
#posted by 
:
8/28/2006
:
8/28/2006
Fuck ya, that 200 million payroll really made them smart you fuckingtramp. Go get fucked in an ally by Jason Grimsley again.
Todd Hundley strikes again you hooker.
Todd Hundley strikes again you hooker.
#posted by :
9/17/2006
:
9/17/2006
well, i was talking about the players, not the management, so the payroll isn't an issue, but i'll see if jason grimsley is available.
not sure what you mean with that hundley comment.
Post a Commentnot sure what you mean with that hundley comment.
