Nutritious Rookie Facts
Some pretty interesting facts have come to light over the past few days in the reportage and windbaggery surrounding the announcement of the AL and NL Rookies of the Year yesterday…
1. Did we know that Ryan Braun had the highest rookie slugging percentage in the history of baseball? Wow.
2. Troy Tulowitzki saved the Rockies something like 50 runs on defense, no matter which method you use. That is even more amazing, and probably means he’s the best defensive player in the game today. Although I can’t help wondering if Coors Field may be at least slightly skewing those numbers due to more balls in play or something.
3. Did we know Dustin Pedroia played the last 2 months of the season and the playoffs with a broken hand? Gamer!
4. Daisuke Matsuzaka had a higher VORP than Dustin Pedroia. This makes me feel a bit better about me having picked him as AL ROY back in my October 2 post. Still, after watching Pedroia’s amazing performance in the postseason, and now hearing about the broken hand, I realize I should have picked him over Matsuzaka. Giving that I also went knee-jerk with Braun over Tulo without even looking at the defensive stats, this now puts me in the embarrassing situation of having to admit to Sarah that I was wrong and she was right about BOTH Rookie of the Year picks. Ouch.
October 25th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Good stuff. Mets’ fans like myself have it good, as Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez work very well together. Gary was much better when he was on the radio, though.
The big six-foot-five right-hander looks in the for the sign. He shakes it off. Now he’s got one he likes. He toes the rubber, looking to his left at the runner at first. Now he’s ready. He winds, kicks and delivers. It’s a slider, low and away. The count is two-and-two.
That’s all I ask for. I don’t need to have sabermetrics or anything. I just want some people who are seriously good at their jobs and haven’t had it handed to them by some bizarre system of entitlement.
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October 25th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
How meta… a picture of the newspaper in which your column is published, on the blog where you write about sports writing, in which you’ve linked to the electronic version of your column…
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October 25th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
I couldn’t resist! One of my coworkers went to ALCS Game 7 (she actually won that chance-to-buy-tickets lottery that the Sox have—this gives me hope for future postseasons) and that was the day that my column ran in GameDay. So she took this picture, and now I feel like I was almost there!
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October 25th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
Oh, and Blastings, yes…Red Sox fans are lucky too. Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy are not only very good, they have great chemistry together. I frequently end up laughing out loud (with them, not at them) while also learning new things over the course of the season. And actually, just watching the pre-game commentary before Game 2 of the Series, I have to say I was mightily impressed with the commentary of Eric Byrnes. Sure, I was comparing him with Kevin Kennedy, Jeanne Zelasko, and that guy with the lisp and the hair plugs, and sure, my expectations were extremely low, but I thought Byrnes did a good job. After he’s done with the whole left fielder thing, he should give broadcasting a chance. He certainly has the hair gel for it.
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October 25th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
I dunno… I think Byrnes is trying too damn hard. But I must say, he\’s at least tolerable… unlike a certain Taco-Bell-promo-announcing woman… man, i hate her…
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October 25th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
Yes Leal, your disdain for Zelasko is well-documented. I don’t think she adds anything, but at least she doesn’t say things like, and I quote, “After you drop the bat, base-running is the most important factor in determining whether you will score.” What does that even mean?? Thank you, Tim McCarver! I mean, it’s like they’re just talking and not thinking. The brain and the mouth are not connected.
But Byrnes….I dunno. He had interesting things to say! I felt edumacated.
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October 26th, 2007 at 12:23 am
For my money, there is no better entertainment than Eric Byrnes in a kayak in McCovey Cove with his dog.
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October 26th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Also, the Mets’ broadcasters and in particular Kieth Hernandez are only enjoyable if you’re a Mets fan. Their homerism goes way beyond what is normal and acceptable.
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October 26th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Coley, I have to disagree to a certain extent. Obviously, Mets broadcasts are targetted for Mets fans. So yes, Keith and Ron Darling are going to spend time talking about their experiences as players on the Mets, and Gary Cohen grew up a Mets fan, which doesn’t interest many people aside from their fanbase.
But do you actually listen to the things Keith says? I’m not saying that he has neutral interest in the team’s success (he obviously wants them to do well), but he is very critical in comparison to other broadcasters. Down the stretch, he pretty much said flat out on air that the Mets were mailing it in. He doesn’t try at all to make players seem better than they are. But he picks them apart.
Check this article: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2007/07/29/2007-07-29_to_keith_as_to_fans_something_feels_wron.html
Basically, you need to give rival broadcasters a break. No Philly fan is going to enjoy listening to mets broadcasts as much as they do Philly’s. And the same is true vice versa.
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October 26th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
Paul, I don’t think all rival broadcasters are as bad as Hernandez. In fact, I don’t think any are as bad as Hernandez. Maybe you’re right. Maybe he is critical of the Mets, in addition to being critical of the visiting team.
But the last game that I watched, Hernandez went on and on about how the Phillies bullpen turned in the worst game he’d ever seen. Which may have been true, but probably not. After all, how bad could it have possibly been, since the Phils won that game?
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October 26th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Well Coley, based on your gripe from that game you saw – not sure which one you’re talking about – I’m not convinced that this is an example of homerism. Criticizing an aspect of the opposing team isn’t homerism. You can disagree with his analysis, but it’s different than bias. Suzy Waldman is a homer. Keith has been known to rip into Mets players constantly.
Here’s a bit from an ariticle from ESPN.com:
“The SNY trio is funny, insightful, and — most importantly — brutally honest. When the Mets blew yet another pennant race game to the Washington Nationals Tuesday night, Hernandez trashed stars Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes, holding little back as their defensive gaffes helped New York lose yet another critical contest. Darling willingly chimed in that pitcher Jorge Sosa was inexplicably, inexcusably out of position on a play. It’s the sort of stuff fans need to hear” – Jeff Pearlman
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=pearlman/070926&sportCat=mlb
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October 26th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Well, my problem with Keith Hernandez is his knuckle-dragging views on women.
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October 26th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
Sarah, you win the prize for most “indisputable argument”.
To this day, I’m still mortified over what he said on air about the Padres physical therapist.
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October 26th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Sarah, I hope you typed that comment from the kitchen. Because the blogosphere is no place for a woman.
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October 26th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Coley, not only was I in the the kitchen, I was barefoot, pregnant, and making my famous Backlash Apple Pie (a pinch of machismo and a dash of raw chauvinism is the key to a good crust). Now I plan to massage my boyfriend’s feet while he watches porn.
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November 13th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
The day is mine! This is truly a first in Sarah-Nick relations. I graciously accept and would like to thank my family, my agent, and God.
Seriously though, how about that DP. Plus, I know a lot of the reports said it was his hand that was broken, but the actual bone is the hamate bone, which looks more like a wrist bone to me. For a guy who swings so hard and makes so much contact to be able to produce with a broken wrist is insane! No wonder Boston women are suddenly all drooling over this little 5′5″ guy with a face like a hamster.
Hamate:
Hamster:
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November 13th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
RE: Tulo
A bit of park effect at Coors, though not what you’d think.
They mentioned during World Series games that the infield grass is grown deliberately long at Coors; something like 1.75 inches versus a normal 1.25 inches, in order to slow down the ball. I would guess that this was done to reduce overall scoring there.
Long grass good glove = better glove.
I don’t know if such things as home/road splits are available defensively, but it would be one way to look at it.
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November 14th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Nick, I’ve just learned a fifth nutritious rookie fact! Braun is the first Jewish player ever awarded a Rookie of the Year award, according to some newspaper in Jersualem.
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