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.

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:

To this day, I’m still mortified over what he said on air about the Padres physical therapist.

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

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?

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.