tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1977384970015233286.post6095658891742597441..comments2023-11-03T06:13:31.161-04:00Comments on Prince of New York Baseball Blog: Retrospective CritiquesPAUL LEBOWITZhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03726846731779145384noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1977384970015233286.post-84791882139663646112010-10-07T13:35:36.653-04:002010-10-07T13:35:36.653-04:00(MacW, Prince) Handled like Gentlemen. There'...(MacW, Prince) Handled like Gentlemen. There's nothing wrong with being passionate about Baseball. BEER MAN! Over here! Three please. <br /><br />Halladay ~ Incredible is all I can say. Two no-no's in the same year; A no-no in his first ever playoff start? Sick. Now the real fun starts. It's time for every one's number two guy to step it up.<br /><br />Grady Little must look at Charlie Manuel and think, "Where did I go wrong?"BrooklynTrolleyBloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09704760727364587466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1977384970015233286.post-41272245568374888272010-10-07T13:08:18.283-04:002010-10-07T13:08:18.283-04:00I myself am not wondering where the Red Sox would ...I myself am not wondering where the Red Sox would be with Halladay, rather than Lackey. Lackey didn't cost prospects, so I understand why they went the direction they did. Not to mention, Halladay might not have made up the difference between a playoff spot and sitting on the outside anyway.Joenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1977384970015233286.post-89822708791563204462010-10-07T12:30:28.636-04:002010-10-07T12:30:28.636-04:00Thanks for clarifying your position about Ichiro a...Thanks for clarifying your position about Ichiro and stats. Here's my defense of the sabermetric viewpoint. A sabermatrician does not put much stock in the grand pronouncements of players, coaches, or pundits, they don't respect tradition for the sake of tradition, and they are suspicious of unsupported opinion and conventional wisdom. Rather than twisting stats to fit a preconcieved notion, their rigid adherence to methodology spares them from the vagaries of personal opinion, bias, partisanship, and assumption. (If they are twisting stats to press an agenda then they are not truly following the discipline of statistical analysis.) Ultimately this discipline offers a more objective and accurate evaluation of a player. A sabermatrician will read Jay Johnstone's story about how he took advice from Ted Williams to learn how to drive the ball, but rather than simply taking his word for it he will turn to Johnstone's career stats and find that it is impossible to locate where Jay began to take Williams advice, or whether he even took it at all. He will hear Willie Wilson complain after his career that Herzog hindered him from becoming a real hitter, something he could only accomplish under the tutelage of Lee May, but he won't take Wilson's word for it, he'd rather look at Wilson's stats to see if this is true. If Ichiro himself went up to Bill James and said that he was going to hit 30 homers next year, Bill would take it with a grain of salt or maybe dismiss it altogether, because his experience shows that Ichiro's own statistical history and the history of players like him have more predictive value. Now it may be true that as you say Ichiro always had the ability to hit for power but neglected to cultivate the skill(remember that his hitting coach Gerald Perry encouraged him to hit ground balls), but from a sabermetric point of view the idea that he can now begin to use this dormant skill at this stage of his career is essentially groundless (there is no evidence to support it), and that if the enterprise were undertaken it would almost certainly be doomed to failure. So now, perhaps you can understand my annoyance (sorry) when you wouldn't budge from your position. I hope you don't dismiss me as a hopeless stat zombie, but I can't, as Brooklyn Trolley has done, drink the Kool Aid (believe me, I would love to see Ichiro hit for more power). I listened to your podcast and found you inciteful, even if I disagree with your assessment of Ichiro.Macwhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08828247037694400473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1977384970015233286.post-63470867357139902202010-10-07T11:46:43.264-04:002010-10-07T11:46:43.264-04:00I forgot about the Yanks labeling Joba as a "...I forgot about the Yanks labeling Joba as a "can't touch" player. Man, must leave a bitter taste. <br /><br />I wonder if the Phillies miss Kyle Drabek at all.<br /><br />Wait, Kyle who?<br /><br />I expect the Liberty Bell to be replaced by a ginormous bronze bust of Roy Halladay. Soon.Jeffhttp://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1977384970015233286.post-11708434763100983492010-10-07T11:18:39.095-04:002010-10-07T11:18:39.095-04:00In professional sports, whenever a teams gets &quo...In professional sports, whenever a teams gets "the best" player available, there are a number of teams whose fanbase complains about not getting that player. It always happens, it will always happen, because anything is an excuse to complain about your team if it's not doing well, didn't qualify for the playoffs or does not look strong enough to ensure a championship.<br /><br />Roy Halladay, you just bought your one-way trip to Cooperstown.Gabrielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17357729971388996665noreply@blogger.com