Catch 8
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Posts posted by Catch 8
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On 8/6/2021 at 11:30 AM, Sports Guy said:
Good argument that he was the best pitcher in Os history. (The argument is based around peak/numbers as an Oriole..obvious Palmer is more accomplished and probably still gets the nod but I think it’s closer than Os fans want to admit)
That said, I don’t think he should have his number retired because he did leave. It was PA’s fault but he still left.
I wouldn’t hate if they retired his number but I don’t feel it needs to happen either.
First post in a few years--Mussina 97 ALDS was the definition of an ace. Locate in, out, and spike the knuckle-curve. He had at least three very good to exceptional pitches. I remember him throwing the filthiest 3-2 change to escape bases-loaded against Texas (~95?). It was terrible when he departed for NYY.
I only saw Palmer in the 93 Old Timers' game, and he wasn't that good
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DirecTV/Sunday Ticket is worse than a blackout.
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On 7/4/2020 at 7:55 AM, DrungoHazewood said:
Is it wrong to make a choice that will work out in your favor 99% of the time, and there's no way to tell if this particular choice is the 1%?
And again, couldn’t have said it better myself.
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On 6/24/2020 at 2:47 PM, Ruzious said:
Good post. I definitely don't like the extra inning experiment, but gimmicks like that can help the O's.
With the 60 game sprint, all you need are a couple of good streaks, and you could be in contention. The O's still have no shot at the playoffs, but they could make it interesting for a while. And each game should be more meaningful.
Great insight! We are naturally the worst team in the league. So the more baseball is dicked around with, the better our chances of ending up with a favorable outcome!
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I would have said no and would have been wrong. Who could predict his sustained success, especially in light of a positive steroid test at an advanced age. This is one you can’t blame on management. But kudos to Nellie!
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I have friends who can offer Manfred horror stories back during the Selig regime. Not accepting them blindly, but still, this man hasn’t proven to be anything brighter than a monkey with a pencil. And I don’t like him.
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On 7/1/2020 at 10:18 AM, DrungoHazewood said:
Bonilla would have been better off if he'd taken the money up front and invested it in a relatively safe place. But if he knew that was beyond his willpower and he would have burned through it years ago, I guess good on him for being honest.
This exactly.
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Just now, Moose Milligan said:
Need. Pitching.
Really, two outfielders is inexcusable.
Colby Rasmus, anyone??
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Just now, O-Arm36 said:
Law had him at 51 but sounds kinda Joey Rickard to me
"If he can handle center field, he’s got a chance to be an above-average regular even without average power; if not, he might be a quality fourth outfielder who plays all three spots but doesn’t quite have the thump to be a regular in a corner."
Made me think of Fiorentino, myself. Again, just a guess since I have no idea who this is.
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Just now, Can_of_corn said:
That was the joke.
Yeah I deleted my comment, but you beat me to the reply!
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Not top 200 on BA, not that means too much. So we are going to spend half our allotment?
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1 minute ago, backwardsk said:
How long does this go tonight? Just to 29 or the competitive balance picks too?
Through #37
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27 minutes ago, OFFNY said:
o
BALTIMORE O RIOLES ))))))(vs. D-RAYS, 7/13) )))))[GAME TWO]
Jonathan Rafael Villar Roque - SS
John Dwight "J.D." Smith, Jr. - LF
Anthony Santander - RF
Chance Sisco - C
Renato Nunez - DH
Chris Davis - 1B
Steve Wilkerson - CF
Rio Ruiz - 3B
Hanser Joel Alberto Pena - 2B
John Alan Means - LHP )) (7-4, 2.50 ERA)
OPPOSING PITCHER
Charles Alfred Morton IV - RHP )) (10-2, 2.32 ERA) ) *
* )) Leads the American League in ERA (2.32) and FIP (2.84)
https://www.baseballpress.com/lineups
o
Cross him off then!
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12 minutes ago, Roll Tide said:
You could argue Davis didn’t work out either due to a medical reason. He stopped using Adderall.
That argument is valid. We certainly did not expect CD to fall off a cliff after signing his name.
Though there were warning signs since CD had a pitiful year separating two sensational years.
The item here is Machado--we needed to be aggressive with him. And if we were not resigning Machado, IMO that should have been a rebuild--however, I understand my opinion here is not a slam dunk by any means. Just my perspective.
At the time, I would have been happy had we got CD and Manny. And CD would have failed and I would have been wrong. But I can be wrong b/c I wasn't privy to things that decisions-makers should be. CD had easy easy power. I also wouldn't have been upset had we not signed him and took the picks. Again though, if we knew no Manny, don't sign CD. My $0.02
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8 hours ago, 24fps said:
Your approach would quickly and permanently change the headline from Chris Davis: Shadow of His Former Self to Baltimore Orioles: Oppressive A**hole Weasel Franchise and accelerate Davis’ transition to full-on underdog status. This has already begun. The story is no longer “crippling contract” and “historically bad”is getting stale too.
This is one of those rare moments where the choice actually is black or white. If the O’s don’t release him - which would be my recommendation - then they have no choice but to fully and publicly support his rehabilitation. It looks like Mike Elias gets this.
CD is getting his money: the players, Tony Clark and his super union, etc. would be fine with any outcome whereby Davis collects his money. I doubt Elias is shooting straight right now--and that may be the right call for now *shrug*.
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11 hours ago, Maverick Hiker said:
The Orioles signed Belle for 5 years for what would be S100 million today. He had to stop playing after 2 years, and retire due to injury, but the Orioles had to keep him on the Major League roster for 5 years in order to be reimbursed by insurance for a part of the millions they were paying him.
The acquisition of Belle is generally considered one of the worst moves for the Orioles. Yes he played well but for a very limited time for the Orioles, then the contract and him on the roster weighed the team down.
Sorry to continue the slight derail, but Belle was a good signing that did not work out due to injury. AB murdered pitching and Pete signed him b/c he was headed to the Yankees. We had just lost Palmeiro and Mussina was in his last year--and I'm sure everyone thought Moose was re-upping. Good decision (at the very least, def not a bad decision), unfortunate and unforeseen outcome.
If Pete couldn't tell the difference between bad luck and a bad decision--as the narrivate goes--and then hid his money under a mattress until Tejada, well... yeah.
SIgning Belle was a line out to center: the hitter did his job, just tough luck. Keep hitting it there!
We still had players on that team.
I did forget we kept Belle on the 40-man.
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6 hours ago, Gus said:
The money is lost either way they go. He provides little offense. My guess the Angelos brothers think they are protecting their father's image by hanging on to Davis. To let him go, and admit their colossal mistake, is too hard on the collective family ego. So they pray for a miracle.....
I'm at least pleasantly reminded of my grandfather who, after his second stroke, maintained his obsession with Lucent years after it devolved into a penny-stock. Prior to losing his remaining marbles (and small fortune), my grandpa's dot-com darling was a wild performer. My father and I had to eat the shares we were once gifted because Pop Pop and the mouthy broker were bffs from A.G. Edwards. LOL, he was also blind at the end but spent an hour every day "reading" his investment reports--or whatever my aunt handed him. Loved him!
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4 hours ago, Il BuonO said:
Agreed. My dad had me calling the game as a ten year old playing with older kids. A lot of my understanding about pitching came from the knowledge I developed as a catcher.
Let me your idea a step farther. Tell me what yall think.
A good coach encourages you to think and, in some ways, teaches you to think.
I always give this math example. How do you add 99 to a number, mentally?
Math was my thing as a kid, so I was fortunate to alone pick up the concept of adding 100 and subtracting 1. This is a simplified and non-baseball example of the message I try to push to kids when I coach, help out, speak, etc.
As a catcher, I believe you pick up many of these things. You are also challenged to discover other things like this yourself.
Let's begin with Tony's example as handsome 15-year-old. We can even ignore than Tony knew the hitter couldn't hit a breaking pitch and ignore that tony was squatting a fart away from the hitter every plate appearance, knew the umpire, knew his pitcher, etc.
How many 15-year-old hitters are good curveball hitters? How many are expecting one in a 2-1 count? All that kid's life you know he has been tough to not swing at the CB when ahead in the count. If Tony calls the curveball, say the pitcher misses it. Still, you have a man on base. You still aren't serving up a cookie. If you THINK you can get away with a borderline FB, maybe try it. The only reason I say try the FB is b/c he will expect it on the 3-2 count and you can punch him out with even a get-me-over breaking pitch.
Nonetheless, the hitter's job up there is not to walk--it is to win the game. Unless the pitcher has no control--and it IS an all-star game--that extra base runner is for the pitcher's comfort only. The 2-1 fastball is just what the kid wants and it's a walk-off.
That coach was either obsessed with having control over teenagers, or he never thought himself into that 2-out 2-1 count situation with tying and go-ahead runners in scoring position. The easy thing to do is say "2-1, so the book says throw a fastball." God forbid the pitcher goes to 3-1 and then walks the dude. Then the bases are loaded and.... that means absolutely nothing, coach. A maniac personalty and thinking only inside his comfortable box cost his team the game. And I'm sure he ripped someone else for it.
I've lost games before as a coach and it sucks. And I am loud and clear when I am wrong. Not because I am holier than thou, but because it was a teaching opportunity.
Learn to think! It comes easiest to catchers! But anyone can do it or encourage it to your son. It applies to everything in life. And make mistakes, own them and explain them. Thinking on another level is the fun way to play the game.
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4 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:
I called all of my games in Little League, highscool, and adult baseball. In fact, the only time a manager called a pitch for me was in my 15-year old All-Star game. We were playing the other area that made up our high school so the best kids on their team were on our high school team so I knew them well.
With two outs in the bottom of the 6th, up 2-1 with two ours and runners on 2nd and 3rd, for some reason my idiot coach wanted to suddenly call pitches. He calls my name and discreetly gives me one finger to throw a fastball. I was like, "No way." The kid at the plate couldn't hit a curveball to save his life but could murder fastballs.
He calls time out comes over and tells me to have the pitcher throw a fastball. I was pissed but did what he asked. The batters screamed a liner to the fence and we lost 3-2 knocking us out of the tournament.
I literally took my glove off and threw it at the fence near my coach and walked away. No one ever called another pitch for me ever again.
When I coached at Archbishop Spalding I tried to teach my catchers how to call games but unfortunately the head coach still wanted to call pitches. I really wanted them to learn to do it but that's just not how it's done anymore and it's ashamed.Tony, I feel you.
I didn't catch until college, so I never had one of those moments. The one thing I would have differently done is try to at least extract the coach's thought process out of that pitch-call.
It is an all-star game so the kid is there to hit, you have a base open and he is expecting FB. In that count and situation--and age--you only throw the fb if he didn't catch up to the previous one.
But you cannot have a discussion with many coaches today, which is unfortunate, because that is how you learn. If he was so hellbent on a fb, he should have approached you at some point--since he IS the coach--and explained his perspective. Maybe you would have learned something. Stubborn for the sake of being stubborn.
Glad you called games after that!
Respect goes both ways. Sure the Coach is boss, but what good is he if you can't approach him or he doesn't explain his madness?
And by the same token, instead of yelling, a good coach probably finds an opportunity to ask why the catcher wanted to call something. And if the catcher had no answer, then let him have it.
So this is what I missed not catching as a teenager.
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1 minute ago, ChuckS said:
Adley looks much shorter to the ball to me than MW.
Bad comparison by me in my previous post.
Wieters' swing was longer than the B & O Warehouse.
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27 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:
As I've said before the comp I remember was to Varitek.
If his pre-draft grade was that high he would have gone #1 over Price.
I've watched a lot of Wieters, obviously.
I have only read about Adley.
The difference pointed out to me about Adley from scouting report is good athleticism for a catcher.
Wieters had terrific SKILLS, but hardly any athleticism (relative to MLB catchers or position players).
One scout describes Adley's swing as rotational. I just hope it isn't as long as Wieters'.
I brought up athleticism b/c better athletics can get away with longer, rotational swings. And many players are more rotational than directional these days.
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2 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:
Agreed. My dad had me calling the game as a ten year old playing with older kids. A lot of my understanding about pitching came from the knowledge I developed as a catcher.
Especially at the age-group you mentioned, the biggest guys with the biggest arms are going to be catching.
What your dad says is very true, IF you take the potential learning opportunity to heart.
I'm not sure if your dad was profiling 10-year-olds for positions they would ultimately wind at--he was probably more concerned that they continued to like baseball.
Either way, calling pitches should be listed on every catcher's job requirement. Even the guys who don't care enough or are too dumb should know responsibilities the position entails.
And let's be honest, how many little league coaches actually know how to call a game? If someone is going to learn through trial and error, let it be the young new backstop!
Group conversations about pitch calling is where everyone learns. Any you don't have to be the catcher to have a discussion on pitch calling or even question a pitch (obviously, respectfully). A good bench coach asks his team why "did he throw a 2-2 curveball?" The next-level baseball thinker stands up and says "he better have the nuts to throw it again, right here, right now."
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15 minutes ago, Catch 8 said:
When is he eligible for an extension?
14 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:Right after they put him on the 40 I'm guessing.
What's slot? 8.something mil?
I take it football isn't an option.
Buy out his arb and offer 12/80.
Austin Hays 2022
in Orioles Talk
Posted
Been a while since my last post. What are the scouts grading Hays’ arm at?