The O's "Bombs Away" offense

[CA-ORIOLE]

I have to disagree here. I said believe in themselves. As in believe in each other and work together. Teams that don't believe in each other try to go to bat and hit a homer everything. They don't trust the other guy to do their job so each players try to overcompensate and almost surely falls short of his goal. Players that play together and believe in each other move runners over. Take the double instead of swinging for the fences, etc. The mentality difference is huge.

Yeah, I don't buy it. I do agree that you don't wan't guys trying to do too much and I don't think we have that. In fact I think some people see playing within themselves as a lack of caring or motivation in some way. We have a general lack of talent.

I do believe losing in general can start to wear on some players psyche though. Maybe in some way that translates to lack of motivation which in turn translates to performance. In the end talent provides the results to overcome that.

[wildcard]

No question confidence matters. The problem is that there's no evidence that it can be controlled or promoted, or that there's any way to identify its presence on a kind of micro-scale. Most major league players are "confident" to some extent (though certainly we've seen our share of shell-shocked young pitchers and tentative young position players). When you purchase athletic success, you are, too some extent, purchasing "broad" confidence. But the idea that a team of discrete personalities can somehow be molded into "confident" world beaters one year is (i) impossible to predict; and (ii) seemingly impossible to control. Makes for a great story, but it's nothing to bank on and certainly not something (in its extreme) worth pursuing.

You try to purchase the best talent available, you take character into account, and you do your damnedest to make sure your young players are prepared and aren't over-matched when they arrive. The rest is, well, luck.

I would point to the '83 O's. More confidence and team play then great talent. Who was their 2B and 3B? Sure the 2012 O's are going for .500, not the WS, but confidence matters.

[Can_of_corn]

I would point to the '83 O's. More confidence and team play then great talent. Who was their 2B and 3B? Sure the 2012 O's are going for .500, not the WS, but confidence matters.

Yeah, only 3 HoF members on that team. The first and second place finishers for MVP, the 6th place finisher for the Cy Young and the 3rd place finisher for RoY.

[Lucky Jim]

Yeah, only 3 HoF members on that team. The first and second place finishers for MVP, the 6th place finisher for the Cy Young and the 3rd place finisher for RoY.

Scrappy underdogs after winning only 94 games the year before.

[wildcard]

Yeah, I don't buy it. I do agree that you don't wan't guys trying to do too much and I don't think we have that. In fact I think some people see playing within themselves as a lack of caring or motivation in some way. We have a general lack of talent.

I do believe losing in general can start to wear on some players psyche though. Maybe in some way that translates to lack of motivation which in turn translates to performance. In the end talent provides the results to overcome that.

Two players. Both with talent. One tries to do it all himself. The second has the confidence in his teammates to hit the RBI single instead of strike out trying for the homer. Buck talked about it a lot last year. Situational hitting. Moving the runners. Getting the runs that should be gotten. It was not happening before Buck arrived very often. If players don't have confidence in each other it probably does not work.

[wildcard]

Yeah, only 3 HoF members on that team. The first and second place finishers for MVP, the 6th place finisher for the Cy Young and the 3rd place finisher for RoY.

1) Did you read that I said the difference was going for .500 instead of the WS?

2) How many HoFer, All-Stars and MVPs are on the current O's team. Wieters? Britton? Jones? Markakis? We don't know because this team has only come together for a month or two at a time. But that is how a team grows. I would suggest don't pass judgement of a bunch of 20 year olds before you know what they may turn out to be.

[Lucky Jim]

1) Did you read that I said the difference was going for .500 instead of the WS?

2) How many HoFer, All-Stars and MVPs are on the current O's team. Wieter? Britton? Jones? Markakis? We don't know because this team has only come together for a month or two at a time. But that is how a team grows. I would suggest don't pass judgement of a bunch of 20 year olds before you know what they may turn out to be.

He's referring to your statement that they didn't have talent.

I would point to the '83 O's. More confidence and team play then great talent. Who was their 2B and 3B?

They had a solid amount of talent.

[wildcard]

He's referring to your statement that they didn't have talent.

They had a solid amount of talent.

I specifically pointed to 2B and 3B. Dauer and Cruz.

[Lucky Jim]

I specifically pointed to 2B and 3B. Dauer and Cruz.

And? I'm not following your logic. My guess is that he isn't, either.

[SilentJames]

Jones has a career 0.756 OPS, Reimold's career OPS is 0.779, 23 points higher. Over his short ML career, Reimold has outperformed Jones offensively and I expect his to do so next year too.

You realize that Nolan has 730+ ABs vs Jones' 2200+.

Yeah, that 23 point difference means pretty much nothing.

[jiminnj]

Questionable. Jones is two years younger than Reimold, and had a better OPS in both 2010 and 2011. One of the reasons Jones has a lower career OPS is because he was playing in the majors at an age when Reimold was in Frederick. In the same time period that Reimold has amassed his .779 OPS, Jones has tallied .781, at a younger age, without the three-month detour to the minor leagues.

That said, I think it's close to a 50/50 proposition who will have the higher OPS in 2012. But Jones's chances of posting an OPS above .750 are higher than Reimold's.

I think your wrong. If you take away April and May of 2010 when he barely could run, Reimold's career OPS is over .800. I would be very surprised if Reimold's OPS was near .750 yet below it.

[TGO]

Scrappy underdogs after winning only 94 games the year before.

Worst [non-Brewers team] to First!!!

[Frobby]

I think your wrong. If you take away April and May of 2010 when he barely could run, Reimold's career OPS is over .800. I would be very surprised if Reimold's OPS was near .750 yet below it.

Well, it is convenient for you to omit the .738 OPS he put up the rest of the year in Norfolk in 2010, and the .739 from 2011. Also, let's not forget that Reimold's OPS in Baltimore was under .750 for most of the 2011 season, only crossing that threshhold on September 14.

That said, if I had to guess at the chance that Reimold's 2012 OPS will be under .750, I'd peg the odds at maybe 25%, and I'd also say his odds of being over .800 are in the 25% range. I think his .779 career OPS, and .781 final OPS last year, is very close to my estimation of what his career OPS will be five years from now. He's a pretty solid hitter, who throughout his major league and minor league career has been prone to injuries and cold streaks, and who also gets very hot at times.

One other thing -- Jones also has played with injuries at times. He had an .815 OPS in late August last year, hurt his thumb, and saw his OPS drop 30 points over the final 5 weeks, during which time he missed a bunch of games and played hurt in others. So if you want to discount 2010 for Reimold because he was still recovering from Achilles heel surgery, you have to give Jones some slack as well. Playing with injuries is part of the game.

[CA-ORIOLE]

I would point to the '83 O's. More confidence and team play then great talent. Who was their 2B and 3B? Sure the 2012 O's are going for .500, not the WS, but confidence matters.

The 83 Os' were a top three in offense (OPS+) and pitching (ERA+) and had a pretty strong defense and bench. They were a talented team. Every team has a couple weak spots. Talent matters much more than confidence. Talent breeds confidence. Sorry, I just don't buy into your premise.

[33rdst]

The 83 Os' were a top three in offense (OPS+) and pitching (ERA+) and had a pretty strong defense and bench. They were a talented team. Every team has a couple weak spots. Talent matters much more than confidence. Talent breeds confidence. Sorry, I just don't buy into your premise.

"..

They're not really mutually exclusive are they? There are lots of enormously talented players who lost confidence and did not perform well. In baseball, Carl Crawford and Adam Dunn last year. Certainly, Tiger Woods in golf. Just to name a few.l