Buck: "I've Got Sleeper Ideas on Leadoff"

[O's are Legends]

Buck's sleeper move = pure genius

Adam Jones as lead off hitter: 108 at bats, 25 runs, 10 home runs, 25rbi, .317 avg, .350obp, .987 OPS

Whoever said Jones run production would go down with Buck moving him up in the lineup was completely wrong. (People have mentioned this as recently as a week ago or so.) He's been averaging a RBI every 4.32 at bats.

- not sure what the exclamation point is doing there, must have accidentally selected it

[Frobby]

The real question is, is moving Jones to the leadoff spot the cause of his recent good hitting, or is it just a pure coincidence? I tend to think that Jones would have heated up anyway, but the move may have jump-started the process. In any event, I certainly wouldn't fool around with it right now.

[Can_of_corn]

The real question is, is moving Jones to the leadoff spot the cause of his recent good hitting, or is it just a pure coincidence? I tend to think that Jones would have heated up anyway, but the move may have jump-started the process. In any event, I certainly wouldn't fool around with it right now.

Fangraphs mentioned him in a piece right around that time touting him as someone who was likely to revert to form. Evidently his peripherals were encouraging.

[spiritof66]

Yes.

The Oakland Athletics of the early-to-mid 70's were one of the greatest teams ever. They won 3 straight World Championships, and 5 straight division titles. Those Athletics teams of the early-to-mid 1970's certainly had their share of tumultuous incidents, and there were numerous players that disliked each other. The first thing that comes to mind is the fight between Bill North and Reggie Jackson in the locker room. Jackson hurt his shoulder, while catcher Ray Fosse crushed a disk in his neck trying to break it up, forcing him to miss the next 3 months of the season. One thing that those teams actually did have together that was an important emotional bond was that they universally hated their owner, Charlie O. Finley.

The 1977 and 1978 New York Yankees were one of the craziest and emotionally dysfunctional teams of their time (Sparky Lyle wrote a book about those teams, entitled The Bronx Zoo), and they won back-to-back world championships.

While there are many components that are responsible for having baseball teams that consistently win, baseball at its heart is pitcher vs. batter (borrowed from Michael Kay) ...... unlike basketball, which as you stated, is a much more team-oriented game with all of the players having to share the ball on offense, and having to coordinate their defensive schemes together.

So all we have to do is assemble a team that has a lot more talent than that of our rivals, like those Oakland and NYY teams. Adding a couple of TOR starters and maybe a speedy SS who can hit close to .300 should do it. Then we won't need whatever competitive advantage results from having a positive and constructive work environment. Shouldn't be too hard.

[OFFNY]

OFFNY said:

o

 

Yes.

The Oakland Athletics of the early-to-mid 70's were one of the greatest teams ever. They won 3 straight World Championships, and 5 straight division titles. Those Athletics teams of the early-to-mid 1970's certainly had their share of tumultuous incidents, and there were numerous players that disliked each other. The first thing that comes to mind is the fight between Bill North and Reggie Jackson in the locker room. Jackson hurt his shoulder, while catcher Ray Fosse crushed a disk in his neck trying to break it up, forcing him to miss the next 3 months of the season. One thing that those teams actually did have together that was an important emotional bond was that they universally hated their owner, Charlie O. Finley.

The 1977 and 1978 New York Yankees were one of the craziest and emotionally dysfunctional teams of their time (Sparky Lyle wrote a book about those teams, entitled The Bronx Zoo), and they won back-to-back world championships.

While there are many components that are responsible for having baseball teams that consistently win, baseball at its heart is pitcher vs. batter (borrowed from Michael Kay) ...... unlike basketball, which as you stated, is a much more team-oriented game with all of the players having to share the ball on offense, and having to coordinate their defensive schemes together.

 

o

spiritof66 said:

 

So all we have to do is assemble a team that has a lot more talent than that of our rivals, like those Oakland and NYY teams. Adding a couple of TOR starters and maybe a speedy SS who can hit close to .300 should do it. Then we won't need whatever competitive advantage results from having a positive and constructive work environment. Shouldn't be too hard.

 

o

 

I was giving examples of teams that were successful without clubhouse chemistry in response to Janowski, who was asserting that it was imperative for a winning team to have it.

I don't know why you are rolling your eyes at my post, as though I was insinuating that it would be simple for the Orioles to emulate those great teams from the 1970's.

 

o

[Filmstudy]

I was giving examples of teams that were successful without clubhouse chemistry in response to Janowski, who was asserting that it was imperative for a winning team to have it.

I don't know why you are rolling your eyes at my post, as though I was insinuating that it would be simple for the Orioles to emulate those great teams from the 1970's.

I think great teams have a natural tendency not to have great chemistry. Winning is a lubricant for many things, but it's also natural that the talent necessary to win builds competing egos. To look at it differently, how many of the great players in the game's history were notoriously ****ty teammates. Lets do this about 1 per decade:

Cobb

Chase

Hornsby

Ruth

Williams

Rose

Jackson

Bonilla

Bonds

ARod

It's not that teams couldn't win with these guys. They just had talent, personalities varying from aloof to psychotic, and egos that required more than just money to feed (OK, Chase might have been sated with money alone).

[OFFNY]

Orange said:

 

Adam Jones.

 

o

 

7 and-a-half months later ........

 

Adam Jones as the Lead-off Hitter in 2016:

.397) ) Plate Appearances

.302 )) Batting Average

.333 )) OBP

.839 )) OPS

))21 )., HR

ol12 ).. 2B

 

Adam Jones, Places in the Lineup:

1st: ) .302 BA ))) .333 OBP ))) .839 OPS )l 21 HR .. 12 2B lll (397 lPlate  Appearances)

2nd: ) .273 BA ))) .304 OBP ))) .668 OPS ))) 0 HR ))) 2 2B ))) (23 1lPlate  Appearances)

3rd: ) .223 BA ))) .281 OBP ))) .665 OPS ))) 5 HR ))) 3 2B ))) (121 lPlate  Appearances)

4th: ) .188 BA ))) .278 OBP ))) .465 OPS ))) 0 HR ))) 0 2B ))) (18 1lPlate  Appearances)

5th: ) .182 BA ))) .250 OBP ))) .523 OPS ))) 0 HR ))) 1 2B lllll (12 1lPlate  Appearances)

 

o

[DrungoHazewood]

o

7 and-a-half months later ........

Adam Jones as the Lead-off Hitter in 2016:

.397) ) Plate Appearances

.302 )) Batting Average

.333 )) OBP

.839 )) OPS

))21 )l, HR

ol12 )ll 2B

Adam Jones, Places in the Lineup:

1st: ) .302 BA ))) .333 OBP ))) .839 OPS )l 21 HR .. 12 2B ))) (397 lPlate Appearances)

2nd: ) .273 BA ))) .304 OBP ))) .668 OPS ))) 0 HR ))) 2 2B ))) (23 1lPlate Appearances)

3rd: ) .223 BA ))) .281 OBP ))) .665 OPS ))) 5 HR ))) 3 2B ))) (121 lPlate Appearances)

4th: ) .188 BA ))) .278 OBP ))) .465 OPS ))) 0 HR ))) 0 2B ))) (18 1lPlate Appearances)

5th: ) .182 BA ))) .250 OBP ))) .523 OPS ))) 0 HR ))) 1 2B ))) (12 1lPlate Appearances)

o

This is a good example of how most splits trend towards overall marks given enough PAs, but small samples can be almost anything.

[O's are Legends]

Jones tearing it up again in the lead off position. Using all fields, hitting for power and getting on base, it's tremendous.

[MDtransplant757]

5 hours ago, O's are Legends said:

Jones tearing it up again in the lead off position. Using all fields, hitting for power and getting on base, it's tremendous.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

[InsideCoroner]

This is the best I have seen AJ look at the plate in a long stretch of games, and just stinging the ball everywhere. He looks healthy and dialled in. I hope he can keep it up.