Luis Hernandez Appreciation Thread

[El Gordo]

I don't think anyone here, anyone, ever dumped on Luis Hernandez. They dumped on Andy MacPhail for having Luis as Plans A, B, C, and D for shortstop this year. They dumped on Dave Trembley for playing him. They dumped on the Orioles' scouts and analysts who decided a guy who couldn't hit his weight in AA was going to have shortstop covered at the major league level in 2008.

Hernandez gave it his best, but his best wasn't good enough. That's the story of tens of thousands of ballplayers. That's life. Nobody took him to task for that.

If we're not allowed to criticize the moves the Baltimore Orioles make for fear of insulting and hurting the players we might as well fold up the website and go home.

[DrungoHazewood]

:thumbsup1::beerchug1::2yay-thumb:

[CrimsonTribe]

Nobody on here has wished any ill-will or berated LH "the human being" or LH "the person".

We just didn't want him to be the starting shortstop for our favorite baseball team because he isnt very good. That's all. Your defense of him is sort of laughable. You act like he is your kid or something.

Nobody hates LH. He seems like a good kid. He just isn't good enough to be on our team. Simple as that, and A LOT of the hate wasn't directed at LH, but at MacPhail and Trembley for having him on the team.

I hope he gets Cholera and falls off a mountain.

I kid... I kid...

Seriously, as long as he did his best, that's all we can ask for.

[wickedwitch]

I have no problem with the criticism, but it doesn't belong in appreciation thread.

[cindyluvsbrady]

I will appreciate Luis over some of the other middle infield zeros of the past 10 years:

Bernie Castro

Ivanon Coffie

Deivi Cruz

Delino DeShields

Brandon Fahey

Mark Lewis

Luis Lopez

Jose Morban

Mike Moriarty

Ed Rogers

Eider Torres

I like Ed Rogers and Brandon:(

[BaltimoreTerp]

*Insert own Ace Ventura "Dan Marino can die of..." line here with Luis Hernandez's name instead to piss off some people*

No really, I am a little sad to see him go. He did nothing wrong; he just wasn't good enough. He gave us a couple really nice moments.

Good luck Lil' Looie!

[RShack]

I don't think anyone here, anyone, ever dumped on Luis Hernandez.

That's just not true. You can claim that if you want, but it's a BS thing to say. More than a few people have here expressed "hate" for LH or have otherwise slammed him in ways that have little to do with who he is or how he played. He became a whipping boy, and lotsa people jumped on the bandwagon. People were doing this before the season even started, after he played SS wonderfully last year. I think the main reason is that they had OPS Religion, and if you have that religion, then a good-glove no-hit SS is the anti-Christ and anybody who supports him is a heretic.

Meanwhile, LH and Bynum have about the same AB's, and not only is LH the better-D SS, he also out-hit Bynum. Now, I certainly do not wish to encourage Bynum-hate, simply because I don't believe in hating on guys who are Orioles. This is because I'm an Oriole fan. However, by any rational measure, the completely different standards applied to LH and Bynum around here are the epitome of being hypocrital. The main reason people like Bynum and hate LH is because the look up numbers on the internet and think Bynum will have a better OPS. Which in actual reality he doesn't.

(Not dissing Bynum, just the folks who gang-tackled LH and somehow like Bynum at SS.)

[Old#5fan]

I really did/do appreciate Luis Hernandez. He made some very sweet defensive plays for us last year that gave us some of our more exciting moments in an awful season. I wish him well wherever he ends up.

He also made some spectacular ones this season at second base. I also wish him well, and I think he may yet end up having a major league career as a second baseman.

[Frobby]

That's just not true. You can claim that if you want, but it's a BS thing to say. More than a few people have here expressed "hate" for LH or have otherwise slammed him in ways that have little to do with who he is or how he played. He became a whipping boy, and lotsa people jumped on the bandwagon. People were doing this before the season even started, after he played SS wonderfully last year. I think the main reason is that they had OPS Religion, and if you have that religion, then a good-glove no-hit SS is the anti-Christ and anybody who supports him is a heretic.

Meanwhile, LH and Bynum have about the same AB's, and not only is LH the better-D SS, he also out-hit Bynum. Now, I certainly do not wish to encourage Bynum-hate, simply because I don't believe in hating on guys who are Orioles. This is because I'm an Oriole fan. However, by any rational measure, the completely different standards applied to LH and Bynum around here are the epitome of being hypocrital. The main reason people like Bynum and hate LH is because the look up numbers on the internet and think Bynum will have a better OPS. Which in actual reality he doesn't.

(Not dissing Bynum, just the folks who gang-tackled LH and somehow like Bynum at SS.)

I've been waiting until Bynum and LH had about the same number of AB and innings on the field (which will be in about a week) before posting a comparison, but your post brings this up, so I'll mention it now. You're right that Bynum has not hit any better than LH to this point. Defensively, it depends what stats you like, but I'd say it's a push there, too. Bynum has a higher fielding % and ZR, Hernnadez has the higher RF. Bottom line - the change has made almost no difference, either offensively or defensively. Neither one of them is worthy of being a starting big league shortstop IMO, but for now, we don't have any good options.

[Old#5fan]

That's just not true. You can claim that if you want, but it's a BS thing to say. More than a few people have here expressed "hate" for LH or have otherwise slammed him in ways that have little to do with who he is or how he played. He became a whipping boy, and lotsa people jumped on the bandwagon. People were doing this before the season even started, after he played SS wonderfully last year. I think the main reason is that they had OPS Religion, and if you have that religion, then a good-glove no-hit SS is the anti-Christ and anybody who supports him is a heretic.

Meanwhile, LH and Bynum have about the same AB's, and not only is LH the better-D SS, he also out-hit Bynum. Now, I certainly do not wish to encourage Bynum-hate, simply because I don't believe in hating on guys who are Orioles. This is because I'm an Oriole fan. However, by any rational measure, the completely different standards applied to LH and Bynum around here are the epitome of being hypocrital. The main reason people like Bynum and hate LH is because the look up numbers on the internet and think Bynum will have a better OPS. Which in actual reality he doesn't.

(Not dissing Bynum, just the folks who gang-tackled LH and somehow like Bynum at SS.)

I kind of argued this as well, but Bynum supporters continued to insist that I was virtually a moron for espousing that Bynum wasn't significantly better at the plate than LH. So far the stats show my view was more correct than theirs but I am sure they will say he hasn't had enough at bats, etc. I just don't see where Bynum is any upgrade at all worth mentioning other than he runs faster - big deal.

[blueberryale77]

He also made some spectacular ones this season at second base. I also wish him well, and I think he may yet end up having a major league career as a second baseman.

His long term issue is always going to be his bat, not his glove. He has plenty of arm, and plenty of range when he's in shape. When he has his head screwed on straight, he is a well above average shortstop defensively.

[blueberryale77]

I kind of argued this as well, but Bynum supporters continued to insist that I was virtually a moron for espousing that Bynum wasn't significantly better at the plate than LH. So far the stats show my view was more correct than theirs but I am sure they will say he hasn't had enough at bats, etc. I just don't see where Bynum is any upgrade at all worth mentioning other than he runs faster - big deal.

I think in time Bynum will start hitting some doubles and triples and get his OPS slightly above anything we could have hoped for from Luis, who really doesn't have any power. However, at the same time I fully expect him to have a run of booted balls and errant throws that will make BRob's rookie jitters in 2001 look like Mike Bordick's best season.

[Frobby]

I think in time Bynum will start hitting some doubles and triples and get his OPS slightly above anything we could have hoped for from Luis, who really doesn't have any power. However, at the same time I fully expect him to have a run of booted balls and errant throws that will make BRob's rookie jitters in 2001 look like Mike Bordick's best season.

Bynum has been surprisingly steady in the field, though his footwork isn't the best. He'll probably make some errors but he's better defensively than I had expected.

Both these guys, if they have a role in the majors, are really utility players, not starters.

[NewMarketSean]

Bynum has to cut down on his mental errors. You also have to think he'll start hitting a little better. He seems to hit lofty line drives that OFers can run down. Hopefully some of them will start falling.

[El Gordo]

:thumbsup1::beerchug1::2yay-thumb:

:deadhorse:ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ:bs: