Cal Ripken Commercial, not teasing Gunnar extension...wow

[RZNJ]

To err is human.  To forgive, divine.   Wow!   Cal Ripken is an Oriole legend too.   I think he deserves a little better.  Maybe he made a mistake.  Even if he said something wrong, give the guy a break. 

[24fps]

OMFG @ this thread.  That's all I have to add.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, ThisIsBirdland said:

Good grief. I'm too young to have seen Brooks play, and I don't follow Beltre enough to comment, but for the life of me I can't see this type of rant being needed for the man just expressing his opinion in a commentary role. I just dug up a quick interview he did on it after the fact and it seems to be a reasonable position. Maybe it's not correct, but it seems like it's just his honest opinion. I don't know why he "owes" it to us to tell us differently if this is what he believes.

 

It was a stupid thing to say even if he believes it, given Brooks’ importance to the only organization Cal ever played for. And, the stats back up that Brooks was superior, at least in terms of the edge he had over his contemporaries.  But I’m not going to demonize Cal for it, even if it was a dumb thing to do.  As you say, he’s entitled to his opinion.  

Edited April 17 by Frobby

[Moose Milligan]

13 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

To err is human.  To forgive, divine.   

I know, I've been forgiving you for years.  Must make me divine AF.

[RZNJ]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

I know, I've been forgiving you for years.  Must make me divine AF.

I’m generally pretty nice to you except one time years ago.    I’m sorry about that one.  

[Malike]

"I said on one of my early broadcasts, I said my hero was Brooks Robinson, but the way that Adrian Beltre plays -- and I'll get in trouble with Baltimore fans, again -- but it seems like Beltre might be the best third baseman to ever play. And it's just because of the type of plays that he was making. That doesn't take anything away from Brooksy, and in different eras, in different contexts, in different times you make different judgments, but to me, I don't see how he's underrated. He's a consistent performer, hits the home run, drives in the key run, but I think you touched on it -- the leadership part.

 

[Ohfan67]

21 minutes ago, Frobby said:

It was a stupid thing to say even if he believes it, given Brooks’ importance to the only organization Cal ever played for. And, the stats back up that Brooks was superior, at least in terms of the edge he had over his contemporaries.  But I’m not going to demonize Cal for it, even if it was a dumb thing to do.  As you say, he’s entitled to his opinion.  

I don’t want to offend anybody and I like Cal Ripken about as much as most Orioles fans, but based on his time as a color commentator I don’t think Cal is particularly smart. He’s certainly less well spoken than I once thought he was. 

[RarityFlaherty]

15 minutes ago, Malike said:

I believe they use TZ, It's not perfect and no one should be claiming it is. But in broad strokes, we can be pretty confident that Ozzie Smith and Brooks Robinson were incredible fielders, that Greg Luzinski should have never been allowed to put on a glove, and that Dave Winfield was very overrated in the field.

Edit: got the source from the interwebs but I can't link to it from my phone, I thought I could.

Link

Yeah I believe I read that same thing somewhere. I’ve been googling looking for more precise information on the calculation with little luck.
 

But, correct me if I’m wrong, it still seems that no matter what you try to use to create a uniform replacement level player between eras, it still does not account for things like differences in runner speed and the exit velocity of batted balls because we don’t have that data from earlier eras. So, technically, Cal’s comment really isn’t that bad, especially with the explanation that players continue to get faster and stronger. Beltre likely had to field balls at higher exit velocities and throw out faster runners to get outs. Not saying that I necessarily agree with Cal’s comment, but I do agree with the premise in his explanation that players are getting faster and stronger. And maybe I’m just trying to give Cal the benefit of the doubt, but after hearing that explanation I don’t think it’s as bad a comment as I originally thought. 

[Malike]

2 minutes ago, RarityFlaherty said:

Yeah I believe I read that same thing somewhere. I’ve been googling looking for more precise information on the calculation with little luck.
 

But, correct me if I’m wrong, it still seems that no matter what you try to use to create a uniform replacement level player between eras, it still does not account for things like differences in runner speed and the exit velocity of batted balls because we don’t have that data from earlier eras. So, technically, Cal’s comment really isn’t that bad, especially with the explanation that players continue to get faster and stronger. Beltre likely had to field balls at higher exit velocities and throw out faster runners to get outs. Not saying that I necessarily agree with Cal’s comment, but I do agree with the premise in his explanation that players are getting faster and stronger. And maybe I’m just trying to give Cal the benefit of the doubt, but after hearing that explanation I don’t think it’s as bad a comment as I originally thought. 

Yeah which is why I said and he said that it's not really possible to compare players from different era's. We all know Brooks was one of the best fielding 3B of all time and it doesn't take any defensive stats to back that up, just like it doesn't take any defensive stats to back up that Jeter was awful.

[ThisIsBirdland]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

Sorry, I just disagree. And it was not rant, it was me stating my opinion. You clearly must be too young to remember Brooks Robinson or have some kind fan love for Cal, but he made a comment he should have never have said. Ever. He knew it, and he never really apologized for it. Brooks was too big of man to be upset with Cal over the disrespect. I can appreciate that from him, but like Mu$$ina will always be Mu$$ina to me, Cal will always be a traitor for saying "Sorry Brooksey" and then saying some BS about Beltre being the best ever DEFENSIVELY. 

Cal's answer is this was complete BS. This is what annoys me more about him. He literally tried to come up with some BS about physicality. That's not what he said. He literally said, "Sorry Brooksey, Beltre is the best defensive third basman he'd ever seen."

He could have said Beltre has the best tools of any third baseman. He did not, then he doubles down in this interview and others trying to say some BS.

"Sorry Brooksey" is one of the most insulting things I've ever heard a legend of one team say to another Legend of the same organization. 

Oh, and add in his garbage ownership of the Ironbirds where he went a whole year with no announcer and a one camera video of Ironbird games and one of the worse fan experiences I ever had at a minor league game in 2021, and yeah, I'll pass on this legend.

I acknowledged my age preventing me from watching Brooks play.  I liked Cal just fine growing up, certainly wouldn't say I was a fanboy or opposed to him in any way. I just looked at your opinion and thought it was over the top to such an extent that it came across as unhinged. Also, the quote you attribute to Cal doesn't seem to match what has been posted elsewhere in this thread. 

[Sports Guy]

21 minutes ago, Malike said:

"I said on one of my early broadcasts, I said my hero was Brooks Robinson, but the way that Adrian Beltre plays -- and I'll get in trouble with Baltimore fans, again -- but it seems like Beltre might be the best third baseman to ever play. And it's just because of the type of plays that he was making. That doesn't take anything away from Brooksy, and in different eras, in different contexts, in different times you make different judgments, but to me, I don't see how he's underrated. He's a consistent performer, hits the home run, drives in the key run, but I think you touched on it -- the leadership part.

 

That doesn’t say better defensively..just a better third baseman all around..which he was.

[Moose Milligan]

10 minutes ago, Malike said:

Yeah which is why I said and he said that it's not really possible to compare players from different era's. We all know Brooks was one of the best fielding 3B of all time and it doesn't take any defensive stats to back that up, just like it doesn't take any defensive stats to back up that Jeter was awful.

Yeah, but saying "one of the best" isn't always good enough.  

[Sports Guy]

https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/rangers/2016/09/30/cal-ripken-jr-rangers-adrian-beltre-may-be-the-best-third-baseman-ever/?outputType=amp

[Malike]

4 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

That doesn’t say better defensively..just a better third baseman all around..which he was.

The whole comment stemmed from someone on the broadcast saying Beltre was an underrated 3B and Ripken then made his comment stating he wasn't and then all hell broke loose. It sort of feels like the people who despise Mussina for leaving for NYY after he gave the team 1 team friendly deal then wanted market value but Angelos wasn't paying 10M a year for a pitcher so he walked. I don't hate Mussina for that, he would have been a lifetime Oriole if they weren't cheap.

[Moose Milligan]

15 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/rangers/2016/09/30/cal-ripken-jr-rangers-adrian-beltre-may-be-the-best-third-baseman-ever/?outputType=amp

but it seems like Beltre might be the best third baseman to ever play.

"Might be" ≠ "is"