"Turd Throw" and other stories from the rancid NLC.

[Slaky+]

Hey Dusty, you really hate walks huh?

"Who have been the champions the last seven, eight years? Have you ever heard the Yankees talk about on-base percentage and walks? . . . Walks help. They do help. But you aren’t going to walk across the plate, you’re going to hit across the plate. That’s the school I come from."

Oh. My. God.

[The Ghost of Desipio Past]

Hey Dusty, you really hate walks huh?

"Who have been the champions the last seven, eight years? Have you ever heard the Yankees talk about on-base percentage and walks? . . . Walks help. They do help. But you aren’t going to walk across the plate, you’re going to hit across the plate. That’s the school I come from."

Oh. My. God.

I love it.  Dunn will hit 75 HRs and K 383 times.

[Kwyjibo]

Hey Dusty, you really hate walks huh?

"Who have been the champions the last seven, eight years? Have you ever heard the Yankees talk about on-base percentage and walks? . . . Walks help. They do help. But you aren’t going to walk across the plate, you’re going to hit across the plate. That’s the school I come from."

Oh. My. God.

Dusty managing in the NL Central against us is better than pR0n.

[Waco Kid]

Hey Dusty, you really hate walks huh?

"Who have been the champions the last seven, eight years? Have you ever heard the Yankees talk about on-base percentage and walks? . . . Walks help. They do help. But you aren’t going to walk across the plate, you’re going to hit across the plate. That’s the school I come from."

Oh. My. God.

I'm thinking it'll be sometime in June when the Reds will have Torches and Pitchforks Day. Come out to the ballpark and storm the dugout in order to remove the dumbass manager.

[PTanner]

Hey Dusty, you really hate walks huh?

"Who have been the champions the last seven, eight years? Have you ever heard the Yankees talk about on-base percentage and walks? . . . Walks help. They do help. But you aren’t going to walk across the plate, you’re going to hit across the plate. That’s the school I come from."

Oh. My. God.

The Red Sox have won 2 of the last 4 WSes, and they walk a lot.

[PTanner]

Hey Dusty, you really hate walks huh?

"Who have been the champions the last seven, eight years? Have you ever heard the Yankees talk about on-base percentage and walks? . . . Walks help. They do help. But you aren’t going to walk across the plate, you’re going to hit across the plate. That’s the school I come from."

Oh. My. God.

The Red Sox have won 2 of the last 4 WSes, and they walk a lot.

shut up me, I'm a douche.

[Corn-fed]

Hey Dusty, you really hate walks huh?

"Who have been the champions the last seven, eight years? Have you ever heard the Yankees talk about on-base percentage and walks? . . . Walks help. They do help. But you aren’t going to walk across the plate, you’re going to hit across the plate. That’s the school I come from."

Oh. My. God.

The Red Sox have won 2 of the last 4 WSes, and they walk a lot.

That may be, Mr. Long.

But they don't go around talking about it all the time, now, do they?

[Andy]

I seem to remember that the Yankees actually do talk about on base percentage a lot. 

Just not in Dustyland, apparently.

Dusty's hero, Hank had a lifetime .374 on base average and walked more than he struck out.  Apparently Dusty paid no attention.

[Al Yellon]

Hey Dusty, you really hate walks huh?

"Who have been the champions the last seven, eight years? Have you ever heard the Yankees talk about on-base percentage and walks? . . . Walks help. They do help. But you aren’t going to walk across the plate, you’re going to hit across the plate. That’s the school I come from."

Oh. My. God.

Yeah, how about those Yankees, Dusty? They've been really successful haven't they? What with their one World Series ring in the last eight seasons?

2007 - BOS - .362
2006 - STL - .337
2005 - CHA - .322
2004 - BOS - .360
2003 - FLA - .333
2002 - ANA - .341
2001 - ARI - .341
2000 - NYY - .354

Aside from the White Sox, all those teams had an OBP that was above average. Throwing out the Cardinals and the Marlins, it was above average in a fairly significant fashion.  And is it significant that the three teams with crappy OBPs all relied on absolutely tits-out pitching to win the title? Considering the Reds are built to score enough   runs to offset the numerous shortcomings of their pitching staff, this season's going to be non-stop comedy.

[PTanner]

Hey Dusty, you really hate walks huh?

"Who have been the champions the last seven, eight years? Have you ever heard the Yankees talk about on-base percentage and walks? . . . Walks help. They do help. But you aren’t going to walk across the plate, you’re going to hit across the plate. That’s the school I come from."

Oh. My. God.

The Red Sox have won 2 of the last 4 WSes, and they walk a lot.

That may be, Mr. Long.

But they don't go around talking about it all the time, now, do they?

Please, just call me Miles.

[Taylor]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ap9HuSdABdct7.A82s1ElTcRvLYF?slug=larussayosthaveedgewhenp&prov=tsn&type=lgns

Earlier this week, Milwaukee Brewers manager Ned Yost told reporters he might bat Jason Kendall ninth this season, behind the pitcher. On Tuesday, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa announced his pitchers would bat eighth all season.

Why are managers flying in the face of baseball convention?

I first encountered this strategy in a paper by Tom Ruane, who used Markov models to determine the optimum lineup for each league:

“I did notice that there are a lot of lineups as productive as the traditional ones that would look very odd to players, fans and the sporting press. A lot of the lineups near the top of many of these lists feature pitchers (in the NL) hitting other than last, as well as other weird orderings.”

[EG]

It sort of makes sense.  If you have a pitcher who's getting on base 18 percent of the time and can swap that with a player who gets on, say, 33 percent of the time, that's great for your 1-2-3 hitters. 

It works well for the Cardinals because their lineup is so terrible.  They have Pujols and ... well, Pujols.  Anything that makes it more likely for Pujols to come up with a man on base is better for the Cardinals.  This probably does that.

Also, a lot of times, your pitcher is out of the game by the 5th or 6th, so your lineup construction goes to hell anyway. 

[Al Yellon]

It sort of makes sense.  If you have a pitcher who's getting on base 18 percent of the time and can swap that with a player who gets on, say, 33 percent of the time, that's great for your 1-2-3 hitters. 

It works well for the Cardinals because their lineup is so terrible.  They have Pujols and ... well, Pujols.  Anything that makes it more likely for Pujols to come up with a man on base is better for the Cardinals.  This probably does that.

Also, a lot of times, your pitcher is out of the game by the 5th or 6th, so your lineup construction goes to hell anyway. 

I totally agree; with all the things to give The Genius shit for, the lineup construction shouldn't be one of them. Why the hell would you want to bat a pitcher ahead of one of your best hitters? With the Cubs' lack of traditional 1-2 combination at the top, I think the experiment might even work better for us by hitting the pitcher seventh and shifting the middle order further up toward the top. Something to the effect of...

1. Fukudome
2. Lee
3. Ramirez
4. Soriano
5. Soto
6. Pie
7. Pitcher
8. DeRosa
9. Theriot

You're giving your best hitters more ABs and once you're through the order the first time, you're back to a "normal" lineup.

[Taylor]

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP)â€"Cincinnati Reds shortstop Alex Gonzalez has a broken knee.

Team physician Dr. Timothy Kremchek examined Gonzalez on Friday and said the infielder has a compression fracture on his left knee. Gonzalez will be evaluated again in three weeks.

Cincinnati said this week that Gonzalez was expected to miss the first few spring training games because the knee was sore. He sat out an intrasquad scrimmage Tuesday with a bone bruise in the knee. It also bothered him at the end of last season.

Gonzalez hit .272 with 16 homers and 55 RBIs in his first season with the Reds. He didn’t start a game after Sept. 12 because of a bone bruise in the same knee.

Intrepid Reader: Dusty Baker

Dude, I'm already on the phone to Neifi, dude.

[Gil Gunderson]

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/2008/03/marquis-to-cubs.html

Marquis: Start me or trade me


http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/2008/03/lou-on-marquis.html

Lou: Fuck you, you can go.