Buckets
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by Buckets on Aug 5, 2008 14:06:13 GMT -5
Agree he would have eventually come around in Boston, though his teammates might have been Editeded had he stayed. Disagree on the intentional leaking of quitting. Manny has one of the best eyes in baseball and this at-bat - sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=280706110&full=1&inning=9 - (allegedly payback for the fining for pushing a team official) where he didn't even blink an eye after watching strike three is certainly evidence that he was letting whatever was going on off the field affect him on the field, which is something I don't recall during other spats with management. |
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Jack
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by Jack on Aug 5, 2008 14:16:04 GMT -5
Disagree on the intentional leaking of quitting. Manny has one of the best eyes in baseball and this at-bat - sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=280706110&full=1&inning=9 - (allegedly payback for the fining for pushing a team official) where he didn't even blink an eye after watching strike three is certainly evidence that he was letting whatever was going on off the field affect him on the field, which is something I don't recall during other spats with management. I think pointing to that AB is total BS- Mo gave him 3 nasty pitches, 2 on the black, and Manny never swings at a pitch he doesn't think he can hit. Almost full credit to Rivera there, with just a touch of Manny being a historically awful pinch-hitter. And that game was more than a week after the clubhouse altercation and any disciplinary action, during the interim he was ripping the ball, so why would he choose then to tank? If you want to give examples of quitting on the team, claiming an injury when the opposing pitchers were Felix Hernandez and Joba Chamberlain, then giving very little effort to beat out an infield hit that would have broken up Lackey's no-hitter are better examples, but the fact is the man was raking in July. |
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SFHoya99
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
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Post by SFHoya99 on Aug 5, 2008 14:43:05 GMT -5
Basing a player's motivations on one AB seems questionable.
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Jack
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,411
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Post by Jack on Aug 5, 2008 14:56:28 GMT -5
Basing a player's motivations on one AB seems questionable. To be fair, noted boozebag, ownership water-carrier, and has-been local tv sports anchor Bob Lobel claimed he was tanking that AB and that he received that tid-bit from someone in the front office. |
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Buckets
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by Buckets on Aug 5, 2008 15:19:44 GMT -5
I know it was Lobel, but watching the at bat at the time it seemed like Manny was awfully disinterested. The pitches were spotted well but if IIRC both were straight fastballs (maybe cutters but I don't think so), so it's not like he was fooled. Manny has spoiled that pitch hundreds of times with two strikes - and the only times I've seen him take it for strike three, he's had a few words for the umpire, which didn't happen that time.
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RDF
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 8,835
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Post by RDF on Aug 5, 2008 23:40:27 GMT -5
Manny's now gone--and why does anyone care--he was such a "headache" right? I just know i'd take that headache over the "calm" that is A-Rod.
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thebin
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by thebin on Aug 6, 2008 13:39:23 GMT -5
Tony Gwyn's career BA is really .338? My lord....
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hifigator
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by hifigator on Aug 6, 2008 15:05:17 GMT -5
Tony Gwyn's career BA is really .338? My lord.... Tony Gwynn was an amazing hitter. He had some of the best hands ever. He could keep his hands back until the last minute, but then flick the bat. The odd thing was, while he didn't have much homerun pop, he wasn't just a slap hitter either. Especially later in his career, he wasn't very fast, but he could still send that ball down either line and get a double. Also, it didn't matter if he was facing a righty or a lefty. He didn't have a "hole" in his swing. He was something special. I specifically remember comments from Maddux and Johnson praising Gwynn. That's two of the most opposite pitchers you can imagine and both said pretty much the same thing, that he was the guy they didn't want to face when they needed to get an out. In Maddux' case, that makes sense. He is a control pitcher who relied on his movement and location. He wanted a free swinger at the plate. But in Johnson's case, you would think that it would set up well for the Big Unit. That just shows how great a hitter Tony was. |
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DanMcQ
Moderator 
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Post by DanMcQ on Aug 7, 2008 23:42:14 GMT -5
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hoyarooter
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
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Post by hoyarooter on Aug 8, 2008 17:51:47 GMT -5
There's absolutely nothing here that wasn't already public information. So where's the "conspiracy?"
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DanMcQ
Moderator
Posts: 32,081
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Post by DanMcQ on Aug 8, 2008 23:04:03 GMT -5
So where's the "conspiracy?" Shaughnessy is always making up conspiracies... |
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RDF
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 8,835
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Post by RDF on Aug 8, 2008 23:43:19 GMT -5
Is he the writer who looks like Jason Garrett in a Harpo Marx wig?
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hifigator
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by hifigator on Aug 9, 2008 12:05:06 GMT -5
My theory for Manny's immediate resurgence in LA:
There is a certain naturally growing element that is significantly easier to obtain due to the certain laws in California. Maybe Manny is simply much "happier" in California.
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hifigator
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,387
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Post by hifigator on Aug 9, 2008 12:06:08 GMT -5
OK, before anyone points it out, no, it's not actually an "element" ... if I remember my chemistry, I think it would be considered a compound, but that is beside the point. You know what I meant.
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