Why do so many bloggers hate Plaschke?

As well you should.

 

sonuvabitch.

 

I thought Kevin Millar was the replacement player?

 

Buck - I think of something like VORP or EQa - or batting average or on-base percentage or RBIs - as a decent starting point, not an end-all, be-all.

The problem comes in when people feel that giving an inch and not conceding that it's an end-all, be-all is to admit defeat.

And the same goes for the "Intangibles!" guys.

Your point that baseball players aren't acquired in a vaccum is well-taken.

All of that being said - if the White Sox lead Jerry Owens (speed!) off instead of Nick Swisher (gets on base!) when Owens gets back from injury, I'm converting to the Cubs ... OK, maybe not.

There are certain sabermetric concepts that make sense to me, and on-base over base-stealing is one of them.

Oh, and I wanted to jump through my TV last night when Joe Morgan said that walking too much "can be a fault."

 

They said that about Ted Williams, too.

And in certain situations, they're right. If there's a man on third, the Splinter is at bat and the Red Sox are down by one in the eighth inning, I damn sure want him swinging the bat instead of taking the walk to bring up Vern Stephens. Same as I'd want Barry Bonds (another notorious "walk-taker at all costs") swinging away in a crucial situation rather than taking a base.

Now, do I think Joe Morgan understands that when he said what he said? Not a chance. But I think he meant something like that, even if he can't articulate it the same way.

Walking too much can be a fault, if that's the guy you want swinging the bat. Like you said, it's the people who don't budge an inch on these things who cause problems.

 

Yeah, I know what you're saying, and I think I'm well-versed enough to get that, as are you and most baseball fans.

What Joe Morgan means is, "You can't hit if you don't swing!"

And FWIW, Joe Morgan is really quite good at breaking down the physical act of playing baseball - Carlos Guillen's footwork and how it translates from shortstop to first base. Stuff like that.

He absolutely sucks at playing GM.

 

Yeah, well, I've umpired enough U-12 softball games to know that I'm more entertained by a slugfest than a walkfest. Get the bat off your shoulder, indeed.

And I, for one, would be highly entertained (fascinated, even) by a team with Ol' Chicken Wing as its general manager. Somebody make this happen.

 

After reading his Calipari-Howland column, I am now convinced that Plaschke is an outstanding feature writer and probably a good reporter who just doesn't know very much about sports - nor care to. I've worked with guys like him before. They believe what they want to believe, and have no curiosity to learn further.

 

My goodness, I just read those two columns. It's fine to have an opinion but to have it so completely shredded like that hurts your credibility somewhat. The biggest problem is that his opinion came from the same line of thought as his disdain for the baseball stat geeks. Grant Wahl at SI did an in-depth piece explaining the evolution of the DDM offense that Memphis employs and explained why it worked. Plaschke just sat back and said, 'He's not calling plays! He can't be a good coach!' As if the hours in practice perfecting the offense and it's multitude of options is not coaching. It's only coaching if you're hollering "Iowa Power" as your point guard walks the ball up the court.