Since Joe Torre breaks our hearts, this blog will break his balls. Every day of the season I will detail the errors, misjudgements, and omissions that make him the most overrated manger in the history of the game (even more than Tommy Lasorda!). But Joe Torre is not just one bum in hero's clothing (i.e. the pinstripes); he is the quintessential counterfeit of excellence, a figure who embodies the triumph of the ersatz that pervades every aspect of our culture. No organization in sport, nay in civilization generally, has manifested a committment to continuing greatness like the New York Yankees, a beacon to all, in every field of endeavor, that the best is always possible. How intolerable is it then that the Yankees should be managed by a mediocrity on stilts, a figure with a reputation for greatness without any of the attributes thereof. Beginning with Torre and ending with Torre, this blog will look to smash idols we create out of inadvertence, ignorance, and complacency.
posted by joe valente | 5:30 PM
4 Comments:
Right now (9:10 pm ET), Jeter leads Mauer in the batting race, .345 to .344
It would be great to see him win one--his .349 in 1999 would have normally been good enough to win it, but Nomar hit .357 that year. So I'd like to see him win it this year. I also second Joe V.'s point that he's got a good shot at the MVP even without the title, but the batting title certainly helps. He plays the most important defensive position after catcher; he's had a great RBI year (though I'm not sure he'll make it to 100); and he's had to lead the team through a lot of injuries this year.
By the way, Cano should qualify for the batting race sometime next week, I think. Barring another injury, he'll definitely qualify by the end of the year. And he's awfully close: right now (after yet another hit), he's at .339, 6 points back. The question for him in terms of chasing .400 someday is not only walks but also his mediocre speed--then again, Ted Williams was no speed demon; neither were Brett or Gwynn. In any case, he really is a great hitter; I remember last year the announcers were all comparing him to Rod Carew, and his stance and swing really do remind me of him, but Carew hit only 92 homers in 19 years; Cano will develop far more power than that. He's my second favorite Yankee right now--a really pure hitter.
Carew was no speed demon either, nad he flirted with 400 one season. Neither was Goerge Sisler, who hit over 400 the year he set the hits record that Ichiro broke last year. This is really interesting. You always hear how anyone hoping to hit 400 will need to collect alot of infield hits and the like, will need to possess speed in abundance. But, correct me if I'm wrong, I think you have to go all the way back to Ty Cobb to find a 400 hitter who was also a speedster. Hornsby was Cobb's contemporary, Lajoie was even earlier, and Shoeless Joe was also Cobb's contemporary. Back when people hit 400 with some regularity, you had some burners doing it; now that it has become nearly impossible, only the comaparatively slow of foot need apply. Weird.
It is weird. The Babe hit .393 in 1923, and he was, as John Kruk would say, "not an athlete, I'm a ballplayer." (Was that Kruk?)
Brett and Gwynn are the closest in the post-War era, then Carew's .388, then Larry Walker's .379 (no burner either). Then Todd Helton and Nomar each with .372; each stole a grand total of 5 bases that year. The only real speed demon to crack .370 in the modern (or is it post-modern?) era is Ichiro, with .372 in 2004, the year he went crazy.
That is really interesting. How can we account for it? I think that we have to conclude that infield hits are in fact much rarer than people imagine.
By the way, looking at the single-season avg. rundown just reminded me how damn good Tony Gwynn was: he hit .370 or better three times, and .368 another time. Pretty incredible for today's game. I can remember when they were both playing in their prime there was some debate about whether Gwynn or Boggs was the best hitter of their generation. But there's really no debate anymore, is there? Gwynn was better if you look at prime vs prime, and Gwynn's career was 2 years longer, without the dropoff that Boggs had at the end. Boggs hit .300 15 times, pretty damn impressive; Gwynn did it nineteen times and never fell under it after his rookie year in which he played in only about 50 games. I think he's first eligible for the Hall this year, correct?
here ends my non-Yankee digression...
Yes, it was Kruk. a lady came up to him at a social event. He was smoking a cigarette. She told him he should be ashamed of himself, being an athlete. And the rest, as they say, is rhetorical history.
Gwynn has to be a first balloter this year; I mean Boggs was, deservedly, and Gwynn was better. I say deservedly, but of course this too is subject to grade inflation. The giants of the game who didn't get into the Hall first time out in the early days are legion.
I think what is rare is a player who is fast enough to collect alot of infield hits. He almost has to be left-handed, righties like Nomar and Gwynn, switch hitters like Brett are out. Second, he has to be a really great hitter, not quite at the Williams level perhaps, but even 25 infield hits only gets you a small way toward the goal of 400, especially if you are batting at the top of the order as speedsters almost invariably will. That in itself is a disadvantage that may counterbalance the sped advantage. The more at bats you get, the less likely you are to hit for an astronomical average. Williams hit third; Nomar hit third, Brett hit third; Larry walker hit third. Carew might have hit 2nd, but you get the idea. Ichiro had what 500 hits or so in 2004 and he still only hit 372, which you know isn't really that close: 372 is to 400 what 279 is to 300. I think if you had a great hitter, left handed, hitting 3rd or later in the line-up and fast enough to properly be batting leadoff, then the infield hit question would come into play. But the combination of those factors is truly rare.
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