John Hickey Is Subtle

by Jeff Sullivan on Feb 18, 2009 6:43 PM PST in Miscellaneous

That's not to say that the Mariners have no blame in the way this story stretched out. Seattle They could have wrapped up Griffey a month ago or more when the Braves weren't a factor. But general manager Jack Zduriencik, hired in November, had other issues on his plate deemed to be more important than pursuit of an icon near the end of one of the great careers in baseball history.

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Read More: Ken Griffey Jr. (DH - SEA), Griffey Says Yes To Mariners(Hickey Article)

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Like building a good baseball team

What a terrible baseball GM

by Graham MacAree on Feb 18, 2009 6:44 PM PST reply actions

What I have figured out here on LL

Is that here on LL and USSM, there is an emotional detachment to players. We like players that are good, or hate players that suck. SImple as that, numbers speak louder than words. In the real world, it seems that people care way too much about off field crap, like clubhouse leadership, being a nice guy, etc. This is why the media beats up on A-Rod or Bonds despite being arguably the best players in baseball for the past 10 years or so (Pujols aside), while “nice guys” like Ibanez shouldn’t be criticized for his horrible defense because he shows leadership, or he donates his time to charity golf. Or that Willie Ballgame hustles all the time, so his crappy splits should be ignored.

Hopefully bloggers will set the trend to how the media will eventually treat players in the future, because I think that while right now the media is fawning over A-Rod’s day with the press and what not, most regular people could care less about him doing steroids five years ago, or cheating on his wife with Madonna, rather, how he will perform next year(or make timely hits). Or how a certain percentage of the Mariners fan base wouldn’t have minded having Bonds as DH last year, as he would’ve still put him decent numbers for cheap. This amount is still probably still too far and few between, because the media probably still influences how people think about things. Why do you think trolls come in here saying the exact ideas that we scorn.

/rant.

by Fin on Feb 18, 2009 7:45 PM PST up reply actions

I like RRS far more than his performance warrants.

by Vatinius on Feb 18, 2009 7:49 PM PST up reply actions

His performance will warrant is one day.

I am sure his blog also helps out as well.

by Fin on Feb 18, 2009 9:08 PM PST up reply actions

I don't think that's entirely true...

But I do think that is a good way to approach the fundamental difference. I don’t think hate is quite the right word for how we feel about players who aren’t good, or good for the team. I hated Carl Everett when he was good, long before signing with the M’s. In fact, he was always my least favorite player. I always hated Eckstein, even when he was…umm…good at leaning into pitches and getting into movies at the children’s price.

Players who just aren’t good I don’t really hate, I would just rather they hurt some other team. If they just play and keep their damn yap shut, fine. It’s when they start making excuses, or blaming other people, or just being annoying I start to get angry.

And then there’s the irrational love for players like Snelling on these two blogs. Even the love for Ichiro is probably a little over the top for his skill level…because he’s, well, Ichiro. I don’t think even the most hardened stathead can resist falling in love with the outfield stretching and hilarious quotes.

by Sidi on Feb 18, 2009 8:02 PM PST up reply actions

Like this one?

by Fin on Feb 18, 2009 9:09 PM PST up reply actions

While this is mostly true

we all have our irrational weaknesses. Mine has sexy goggles on.

by Jeff Sullivan on Feb 18, 2009 8:27 PM PST up reply actions

Sexy rose-colored goggles.

by msb on Feb 18, 2009 9:00 PM PST up reply actions

Right, but I think it has to do more with silliness in your case than it does with serious opinion.

Like there are people who actually think that Willie’s hustle makes a difference in how the team plays, or that clubhouse chemistry is part of the reason the M’s lost so many games. These opinions I think are influenced by the MSM, who have yet to catch on to the analysis that you guys possess, so they have to opt to off the field material to keep readership constant.

by Fin on Feb 18, 2009 9:07 PM PST up reply actions

An emotional detachment?

Really?

by Graham MacAree on Feb 18, 2009 9:07 PM PST up reply actions

Ok, well maybe I wasn't clear

But what I am saying is that your emotion is fueled by Felix’s performance, who is an awesome player and will probably rake up Cy Youngs as the M’s work their way back into contention (which I must say he is my favorite Mariner at the moment), not so much for Felix being a nice guy or other reasons off the field. Now say, Beltran slid into Willie or Yuni, neither who get much respect round here because neither played that well last year, I am sure we wouldn’t have flipped out the same way. I am sure we would’ve still called Beltran out for being a prick, but I don’t think we would’ve missed Willie or Yuni from the active roster like we would’ve Felix.

by Fin on Feb 18, 2009 9:14 PM PST up reply actions

I want to have rampant sex with Jeff Clement, who hit roughly .000/,000/.000 and has no idea where the ball is

I would also want to make wild wild love to Chris Snelling if not for the fear that I’d break his fragile body.

by Graham MacAree on Feb 18, 2009 9:21 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs

Ok

But then again, I am sure the prospects of Clement being good one day is what makes you desire that. Here at LL we tend to look forward, while the MSM tends to look at past experience.

And plus, seeing that Doyle is with no particular team as it is, I am sure he would consent.

Plus, funny quote from Wikipedia:" At a Mariner fan blog called USS Mariner, Snelling was dubbed “Doyle” (his middle name) in hopes of driving off the injury curse that has plagued him."

I wonder who here wrote that.

by Fin on Feb 18, 2009 9:27 PM PST up reply actions

I have no idea why I love Clement

I’ve been beyond fond of him since before he was drafted and I just love to watch him play. Is it because I expect him to be good in the future? Maybe, but it’s hard to deny that I have an irrational attachment.

by Graham MacAree on Feb 18, 2009 9:40 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs

I can vouch for Graham here...

It shocked me as much as anyone when Dave Cameron confessed to smiling upon hearing the Griffey news yesterday (Dave’s noodled me for my crazy homerism for Griffey as much as anyone over the last few years).

These über-statheads are, in fact, real human beings and have irrational attachment to certain players too. Might be different from yours or mine (SHUT THE HELL UP ABOUT MIKE MORSE WOULD YOU!!! GOSH!) but there very much still there.

This signature space for rent.

by PositivePaul on Feb 19, 2009 2:58 PM PST up reply actions

He’s not the only one

by JI on Feb 19, 2009 3:50 PM PST up reply actions

One of my all-time favorite comments comes from that thread.

"I HOPE CARLOS BELTRAN GETS CARLOS BELTRAN’S DISEASE.

SYMPTOMS: YOU FUCKING EXPLODE."

Patriotism, Pepper, Professionalism

by esoteric on Feb 18, 2009 9:23 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs

I think there's emotional detachment in when it comes to analysis of players, but not necessarily rooting interest.

I love players that I know aren’t very good and hate players I know are quite good.

by Aaron Campeau on Feb 19, 2009 1:21 PM PST up reply actions

It's rather transparent that 90% of that article was cannibalized from a "What Went Wrong With Griffey?" one that he had already written over the last two days.

The funky verb tenses and awkward structuring betray it more than anything else.

Patriotism, Pepper, Professionalism

by esoteric on Feb 18, 2009 6:44 PM PST reply actions

"They could have wrapped up Griffey a month ago or more when the Braves weren't a factor."

of course, as Jr was the one who called the Braves, it well may have developed in the same way a month ago ….

by msb on Feb 18, 2009 6:54 PM PST reply actions

And so it begins...

by Matthew on Feb 18, 2009 6:57 PM PST reply actions

On the plus side

the only beat writers I read regularly are Stone and Baker, one of whom is too good to fawn, and the other of whom wasn’t around to care about Griffey before and should remain relatively unaffected.

by Jeff Sullivan on Feb 18, 2009 6:59 PM PST up reply actions