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Berroa & Bell Blame Benighted Baseball Buffs

Recently in the diaries Buddy Bell was lambasted for his comments comparing shortstops Andres Blanco and Angel Berroa. Bell's comments seemed offensive at best and at least unnecessary in the eyes of most Royal's fans. However, Bell made other comments in the same articles that I believe are of interest:

"Four eyes see better than two," [Berroa] said. "Sometimes, I get down so easily. ... Right now, you [Bell] are my father and you can see better than me. Sometimes we're doing something and not doing it right."

The fact that Berroa gets down on himself so much is one of Bell's big concerns.

"There's a misconception around the city that he doesn't care," Bell said.

Indeed, Berroa has become one of the main targets of Kansas City's fans this year. Bell said that Berroa just worries about his game in excess.

"It just eats him up too much," Bell said. "He's got to get where he can forget about it. It just weighs heavy on his mind and his heart."

So basically the argument here is that Berroa sucks only because the fans are so down on him. As I see it there are 3 possible conclusions to be drawn from this:

  1. Bell is right. Berroa is not playing up to his 2003 ability because of his emotional and mental weakness coupled with the KC fanbase's utter frustration with him.
  2. Bell is wrong. Berroa had a fluke year in 2003, and does not have the ability to be a major league shortstop.
  3. Bell (and more likely Moore) want other 'baseball guys' around the league to think Berroa is only struggling because of the KC situation. The idea being that a change of scenery is all he needs to perform to 2003 standards.
Which is it? Personally I believe it is 2), and the optimist in me wants to believe it is 3). However, 1) is still an intriguing theory to me as a baseball fan: can someone really play this bad for this long based solely on those factors? Is it possible for Berroa to improve by the fans loudly cheering him for every at bat? Would a sports psychologist be able to help? Buddy Bell certainly seems to believe it... and he is nothing if not 'experienced' with that type of baseball voodoo, one would think. At any rate, I find it somewhat fascinating.. so there it is. What do yall think?

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great diary
i think the human element is a part of it and we should nt overlook it, but berroa is, without question, the worst everyday SS in baseball

still, i guess he does care...

by LeoBloom on Sep 14, 2006 12:53 AM EDT reply actions  

we can only pray for his trade value
maybe one of Glass's supposed friends will take him
FIRE BELL

by FireBell on Sep 14, 2006 1:04 AM EDT reply actions  

the problem is berroa
its an organzation that creates an environment, performance wise and intellectually, where he plays this much

the fans that boo are also booing management, which this incredibly thin skinned org has never been able to handle

by FlintHillsRoyal on Sep 14, 2006 1:59 AM EDT reply actions  

side note
the quote by Berroa is just plain strange. He refers to Bell as his father and then goes on to by all appearances refer to himself as 'we'. Weird.

by antidecaf on Sep 14, 2006 2:04 AM EDT reply actions  

agreed
totally weird... i assume its an english-spanish thing or something

its kinda touching in a strange way

by FlintHillsRoyal on Sep 14, 2006 2:09 AM EDT up reply actions  

i'd like nothing more than to see
Berroa rebound next season

we're already stuck with him and i dont believe this team has the BRAVERY to cut him

so we are where we are... would it be too much for him to hit .250/.300/.430

that'd still be awful, but it wouldn't be as bad as this season

by Freneau on Sep 14, 2006 2:11 AM EDT reply actions  

I've never doubted that Berroa cares...
it's just that he sucks, and in my experiences in life, sucking is mostly a singular achievement.

by loyal2s dad on Sep 14, 2006 8:59 AM EDT reply actions  

Nobody was down on him
at the start of the 2004 season, and look what happened.  I'm sure Berroa would love people to cheer as he hacks at an 0-2 slider at his toes, but that's not going to help him hit.

His stats in Omaha in 2002:  .215/.277/.347

2003 was a fluke.  No amount of feel-good Buddy treatment is going to make Berroa remotely close to valuable.

Free Justin Huber

by Diesel @ Royals Review on Sep 14, 2006 12:52 PM EDT reply actions  

The bigger crime
was Allard Baird not being able to recognize a fluke season when he saw one. Looking at Berroa's minor league track record sure should have given him pause for thought before offering a long term deal after only one decent season.

Diesel, you are correct. We may look back at that 2003 season years from now and be able to call it one of the flukiest turned in by a player ever.

by loyal2s dad on Sep 18, 2006 2:38 PM EDT reply actions  

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