Don't talk to Marty Brennaman about Adamn Dunn's OBP
The most recent edition of the "Reds Hot Stove League" radio show featured a contentious but one-sided exchange between a caller ("Kenneth from Dayton") and the Reds' long-time announcer Marty Brennaman.
Caller: People here don't realize that Pat Burrell and Adam Dunn don't get paid $12 million to hit .300. They get paid to hit home runs; that's it.
Marty: No, they get paid to drive in runs, is what they get paid to do.
Caller: And hit home runs.
Marty: No, unh-uh. Home runs are incidental. It's run production that they are going to get paid for. Adam Dunn hits 40 home runs and barely reaches a hundred RBI's.
Caller: But, if you're going to talk about potential run production, look at his on-base.
Marty: (angrily) I don't care about -- I don't care about his on-base! I get so blasted tired hearing some people talk to me about Adam Dunn's on-base percentage. Adam Dunn ain't paid to walk. Adam Dunn's paid to hit home runs and drive in runs for God's sake, and they can take off, uh, they can take off the walks, and you're out of here! (hangs up)
. . .
Marty: We are heading toward a break. Don't call and talk to me about Adam Dunn's on-base percentage--
Thom: You sure?
Marty: --because it pushes my hot button.
Thom: I would have never known.
Marty: I'm tired of hearing about how many times he walks. He was paid to hit home runs, paid to drive in runs. He homers; he doesn't drive in runs.
Thom: You know, you're too old to get worked up like this.
So bizarre. Not only does Marty not want to hear about something that is actually more important to a team scoring runs (OBP), but he fails to realize that Dunn actually has driven in a hell of a lot of runs. Radio sports talk guys get this way sometimes. "Don't talk to me about what is really important for a hitter. I know what's important for a hitter! Batting average! [or] RBI's! [or] How he hits with runners on base!"
about 3 years ago
Scott McKinney
22 comments
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what a sad little man
always been one of my least favorite
is thom the son or the dad? I always forget
Thom is his son
The immoderate moderator
by Scott McKinney on Dec 23, 2008 3:07 AM EST up reply actions
that explains the smart assed responses...
well…being his son…and the fact that there really were no other responses to Marty’s ignorance
TPJ...you're dead to me
by billybeingbilly on Dec 23, 2008 3:09 AM EST up reply actions
+1 on the "sad little man"
See below. – TL
[In 2008] Kila Ka’aihue had the best on-base percentage of any hitter in the minor leagues. - Joe Posnanski, 11/9/2008 ... Ergo, let's give him a shot at first base in KC in 2009.
Marty: No, they get paid to drive in runs, is what they get paid to do.
this is what it must have been like to have lived in the 19th century
It’s amazing how little the prevailing baseball ideology has changed since the 19th century…or at least since 1920.
The immoderate moderator
by Scott McKinney on Dec 23, 2008 3:08 AM EST up reply actions
It's not that...
…“the prevailing baseball ideology” hasn’t changed, it’s that some persistent old-timers keep reminding us of the past. Brennaman is one of the ossified. He’s really not at all thoughtful about the game. – TL
[In 2008] Kila Ka’aihue had the best on-base percentage of any hitter in the minor leagues. - Joe Posnanski, 11/9/2008 ... Ergo, let's give him a shot at first base in KC in 2009.
He's really not at all thoughtful about the game.
How many mainstream sports media guys are at all thoughtful about the game? You’ll hear the same comments about “being paid to drive in runs” on ESPN from haircuts in their 20’s and 30’s too. I think Brennaman is comfortably within the mainstream.
The immoderate moderator
by Scott McKinney on Dec 23, 2008 11:34 AM EST up reply actions
Perhaps I'm already used to...
…a reasonably intelligent Cubs crew of Brenly, Len Kasper, and Pat Hughes. Not a big Santo fan. I can’t access Royals radio and tv (at least not without extra expense), so I can’t comment on them. – TL
[In 2008] Kila Ka’aihue had the best on-base percentage of any hitter in the minor leagues. - Joe Posnanski, 11/9/2008 ... Ergo, let's give him a shot at first base in KC in 2009.
he went from....
‘adam dunn doesnt get paid to hit home runs’ to ‘adam dunn gets paid to hit home runs’ really quick once OBP was mentioned…i think homers provided him some comfort…maybe b/c theyve always been on the back of baseball cards or something
TPJ...you're dead to me
by billybeingbilly on Dec 23, 2008 3:08 AM EST reply actions
Marty Brennaman is a jerk
The Old Man went nuts last year on Cubs fans, calling them the absolute worst fans he’s ever seen in his life. He then went out of his way to praise boring, chubby, glued-to-their seats Cards fans. Living in Chicago and having attended many Cubs games, I know full well the reputation of their fans. But that reputation is colored by a minority of glam-loving silicon chicks and a few meathead frat party boys. The truth is, however, that the Reds brass would kill to have that kind of devoted following.
Brennaman has devolved into a grumpy codger. He needs to be retired for his own good. Much like my diss. subject, Mortimer Adler, he’s killing his professional oeuvre in the last years of his professional life.
Rant over. – TL
[In 2008] Kila Ka’aihue had the best on-base percentage of any hitter in the minor leagues. - Joe Posnanski, 11/9/2008 ... Ergo, let's give him a shot at first base in KC in 2009.
man, Marty, this topic is
so 2002
Bringing you more-or-less replacement level analysis and commentary since sometime in 2008.
Some things are perennial.
You know, complaining about the Yankees, Dodgers fans, etc. – TL
[In 2008] Kila Ka’aihue had the best on-base percentage of any hitter in the minor leagues. - Joe Posnanski, 11/9/2008 ... Ergo, let's give him a shot at first base in KC in 2009.
In MY day...
we didn’t have any of these fancy-pants “statistics” like “on-base percentage” or “OPS”…whatever the hell THAT means. You just watched a bunch of players and if one of ‘em hit the ball really far then he was good. And if another one ran around the bases faster than everyone else then HE was good, too. Yeah! And you didn’t use these girly “batting gloves” either. You just grabbed a bat with nothing on your hands except spit and dirt. And the bat weighed 11 pounds and you just swung it until your hands got all bloodied and blistered and they just turned into little bloody, dirty lumps of flesh.
And that’s the way it was and WE LIKED IT!!!

"Quit trying to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring...besides that they're fascist. Throw some groundballs. It's more democratic."
by Sweep_the_Leg on Dec 23, 2008 12:27 PM EST reply actions 3 recs
Great reference, well crafted
If I may add on (with more of royaldaddy’s “real man” bullshit)
In my day we didn’t have any of these “pitch counts” or “relief pitchers.” A pitcher would start the game, pitch the whole game and finish it. And then he’d pitch the next game. And then he’d throw a few hundred pitches for practice. Then he’d eat lunch and do it all over again. Back then a pitcher’s arm was in constant pain and that’s the way he wanted it. He’d pitch 4,000 innings a year, tear his labrum, shread some ligaments and come back to pitch 5,000 innings the next year. PItchers were made of iron, lived lives of pure agony and by the time the their career was over they couldn’t even open a door with their pitching arms.
That’s the way it was and WE LIKED IT!
The immoderate moderator
by Scott McKinney on Dec 23, 2008 12:40 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
And The Rotator
Cuff had yet to be invented.
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
by philofthenorth on Dec 23, 2008 12:50 PM EST up reply actions
Has Anyone Ever
Tried explaining to Marty that Dunn’s plate discipline (and thus BB’s) are the only reason pitchers feel compelled to throw strikes to him? With his contact rate, if not for the plate discipline (and power) he would never have gotten out of AA ball. While Dunn is quite capable of K’ing on good strikes, a pitcher who is pitching in the strike zone will leave some pitches up and over the plate, thus Dunn’s HR’s and RBI’s. The fact that he often winds up standing on 1B for free, while a good thing per se, is a byproduct. Capiche, Marty?
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
by philofthenorth on Dec 23, 2008 12:34 PM EST reply actions
What's with Reds broadcasters hating the Reds players so much?
I still remember Jeff Brantley openly sneering at how crappy and unclutch Edwin Encarnacion was just before Encarnacion hit a walk off home run.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
Too bad Brenneman wasn't the Reds GM
we could have swapped Guillen for Dunn straight up, since their RBIs are very similar.
Mr Glass, this is a pro sports team, not a retail store - run it like one!
by loyal2sdad on Dec 23, 2008 4:22 PM EST reply actions 1 recs













