Mike Sweeney Has Had a Nice Second-Half
by royalsreview on Sep 15, 2009 11:01 AM EDT
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Our old pal Mike Sweeney has actually had a pretty nice little second half of the season up in Seattle. Even with an 0-4 on Sunday, Mike's still hitting .325/.385/.538 in his last 91 PAs.
I don't have any great analysis here. He's an old guy who is flashing some old guys skills one last time. His current hot streak has a heavy batting average component (which is pretty much inevitable with hot streaks) which is actuallyout of line with his other changes this season. His numbers for the season, .271/.328/.431, are mostly in line with what he's done since 2006, though his walk rate and ISO have both picked up in 2009.
Mike's currently at 1493 career hits and it'd be nice to see him get to 1500 this season. If he really finishes strong, like 20/35, the rest of the way, he'll not only get over 1500 hits, he'll get his career average over .300. That probably won't happen, but it'd be cool if it did.
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Mike never had a problem hitting
It was staying healthy.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on Sep 15, 2009 11:56 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Unlike most other fans
I never much liked Sweeney. All the public God-bothering got to me. (Note: I really respect people who have strong religious faith, and one thing I’ve noticed is that most of them are pretty quiet about it.) So on the base of no evidence at all, I’ve decided Sweeney’s a hypocrite. I am also absolutely positive that he was taking roids, again based on no real evidence except his friendship with Jason Grimsley.
He’s a damned good line-drive hitter when he’s healthy, but he can’t really play any position on the field, and certainly not at his age. This is probably his last season with any real offensive production.
Oh, by the way, I was at the ballpark in 2003(?) the day Sweeney stole home. It was pretty cool. The crowd went wild. It was probably the smart play to make in that situation, since either Neifi or A.J. Hinch or one of those guys was up.
I wonder if there’s a list somewhere of most steals of home? I bet Jackie Robinson is very high on it, and that those good base-stealers (Maury Wills, Lou Brock) of the late ยด60s when Yaz once won the batting title with .301 are probably high, too. Rickey Henderson must have done it quite a few times.
It's pronounced Poo-ZHOLS in Catalan.
by Juancho on Sep 15, 2009 12:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
You can think what you want
but if you can become “absolutely positive” based on no real evidence, what are you when you have conclusive evidence? Absolutely positive plus?
by 2X2L on Sep 15, 2009 2:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I feel doubleplusungood about saying it
but I think the guy’s a complete phony. Maybe not Kirby Puckett-level, but possibly Steve Garvey-level. And there is one piece of evidence, though it’s guilt by association: Sweeney strongly defended Jason Grimsley, and we know Grimsley was moving PEDs through half the league, and was looking at federal charges if he hadn’t talked.
It's pronounced Poo-ZHOLS in Catalan.
by Juancho on Sep 15, 2009 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
We’ve been all over this already once this year. Don’t think we need to do it again.
by 2X2L on Sep 15, 2009 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
The fact that he defended Grimsley speaks to his innocence and naivete
Why would you publicly defend someone you know to be doing that? It doesn’t make sense. If it was Sweeney’s own ass on the line, sure he would lie. Why would he put his ass on the line for someone else?
If the nice guy part of Sweeney was an act, he sure does it an awful lot, and has kept it up for years. It’s the same treatment golfer Phil Mickelson gets. People just can’t believe that there are nice people in the world.
by AxDxMx on Sep 15, 2009 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
A minor defense of guys who juiced during the roid era (assuming the roid era is actually over).
Because MLB adamantly refuse to do any drug testing of any kind until Congress went after them, I think there were probably a lot of players who took steroids as a means of simply hanging onto their jobs. If everybody else was doing it and the league didn’t care, how else were players going to remain competitive? I am not excusing illegal behavior, but if Selig weren’t a total douchebag and actually done his fucking job and actually tried to protect players in the league, none of it would be an issue.
Toby is in HR, which technically means he works for corporate, so he's really not a part of our family. Also, he's divorced, so he's really not a part of his family.
by Rev. Slappy on Sep 15, 2009 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
So, to summarize...
You said, “I have no logic to base these opinions on…”
Then state said opinions as fact…
I’m only left to conclude that you’re a senator.
by Bornin85 on Sep 15, 2009 2:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
OH SNAP!
Sponor of the Will Ebner Physical Therapy Center for Players Who've Been Hit By Will Ebner and Want to Try to Stop the Ringing. Or WEPTCPWBHBWEWTSR for short.
by MarioVanPeebles Republic of China on Sep 15, 2009 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Here's the list
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/recbooks/rb_stbah.shtml
My guesses were all wrong except for Robinson and Brock; Ty Cobb is the leader, with 54. All the other leaders were deadball or ‘30s guys. Surprise: Honus Wagner is fourth on the list, and Babe Ruth stole home ten times in his career. Rickey Henderson didn’t.
It's pronounced Poo-ZHOLS in Catalan.
by Juancho on Sep 15, 2009 12:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Steals of home have gone nearly extinct since pitchers began to pitch out of the stretch with a runner on 3rd. This isn’t the way it used to be done — except when there was also a runner on 1st with 2nd unoccupied, pitchers would normally use the windup with a runner on 3rd. I guess the higher likelihood of a steal of home was once considered a reasonable tradeoff against the higher likelihood of preventing the batter from driving in the run when pitching from the windup.
I recently watched Game 5 of the 1969 World Series again, and I noticed that with Agee on 3rd in the bottom of the 1st McNally pitched to Jones from the windup. This situation prompted Gowdy and Nelson, the announcers, to discuss Agee’s attempt to steal home in the NLCS (IIRC Jones, not seeing Agee come down the line, fouled off the pitch). Then after walking Jones, McNally pitched to Clendenon from the stretch.
by 2X2L on Sep 15, 2009 2:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I heard a rumor that Jacoby Ellsbury stole home once
but the story went away pretty quickly
I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.
Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.
by devil_fingers on Sep 15, 2009 2:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
No, NBC says it happened
so you know it’s true:
by 2X2L on Sep 15, 2009 2:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
This 1989 New York Times article: Why Nobody Steals Home Anymore, quotes Henderson on why he was stealing home so infrequently.
by 2X2L on Sep 15, 2009 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I always thought the KC media took a huge, unwarranted dump all over Sweeney.
Sweeney’s injury problems seemed to be the result of over-training. It seemed the harder he worked at being injury-free the worse his injury problems got.
And I think brain dead fans who let talk radio hosts tell them what to think were given their marching orders to hate on Sweeney. Should the Royals have kept Beltran over Sweeney? Possibly, but none of that is Sweeney’s fault. I don’t think you could ever question the guy’s desire.
Toby is in HR, which technically means he works for corporate, so he's really not a part of our family. Also, he's divorced, so he's really not a part of his family.
by Rev. Slappy on Sep 15, 2009 2:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I no brain dead
Green line on monitor still slightly jagged.
I think Beltran better than Sweeney. I think Dye and Damon better than Sweeney too. If I GM I trade professional DH at peak value for prospects and keep professional outfielders who can catch ball.
It's pronounced Poo-ZHOLS in Catalan.
by Juancho on Sep 18, 2009 6:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Of, the player has to be willing to stay, and ownership also has to be willing to keep him. Beltran: no want. And ownership to Baird: dump Dye. No?
by 2X2L on Sep 19, 2009 6:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
where by “Of” I mean of course “of course”
by 2X2L on Sep 19, 2009 6:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Given the recent controversy over the training staff
Shouldn’t the position about Sweeney being this loser be reevaluated? If the training staff is the worst in the league, it would be their fault for not noticing the back problem when it should have been noticed, and providing preventative care.
by Bornin85 on Sep 15, 2009 2:51 PM EDT reply actions 3 recs
I think this is an excellent point.
Toby is in HR, which technically means he works for corporate, so he's really not a part of our family. Also, he's divorced, so he's really not a part of his family.
by Rev. Slappy on Sep 15, 2009 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
good point, but I am afraid that you are now banned. sorry.
"Things could always be worse." - Buddy Bell
by buddyball on Sep 15, 2009 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I don't know, but I always liked the Sween-dog
I think he always played hard. Perhaps too hard and his body couldn’t take the punishment.
"Things could always be worse." - Buddy Bell
by buddyball on Sep 15, 2009 3:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I remember after the Dr. Nick controversy broke
that Rany was on the radio somewhere saying that he wondered if part of the reason guys like Sweeney on the Royals got hurt was simply because they weren’t that athletic to begin with. So when they “played hard” they tended to overdo it and get hurt. He contrasted that with a guy like Carlos Beltran, who didn’t have to push his body as hard to take the extra base because he was (and is) an awesome athelete to begin with. This isn’t (and wasn’t intended) to be a criticism of Beltran, who until this season’s devastating injury, has been a fantastically productive and durable player. It’s just that to take the extra base or leg out a single guys like Beltran don’t have to push their body as close to the breaking point.
I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.
Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.
by devil_fingers on Sep 15, 2009 4:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
sure level of effort to attain the average is different for every player, that is a good point
…and considering the Dr. Nick stuff, the training of all players in the Royals system might need to be taken into consideration after all the injuries. (and not for this year alone)
Not that you can/or would do anything about it, it just seems to be an interesting correlation between injuries and the training staff.
Sponor of the Will Ebner Physical Therapy Center for Players Who've Been Hit By Will Ebner and Want to Try to Stop the Ringing. Or WEPTCPWBHBWEWTSR for short.
by MarioVanPeebles Republic of China on Sep 15, 2009 4:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Impossible...
or else Eckstein and Bloomquist would spend the majority of their careers on the DL.
Unless I'm wrong...
My Twitter feed
by Top Ramen on Sep 15, 2009 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, I don't buy it either
Doesn’t seem to me that the more effort a player puts out on the field, the more injury-prone he would be, no matter how great his natural athletic ability is. Pete Rose would be the classic counter-example; that guy not only played about 22 seasons, he played nearly every single game in the first 15.
Pete Reiser would be an example of someone who gets hurt by putting out too much effort, but he was always running into walls and getting tangled up with second basemen and sticking his head out over the plate. It wasn’t his playing hard that did him in, it was doing dumb stuff likely to get him hurt.
It's pronounced Poo-ZHOLS in Catalan.
by Juancho on Sep 18, 2009 5:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
To rephrase it, my guess would be
1) Some players are more physically fit than others, because they work out more or lead a healthier lifestyle.
2) Some people are probably genetically gifted and have especially tough tendons, biceps, big toes, or whatever.
3) Those two groups of guys are probably less likely to get seriously injured than other guys who aren’t as fit or as naturally tough.
4) Unless they’re dumb and take stupid risks all the time.
5) Natural athletic ability (coordination, balance, quick reflexes) doesn’t figure into this.
It's pronounced Poo-ZHOLS in Catalan.
by Juancho on Sep 18, 2009 6:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
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