Alex Gordon's Historic Season Going Unnoticed
by Jeff Zimmerman on Sep 25, 2011 10:00 PM EDT
in Kansas City Royals News
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Why doesn't the mainstream media understand how good of a season Alex Gordon is having this year? With the release of Moneyball the movie, a person would think that TV, radio and newspaper reporters would all be showing off their possible knowledge. Instead, all we hear or read about is the 200 hits that Melky is trying to get, the grit from Francoeur or the great rookie season Hosmer Jesus is having. They are completely ignoring one of the greatest seasons in Royals history over the last 25 years.
It is time to break out a few numbers to show how good Alex Gordon is doing this year. This season he is first in WAR and wRC (quantify a player's total offensive value and measure it by runs)
Alex Gordon 6.4 WAR, 113 Runs Created
Melky Cabrera 3.8 War, 97 Runs Created
Jeff Francoeur 2.8 WAR, 92 Runs Created
Gordon with the easy win. It is not even really close. Now here are WAR and wRC single season leaders over the last 10 years:
WAR
Carlos Beltran, 2003, 6.7 WAR,
Alex Gordon 2011, 6.4 WAR
Mike Aviles 2008, 4.4 WAR
wRC
Alex Gordon 2011, 113 wRC
Carlos Beltran, 2003, 111 wRC
Billy Butler, 2010, 105 wRC
It could easily be argued that Gordon's 2011 season is on par with Beltran's 2003 season. He may be second, but there is no one else close to the pair. Now, pushing the year back to 1992, or 20 years, here are the WAR leaders:
WAR
Carlos Beltran, 2003, 6.7 WAR,
Alex Gordon 2011, 6.4 WAR
Jay Bell, 1997, 5.6 WAR
wRC (the 2000 edition)
Mike Sweeney, 131
Johnny Damon, 126
Jermaine Dye, 125
(Gordon was 7th with 1113)
Gordon gets pushed off the wRC leaderboard, but still is at the top with Beltran on the WAR leader board.
I do find it a little weird that two SS are the last two closest players to the WAR lead consider the ineptitude of Royals SS over the years.
I have to go back to 1985 for any Royal to put up a higher WAR value than Beltran did in 2003 and Gordon is putting up this season. Some guy with the last name Brett put up a 8.7 WAR that season. He was supposedly decent.
How in the hell is this not the headline every freaking day and night? One of the top 2 seasons since 1985 by a hitter is being put up by Alex Gordon and no one is saying a single word. @#$%&*. Why can't people that get paid to cover the team figure this out? Did Alex piss in their cornflakes or something? Does he crop dust them every time he walks by? Does he give bad Xmas gifts? What the hell is it?
I feel bad for Alex right now. He should be in the spot light. The dream season. Instead, he is just considered to be having a second rate season compared to the others around him. Maybe, just maybe, the mainstream media will give Alex the credit he deserves over the last 3 games of the season. I am guessing probably not and that is too bad for Alex.
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all he does is lead in stats
but leading in the hearts and minds of the clubhouse like Melky or Francoeur? to be seen
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Alex is going to be a really good early/mid round steal next year
by KCTiger on Sep 25, 2011 10:05 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Huge Alex Fan
but this was the year to steal him. He’ll probabaly go too high in fantasy drafts where people don’t understand regression.
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Before getting tweaked, read up on regression.
by Matt Klaassen on Sep 25, 2011 10:15 PM EDT up reply actions
regression is annoying, i'm gonna look at it like this was Alex's down year and next year will be the year he dominates
Do these effectively hide my thunder?
by splitty on Sep 26, 2011 12:16 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
TRENDING UP
Kila's slash for Apr 20 to May 4, 2011, right before he was sent down: .276 / .344 / .448
by SagehenMacGyver47 on Sep 26, 2011 2:08 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
I took him for a $1 in two leagues and killed because of it.
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Since 2006: Royals win% = .420, Chiefs win% = .354
by averagegatsby on Sep 25, 2011 10:25 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm in a fight to the finish
Gordon was the key to my success. Oh and Kemp. Drafted Gordon in the 17th round. Got laughed at. He’s (and Billy) my namesake here for a reason. What a great season. I don’t expect him to surpass this year, but I think he can.
by billexgordler on Sep 25, 2011 11:07 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I refuse to draft Royals. Ever.
Because I curse them. Gordon’s past years are directly correlated with my owning him. Soria’s struggles? My fault. It is the way of things and I won’t ruin any more Royals.
Dear Dejezeus....
….please draft our players. Especially A.J. there on the South Side.
Signed,
Rest of AL Central
/tweeting.... @displacedsptsfn
I'm the same way
Sure, it’s silly, but I go with it
If we are taking fantasy
melky was the steal of the year. With alex, melk, and hosmer, being a royals fan won me my league this year (well verlander helped I guess)
by YouDon'tPhaseMeGobble on Sep 26, 2011 8:12 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
He's still a bust
I got a whopper in the car
by tiquanunderwear on Sep 25, 2011 10:15 PM EDT reply actions
Frank White did say in the pregame the other day that he thought he was the team MVP this year
Your 2010 Royals Review Fantasy Football Keeper League Champion
Since 2006: Royals win% = .420, Chiefs win% = .354
I eagerly await Frank's opinion on who the team's best pitcher was in 2009.
Making watching baseball as fun as doing your taxes.
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Before getting tweaked, read up on regression.
by Matt Klaassen on Sep 25, 2011 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Easy
Sidney Ponson
Alex Gordon is really good
Blaine Gabbert is really good
MJD is really good
Never forget Matt Treanor
by tiquanunderwear on Sep 25, 2011 10:29 PM EDT up reply actions
That would have been my guess also.
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by Jeff Zimmerman on Sep 25, 2011 10:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Dusty Hughes got a lot of consideration also
Alex Gordon is really good
Blaine Gabbert is really good
MJD is really good
Never forget Matt Treanor
by tiquanunderwear on Sep 25, 2011 10:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Just sent Jeff an "angry" email about jinxing Alex and pre-empting my year-end FanGraphs thunder
(what, people aren’t going to want to read about Alex Gordon in Royals history during the playoffs?)
He probably got the flu this weekend because of Will’s MVP post, keeping him from playing against meh pitching in a hitters park this weekend — he’ll have a hard time catching up in a pitcher’s park in Minnesota.
Actually, if you really want to adapt for era, convert runs to wins, then Alex has the best offensive season in Batting Wins Above Average, Alex has already had the best season since Tartabull in 1991.
I don’t think we should let this overshadow Frenchy getting to 20/20 or Melky’s 200-hit season, though.
Making watching baseball as fun as doing your taxes.
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Before getting tweaked, read up on regression.
Ah, The Classics
Baseball cards circa 1966 forever
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
by philofthenorth on Sep 26, 2011 12:34 AM EDT up reply actions
Maybe we just are trying to keep his contract extension costs down?? We'll talk about it after he extends!
Also, love the domination quote from a year ago. Who would have thought he would back it up like this.
Ahem............I Did
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
by philofthenorth on Sep 26, 2011 12:36 AM EDT up reply actions
And You Could
Look it up. 2011 is what 2009 would have been without the injuries and mismanagement. Maybe 2010 at the latest.
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
by philofthenorth on Sep 26, 2011 12:37 AM EDT up reply actions
A lot of his value comes from walks, doubles power and defense in left field.
both of which are generally underrated by mainstream media. It sucks that after receiving so much venom from the fans and being jerked around by the front office he does not appear to be getting his proper due. As long as Dayton understands how important Gordon is and signs him to a contract extension, I can live with mainstream media ignoring his worth
by Connor Moylan on Sep 25, 2011 10:29 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I am so happy about this
I’ve been singing Gordon’s praises since his rookie year and all my friends have always given me crap about it. Granted, none of them understand why batting average and homeruns aren’t the end-all, but I feel so justified and they are starting to read up on sabermetrics because of it.
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by AlexGordonHRmagnet on Sep 25, 2011 10:47 PM EDT reply actions
I'm curious about one thing
(Never mind that if you take out defense, it doesn’t seem /as/ great as he added nearly 6 runs due to defense this season versus -2.7, -2.6, and -4.5 the last three years)
But is this more damning that this counts as a “historic” season for the Royals whereas on most other teams, it’s merely a good one?
SSHHHHH
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by Jeff Zimmerman on Sep 25, 2011 10:49 PM EDT up reply actions
Well, it's not so much "historic" as really, really good
But while the Royals haven’t exactly been great the last 25, years, most Royals fans take pride in Sweeney/Beltran/Damon/Dye years, and this season Alex has been better offensively than any of those players and overall better than any of them except Beltran’s best year. So at least in Royals history, there’s something to it. People who talk about Beltran/Damon/Dye as great need to give Alex his due.
Making watching baseball as fun as doing your taxes.
My Twitter feed.
Before getting tweaked, read up on regression.
by Matt Klaassen on Sep 25, 2011 11:10 PM EDT up reply actions
i'm thrilled for alex
and really happy for him that he had such a good season…i didn’t think he would amount to shit after the way he’s played, but he’s proven the doubters wrong, for one season at least…here’s hoping this is a new level of performance and regression doesn’t take hold.
well done, alex
Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."
--Albert Einstein
by Home Run Tony Cogan on Sep 25, 2011 11:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Thank You
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
by philofthenorth on Sep 26, 2011 12:40 AM EDT up reply actions
all he has to do is keep putting up 6+ win seasons
a reasonable standard
Making watching baseball as fun as doing your taxes.
My Twitter feed.
Before getting tweaked, read up on regression.
by Matt Klaassen on Sep 26, 2011 7:51 AM EDT up reply actions
I really hope
That the Royals keep Gordon leading off next year. Nice to have a guy there that can do something with the bat. Also, I was very disappointed that Alex wasn’t the Royals All-Star rep this year.
Oh, and don’t know if he dominated….but I was pretty impressed with his season overall!!
by Royals fanatic on Sep 25, 2011 11:17 PM EDT reply actions
Agreed- I like him at 1
I found a nice game thread in the middle of last year when he was down in AAA. A bunch of us were lamenting that decision and someone even suggested he could bat leadoff.
I was pretty happy about my quote: “Somewhere in there, I think there’s a slightly lower rent version of Ryan Zimmerman waiting to play 3B” and I don’t feel too bad about that estimate.
by sterlingice on Sep 25, 2011 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Who is overlooking his season?
I don’t ever listen to KC sports radio, and I don’t have the volume on when I watch the games, and I haven’t seen a Lee Judge column in months, so maybe I’m just not looking at the right sources.
But I haven’t noticed the excess of Frenchy/Melky love and the shunning of Gordon that I keep reading about around here. I did read a nice peice in the Star a couple weeks ago about how Gordon has followed through on his promise to dominate. Dayton praised him repeatedly in the chat on kcstar.com last week.
What gives with the endless complaining about the Royals PR team’s points of emphasis?
by KSinDC on Sep 25, 2011 11:50 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Pump Up The
Volume. You’ll hear it.
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
by philofthenorth on Sep 26, 2011 12:42 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I should have known it was a Ryan/Frank thing
I guess it’s good we have people calling them out. Personally, it makes the games too infuriating to watch with their commentary.
i have the mlb.tv, and i watch just about every single game.
I do not however, listen to any of them. i keep it on mute, and do my own comentary. It’s much better that way.
by royal_in_cincinnati on Sep 26, 2011 9:41 AM EDT up reply actions
especially when they are on the road. I fricking hate homer announcers.
White Sox, Yankees, and Red Sox are probably the worst.
by royal_in_cincinnati on Sep 26, 2011 9:42 AM EDT up reply actions
And another point
The Royals let Melky play to pursue an objectively meaningless (but perhaps personally significant milestone) and they’re criticized for elevating petty concerns over more significant ones.
The Royals bat Gordon at or near the top of the lineup to maximize his at bats but fail to give him enough love in the media and they’re criticized for failing to elevate petty concerns.
I’d love to see Gordon get more love. I’d love to see Melky get 200 hits. I’d love to see Mitch get to play more. But I don’t think any of these things make an ounce of difference in the team’s ability to contend in 2013. I’m surprised to see them get so much coverage here.
by KSinDC on Sep 25, 2011 11:54 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
The Royals bat Gordon at or near the top of the lineup to maximize his at bats but fail to give him enough love in the media and they’re criticized for failing to elevate petty concerns.
It is the PR department’s only job to elevate petty concerns. That is their raison d’etre. The criticism of the Royals (to the extent that there is one) is that they are publicizing the wrong guys, or at least underpublicizing one player. It is not, however, the manager’s job to elevate petty concerns, especially with regard to actual game decisions, such as who plays.
I’d love to see Gordon get more love. I’d love to see Melky get 200 hits. I’d love to see Mitch get to play more. But I don’t think any of these things make an ounce of difference in the team’s ability to contend in 2013. I’m surprised to see them get so much coverage here.
Should we only talk about the really important things here?
You may know me as NYRoyal.
by Scott McKinney on Sep 26, 2011 10:32 AM EDT up reply actions
Let’s at least try to keep the focus on the slightly important things. I can’t bring myself to argue about Melky getting 2 extra games and Gordon getting one too few articles in the Star. I just don’t care at all.
When I see discussions on here that I don’t care about, I just disregard them. I rarely complain that there’s a discussion posted here that didn’t pique my interest. Not everything interests everyone.
You may know me as NYRoyal.
by Scott McKinney on Sep 26, 2011 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions
Scott, I've never known you to hold back on thread on Lee Judge
I’m pretty sure myopic complaints fall within the Scott McKinney-approved realm of things worth commenting on.
I think there's a difference between
“I disagree with this” and “you shouldn’t have written this”.
You may know me as NYRoyal.
by Scott McKinney on Sep 26, 2011 2:02 PM EDT up reply actions
jeebus dude
If you hate the coverage here so much, get your own f**king blog.
The last two articles you have complained about (this one and Melky’s pointless quest for 200 hits article) have the virtue of being entirely true, as well as apparently worthy of discussion with so many people weighing in.
get over yourself
I once tried to string together the combination, "Hot Shot Hit Foul". It didn't quite come out that way. -- Denny Matthews
by gordonfan on Sep 26, 2011 10:44 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
We like the coverage
We just didn’t agree with this article or the one slamming Yost for allowing Melky to reach a personal goal.
I don't have any problem with you disagreeing with the sentiments in these articles
But why the complaint about the article having been written at all? Was your Royal fandom offended by these articles? Or did you find them merely boring? If the latter, then why complain about them? Why not just ignore them?
You may know me as NYRoyal.
by Scott McKinney on Sep 26, 2011 10:53 AM EDT up reply actions
It feels like negativity for the sake of something to talk about. The issues themselves are boring, but the articles sparked debate, which I suppose is the point. I’d rather argue about something else, but I’m bored at work, and this is what’s here.
It feels like negativity for the sake of something to talk about.
Do you think this is why Will and Jeff wrote these articles? Just random negativity so they could post something? Or do you think these were genuine thoughts, feelings, and ideas that were in their heads and they thought warranted a RR post? They were honest articles, making valid points. Now they are points that one can certainly disagree with, but they were valid. Were these the most important articles ever written on this site? I don’t think Will, Jeff or anyone would answer in the affirmative.
I’d rather argue about something else, but I’m bored at work, and this is what’s here.
While you are free to post pretty much whatever you want, I would suggest that we debate the ideas in the articles, rather than debating whether they should have been written at all. They were written. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. They are either worthy of discussion or not. If they are, then feel free to discuss. If not, then don’t.
You may know me as NYRoyal.
by Scott McKinney on Sep 26, 2011 10:59 AM EDT up reply actions
Do you think this is why Will and Jeff wrote these articles? Just random negativity so they could post something?
Will might admit that he’s been beaten down by the team over the years, and that his initial reflexes to some Royals news can occasionally tend toward the negative take. Everyone fan has a frame of reference that colors their views. Rany desperately wants the team to win and believes that they will, and that colors his analysis. Will has his own frame of reference, and he tends to have an acute sense for anything that smells of oldschool thought.
If you’re saying Will has a negative bias towards the team and its management, I think that’s fair. I still don’t see how that means he shouldn’t have written the article. It was something he was thinking, so he wrote it. That’s the the nature of a blog. Now if you think his criticism was unfair, then that’s a fair point to make. But I really don’t think it’s fair to say that it was inappropriate for him to write it at all.
You may know me as NYRoyal.
by Scott McKinney on Sep 26, 2011 11:49 AM EDT up reply actions
Also, it’s not fair to keep claiming kcdc1 said Will shouldn’t have written the article on Melky. It’s a strawman of your creation.
He doesn't need my permission to write anything
With regard to letting Melky hit 200 hits, I just think Will made a mountain out of a molehill (honestly wasn’t even a molehill in my opinion), and part of the fun of this community is that you have an opportunity to argue against posts and people will read your argument. I don’t think I’m violating any unwritten rules here…..
In my experience, if someone has to mischaracterize your position in order to argue against it, that’s a point in favor of your position.
I think Scott is usually a very honest debater, but here he’s using a strawman to discredit what you’re saying, and I think that needs to be called out.
If I’m mischaracterizing anyone’s position, I apologize. I am not doing it intentionally. It just seems like there has been criticism of the post being written at all, not just disagreeing with the contentions therein.
You may know me as NYRoyal.
by Scott McKinney on Sep 26, 2011 2:04 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't get the defensiveness
If there’s a standard at RR that we aren’t to complain about repetitive posts on the same topic, where does Jack Marsh go for an apology?
I’ve never known this to be a place where you’re only allowed to make positive comments about articles (I know that I can go to Royals Corner if I want all positivity all the time), and neither kcdc1 nor I has attacked Jeff or Will personally. I disagree with the standard being used to judge the Royals. I present a recent article for contrast. I’m critical of the reasoning. How does Scott McKinney, of all people, object to that?
It just seems like the gist of your and kcdc1’s comments on these articles have been, “why are you wasting time writing about tiny little things like these?” Because it’s their blog and that’s what they wanted to write about. If you disagree with their points, cool. But it seems like you’re saying that they shouldn’t have written the pieces at all, because the complaints were too small to be worthy of comment.
You may know me as NYRoyal.
by Scott McKinney on Sep 26, 2011 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions
The Melky complaint felt completely out of left field when I read it
But this one is fine. I get the thrust of the argument. Gordon’s gotten a good amount of positive press from the Star and from the saber community, so I’m imagining that this article boils down tos a criticism of Dick Kaegel, Ryan Lefebvre and Kevin Keitzman and their collective inability to recognize the value of walks and doubles.
And I’m not complaining that Will or Jeff shouldn’t have written these articles.
Serious question
If someone writes a post saying “the Royals are dumb because of X” and I think X is petty, is there any way for me to dispute that that shows the Royals are dumb without it being perceived as an attack on the poster?
As I said in the Melky thread, by analogizing to the Francis decision, I think the conclusion is wrong (not just a petty reason for criticizing the Royals). Here, I have no problem with the conclusion. Alex deserves more love. I just wonder why the continuing focus on the relative media coverage of Frenchy, Gordon and others.
Because that was the beef I had.
I just got sick of the TV crew continuously backing and Melky and Frenchy when Alex was having such a great season. I looked and there was nothing from the written media either. It is an article blaming the main stream media of being either too stupid/lazy/ignorant to cover Alex Gordon’s season.
I am calling them out and I have no problems doing it. I believe there was an injustice (actually pretty small with everything else going on the world) and voiced my opinion.
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by Jeff Zimmerman on Sep 26, 2011 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions
I like your work, and I'll keep reading as long as you keep writing
As I said above, I don’t listen to Frank and Ryan, so I’m missing out on their skewed commentary. I liked Dutton’s piece on Gordon in the Star a couple weeks ago, so I didn’t really understand where the complaint was coming from. It probably would have been better if I’d just left it as the question in the first post.
If someone writes a post saying "the Royals are dumb because of X" and I think X is petty, is there any way for me to dispute that that shows the Royals are dumb without it being perceived as an attack on the poster?
Yes. I certainly don’t think that disagreeing with the writer of an article is an attack on that writer. It’s comments in the nature of “why are you wasting time on this?” “why so many articles about this?” and that sort of thing which strike me as criticisms of the writer for having chosen to write about a given subject.
You may know me as NYRoyal.
by Scott McKinney on Sep 26, 2011 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions
I'll try to choose my words more carefully
I do note now that Jeff never actually implicated the Royals above. He only criticized the media. That undermines the criticism I was making.
ahh...but
you missed the point entirely with the Melky post. The emphasis on the 200 hits is ridiculous because curmudgeonly Yost presents himself to the media as a “play the right way, for the team, etc.” kind of manager (no worse than most managers), in which case it is a joke to make playing time decisions for a stupid individual achievement. Its worth pointing out hypocrisy and inane judgements by people in positions of authority (its baseball, so it doesn’t really matter, but this is Will’s blog about the Royals, so there you go) and if the KC Star won’t do it, Will should.
Jeff complaining about media coverage is less important because all mainstream media coverage sucks, but it is still ENTIRELY true and worth pointing out. If TV, radio, and print coverage of the Royals locally was worth a sh*t, every time the performance of the Royals outfield comes up (outfield assists!, 40 doubles!) it should be followed with, "Of course, Alex Gordon is having the best season for a Royals position player in a long time, what a complete player, etc. ad nauseum).
I once tried to string together the combination, "Hot Shot Hit Foul". It didn't quite come out that way. -- Denny Matthews
Article ok...don't like a few! But of course..everyone has their opinion..as I read..
Alex Gordan is a great player and is not the only one. Media coverage..he haas had..not as much as other players (agree)…What I have noticed…from watching all the games..media gave attention to those who had walk off…or became the hero of the game! It’s not the players fault..media chose them over another! Royals fan all the way! your article is good…don’t like the fact..that you used Melky and Francoeur names correctly and turned around and refer to HOZ..as Jesus. I find that disrespectful! I just wonder..do you have it our for the HOZ? unless, I misunderstood..looks like you were making fun of him with your comments! Hoz…got media coverage? I wonder why? I don’t think it was because he sat the whole season or played terrible! How many walkoff games did Hoz do? More then one..and many throw to first base..could of been errors and Hoz..was there to turn an error into an out! His name is not Jesus..it is Eric Hosmer! Royals..this new season will be good…if they don’t trade the players who make the team! This year did not go the best for media coverage for Gordan—-like it did for some..oh well..next season it may go great for Gordan with media and not the rest. They are all good players! God bless..Gordan…Hosmer…Francoeur and Cabrera..and looking forward to the new season!
by Fans-of Eric Hosmer on Sep 29, 2011 11:03 PM EDT up reply actions
Good story, Jeff
Thanks for putting the information together. Alex is overlooked because he did not dominate any one of the traditional stats. He just had an incredibly solid all-around year on offense, on the bases and on defense. Those of us who follow the Royals game by game know how terrific he has been.
by Black and Gold on Sep 25, 2011 11:59 PM EDT reply actions
It’s because he frowned a lot when he got sent to Omaha. It’s because he shed a tear or two after breaking his thumb. It’s because he’s stubborn and refuses to take coaching. It’s because he smirks. It’s because he’s always been a disappointment, so one good year doesn’t make up for his totally awful previous years. It’s because Aaron Crow was an All-Star.
by NotAHippie on Sep 26, 2011 12:17 AM EDT reply actions 2 recs
don't worry
As long as he keeps up at least this level of production for the next 3-4 years, the fans will begin to forgive him his sins.
Making watching baseball as fun as doing your taxes.
My Twitter feed.
Before getting tweaked, read up on regression.
by Matt Klaassen on Sep 26, 2011 12:57 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
No no no no.
We can bitch about all day, or do something about it. I plan on getting him into the starting lineup of next season’s all star game by myself. I could of course use help. That would get the mainstream media’s attention.
Or, you could keep bitching about it.
Nick Swisher is handsome.
by ChrisCEIT on Sep 26, 2011 12:49 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
If your All Star hacking program is better than the MIT Red Sox Ballot Stuffer 9000 (TM)
Then we’d be grateful! :D
If he trades Gordon...
I’ll start the Scott McKinney fan club and be president. And damn you for making that noise.
Nick Swisher is handsome.
Say it ain't so Joe Po
I missed him bangin on Gordon…..tells me mores
by Nighthawk at the Diner on Sep 26, 2011 9:35 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Does he have 30 HR? 100 RBI? Is he on a playoff team?
If not, then he’s not doing what is important and he’s not making his team a winner. Therefore, according to the crack analysis of the mainstream sports media, he’s not really doing anything particularly impressive, important or worthy of note.
They like the .303 batting average though.
You may know me as NYRoyal.
by Scott McKinney on Sep 26, 2011 10:27 AM EDT reply actions
What's the story you want to hear?
Something like Royals’ Gordon backs up his vow to ‘dominate’?
http://www.kansascity.com/2011/09/12/3138590/royals-gordon-shows-great-improvement.html#storylink=misearch
Personally, my complaint is so much with the Star
It’s with the Royals TV broadcast team, to some extent other broadcasters and national sports media like ESPN.
You may know me as NYRoyal.
by Scott McKinney on Sep 26, 2011 10:56 AM EDT up reply actions
Gordon's good season just isn't a national story
It’s not particularly close. He’s a good player, but he’s not on the level of an MVP candidate, he hasn’t made the Royals relevant, and he doesn’t have some interesting stat that jumps out at you. Where’s the ESPN headline? Gordon Among MLB’s Best Outfielders On Strength of OBP and Doubles?
As for the broadcast crew, that’s fine. Ryan loves the oldschool crap about hustle and grit and batting average and whatever else. He annoys some people, but he’s an broadcaster. You can’t pick a broacaster that pleases everybody.
I'm not saying it is a national story
I’m saying that IMO, the pretty good seasons of Frenchy and Melky get more mention/attention, mostly because they are more established “names.”
You may know me as NYRoyal.
by Scott McKinney on Sep 26, 2011 11:06 AM EDT up reply actions
well, Hosmer's season is encouraging for a 21-year old
but it would be nice if the people recognized that Gordon isn’t just one Royal among others having a good season, but it far and away their best player this year. It isn’t remotely close. By almost every metric, he’s worth about as much or more than any other two Royals in 2011. He may n ot be on the same level as Ellsbury and Bautista, but he’s been the best LF in the AL, and is among the most valuable 10 players in the league.
For example, I don’t know what is going on with BP’s WARP leaderboards at the moment, or I ’d link them, but according to them, Gordon is behind only Bautista and Ellsbury int he AL at the moment, and is tied with Verland at 7 WARP. Not advocating WARP in particular, just pointing out that according to some measures Gordon has had just as valuable a season as certain players seen as MVP candidates.
I think it’s reasonable to wonder if media coverage has been proportionate to his season.
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by Matt Klaassen on Sep 26, 2011 11:15 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
That's fair
Gordon’s separated himself from Melky and Francoeur with his walks, and he’s separated himself from the MLB pack with his all-around game such that no stat in particular jumps out. He’s dominated, but he’s done it without headline appeal. And with the lack of headlines and counting stats, I’m sure that the casual fan hasn’t noticed how good he’s been.
thanks for not asking who "Verland" is
I think he’s the Norse God of Nordic-ness.
Making watching baseball as fun as doing your taxes.
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Before getting tweaked, read up on regression.
by Matt Klaassen on Sep 26, 2011 11:33 AM EDT up reply actions
And with thelack of headlines and counting stats, I’m sure that the casual fan hasn’t noticed how good he’s been.
And I think it is that lack of attention that Jeff was pointing to in this article. It is unfortunate. Gordon deserves more attention for his accomplishment this season. I think that is particularly true in that this isn’t a great season out of nowhere from a nobody player. It is from an extremely talented player who was expected to breakout any year now and he finally did. Media could have seen and portrayed this as the arrival of a new star. If he had different counting stats or played in a different market, given his pedigree it would have been described like that.
You may know me as NYRoyal.
by Scott McKinney on Sep 26, 2011 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions
Good point
And I also think that this is part of the reason it’s going under-reported. In 2007 expectations (fair or not) were that he had the ability to be a perennial all-star and MVP candidate. Using that lens, this season is merely meeting very high expectations. This is the tough thing about absurd expectations: he’s in an impossible spot. He has a bad year and he’s a disappointment. He has a great year and he’s finally realizing his potential.
It’s interesting to me that the expectations of the analytic community reset themselves to a much lower level than those of the casual fan. As he struggled, every year the analytic community’s expectations were ratcheted down (sort of like Greinke’s “if he turns into another Brad Radke that won’t be a bad thing” from ’08’s BP) so that this season is a massive year, whereas the casual fan didn’t pay much attention to what four years of average performance usually means for a player’s ceiling. The casual fans’ expectations seem to have gone directly to “best Royal since Brett” even as he was being just that. And so he never got to be the recipient of happy surprise. I don’t really care about fan expectations, but it is interesting to me that the folks most surprised and excited by this season are those who understand best how unlikely the season was, historically.
by billexgordler on Sep 26, 2011 1:23 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Alex MVP Gordon
Gordon has been the Royals best player and MVP all season. And I look for Gordon to be even better next season now that he knows what he can do >See numbers since All-Star break<
But, from your own numbers and IMO Johnny Damon** in 2000 was better 327/382/495 214 hits, 136 runs scored, 88 RBI, 46 SB(83.6%) and while Damon obviously does not have Gordon’s arm, Damon did have a little better range.
**just among left handed hitting OF
________________
For no particular reason
Dye had the big year in 2000 .321/33HR/118RBI
Sweeney also in 2000 .333/29HR/144RBI & in 2002 .340/417/563/979
Offerman had a good year in 98 315/403/438 102 runs scored & 45 SB(78.9%) IMO arguably as good as Bell in 97 291/21HR/92RBI
Ibanez was an average OF at best but he put up pretty good numbers in 02 294/24HR/103RBI
Of course, it was a totallly different run environment
Both league-wide, and also in KC (they moved the fences back after 2003). Relative to the run environment, Gordon’s 2011 is better than any of those.
Making watching baseball as fun as doing your taxes.
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Before getting tweaked, read up on regression.
by Matt Klaassen on Sep 26, 2011 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions
This is awesome
Alex Gordon is really good
Blaine Gabbert is really good
MJD is really good
Never forget Matt Treanor
by tiquanunderwear on Sep 26, 2011 1:47 PM EDT reply actions
awesome
Alex Gordon is really good
Blaine Gabbert is really good
MJD is really good
Never forget Matt Treanor
by tiquanunderwear on Sep 26, 2011 1:47 PM EDT reply actions
If He Can
Be Kaline Light, I’ll be ecstatic. Kaline’s career. .297 .376 .480 .855 was good for first ballot HOF, even tith only 399 HRs.
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
Way to set your standard low, Phil!
(winky face)
Making watching baseball as fun as doing your taxes.
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Before getting tweaked, read up on regression.
by Matt Klaassen on Sep 26, 2011 4:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Kaline
If Alex Godon gets to 3007 hits with 399HR I’m all for him getting into the HOF as well :))
I Said Kaline
Light, roughly .275/.350/.450 with 250 HRs and 2,000 hits with above average defense for another 8-10 years.
I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.
by philofthenorth on Sep 26, 2011 5:45 PM EDT up reply actions
Gold Glove
Don’t forget, Alex has a good shot to add a gold glove to his 2011 accolades. The most outfield assists in baseball and very few errors. Plenty of great diving catches as well.
His great season just hasn’t sunk in yet, but it will when the season ends. And all the great performances by the rookies are stealing too much attention.
David
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