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© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
5,809 comments Add your comment
abwright
October 7th, 2011
2:36 pm
I don’t get why Fredo started Lowe in the last two starts of the season. In the next to last start, Lowe gave up a bunch, then Teheran had to come into an unfamiliar situation and clean up. Why not put Teheran in to start and use Lowe, the veteran who has pitched out of the bullpen to relieve?
‘Course, I don’t think the Braves scored any runs in either of those games, so it is a Mute Point.
ncscoots
October 7th, 2011
2:36 pm
All game long Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez speak of the ebb and flow of the PA,
Well, Darling was a Yalie, as I remember; probably a tad more cerebral than some other guys.
And a pitcher, of course. Naturally.
Random
October 7th, 2011
2:36 pm
T for Texas (October 7th, 2011 2:03 pm): ” [Shaun:] ‘most of us want to believe that hitting in the clutch is due to players trying harder in those situations or players having some sort of clutch skill that is separate from overall skill’
“By stating this you must think that guys only take one approach to the plate with them, one way of thinking about hitting. This is one area of the game that the numbers cannot help you understand. “Clutch” is about the chess side of the game, checker-boy.”
Well said, Teefer!!! Whoever said that “clutch” was a PHYSICAL skill/attribute/talent?
PS: “checker-boy” — LOL!
McFann O O o
October 7th, 2011
2:37 pm
A “PUSHOVER”?? What’s that supposed to mean?? I beg your freaking pardon…
Snotboogie
October 7th, 2011
2:37 pm
It makes you wonder why Don Sutton doesn’t give more insight into what’s going on in the AB.
Quite often he doesnt even pay attention to the AB. I like listening to his stories and such, but the guy gets so lost that he even forgets who is hitting at times.
phil
October 7th, 2011
2:37 pm
ncscoots
October 7th, 2011
2:30 pm
try to really pay attention when Chipper or Glavine talk about his hitter-pitcher duels
The thing I love about Chipper is his almost-total recall of thousands of PAs: “First time I faced him, first time up, he got me with a changeup. Second time through, he threw me one I spit at, got a fastball next pitch, and buried it.” (And when was that, Chipper?) “Eight years ago, second game of the season.”
Just like a photo album he can flip through, to whatever page he desires.
***************************
Chipper’s just an overrated, dumb redneck who needs to retire….the fact that he was a big help this year, unlike a certain Hall of famer 17 years younger than him, is irrelevant…
Brave New World
October 7th, 2011
2:37 pm
Phils fan,
What i meant was.., If we were desperate on getting Pence we would have gotten him.., I was only glad that we didt’ give up our pitching to get Pence.., I am glad Wren didn’t trade away the pitching prospects that Braves will be banking on so much in the future..,
Phils fan
October 7th, 2011
2:38 pm
..so were will you guys be watching the phillies game tonite? the braves stadium?
T for Texas
October 7th, 2011
2:39 pm
It makes you wonder why Don Sutton doesn’t give more insight into what’s going on in the AB.
I think, like in most all media, the producers/directors are afraid of going over the head of the average viewer. I say, nonsense, tell me everything you know about what is happening and if I don’t understand explicitly maybe I’ll just get the gist of it.
Phils fan
October 7th, 2011
2:40 pm
they should have been desparate for him. take him and keep him away from the phillies. that’s like a 99yd pick 6 on 3rd and goal.
phil
October 7th, 2011
2:40 pm
Fire Charlie Manuel…
T for Texas
October 7th, 2011
2:41 pm
Thanks, Random. I saw you quoted me and started to get nervous. LOL
TnBrian
October 7th, 2011
2:42 pm
MJT, that’s the old Bobby Cox dust still on the team – trust the vet over a obviously better kid. It’ll wear off eventually.
Cox did waaaaaay more good than harm to this organization though. It’s not even close. Any person with some baseball sense can see that. Heck, common sense should do it.
He did have his stubborn ways though. To the extreme.
Snotboogie
October 7th, 2011
2:43 pm
I think, like in most all media, the producers/directors are afraid of going over the head of the average viewer.
Valid point.
cricket
October 7th, 2011
2:43 pm
Phils fan
pense and born could have been stolen in 2009 or 2010.
True but braves still had Mclouth (or were stuck with him) and had some hopes for Schafer. Bourn had a breakout year in 2009, didn’t do much in 07 and 08. Braves needed mainly a CF, not a corner OF considering Prado/Chipper situation. So may be time was not ripe for one of those trades in 09 or 10 but it would’ve been pretty good for braves.
Phils fan
October 7th, 2011
2:43 pm
i think fredi deserves a 5yr ext. in fact, i’d like to see that slowing roll across espn. about as much as braves fans want to see the phillies lose tonite.
Phils fan
October 7th, 2011
2:45 pm
…you win cricket. but only because i have a short attention span.
Shaun
October 7th, 2011
2:47 pm
A hitter changing his approach or a hitter’s propensity to do things depending on the count doesn’t really relate to whether hitting with RISP or hitting in the clutch is some distinct skill separate from overall hitting, and that the Braves could somehow improve hitting with RISP or clutch hitting by just getting better RISP or clutch players or by training themselves to be better just in those specific situations. Clutch and hitting with RISP skills is mostly equal to overall hitting skills.
Phils fan
October 7th, 2011
2:49 pm
…cholly is on the phillies to maintain competitive balance. as long as he’s our skipper, the phillies are no real threat to become the yankees of the nl.
raleighbravefan
October 7th, 2011
2:50 pm
phil – Sorry I overreacted…Just hit me wrong at the wrong time, I guess. I don’t really know enough about you to call you ignorant, although the statements you made today assume a lot, it seems to me. I guess I’ve had my temporary fill of negativity around here.
Wheather Heyward is a bust, or just had a bad year will become appearant soon enough. It’s not for us to decide, I guess.
David O'Brien
October 7th, 2011
2:51 pm
In 31 career postseason games, Mark Teixeira is 25-for-121 (.207) with three homers, 13 RBIs, 13 walks, 31 strikeouts, a .315 OBP and a .322 slugging percentage (.637 OPS).
In the past two postseasons, A-Rod is 9-for-50 (.180) with two doubles, no homers, six RBIs and a .295 OBP and .220 slugging (.515 OPS).
Shaun
October 7th, 2011
2:52 pm
Random, my point is that a team’s hitting with RISP or hitting in the clutch is typically going to match it’s overall hitting. And if it doesn’t, it’s mostly because of chance and nothing to do with the team not being as skilled in one situation versus the other.
Basically the Braves can’t go out and just look for clutch hitters or just look for hitters that know how to hit with RISP, and they can’t just train better on hitting in the clutch or hitting with RISP. It’s not a predictable and distinct skill from overall hitting skills.
raleighbravefan
October 7th, 2011
2:53 pm
phil@2:37 – Maybe I didn’t misjudge you after all. Chipper should be in the argument for team MVP this year.
T for Texas
October 7th, 2011
2:53 pm
A hitter changing his approach or a hitter’s propensity to do things depending on the count doesn’t really relate to whether hitting with RISP or hitting in the clutch is some distinct skill separate from overall hitting,
It’s okay if there are some things about baseball you don’t understand. Ignorance is not the end of the world.
and that the Braves could somehow improve hitting with RISP or clutch hitting by just getting better RISP or clutch players or by training themselves to be better just in those specific situations.
It is tough to form grammatically correct thoughts when writing about something of which you have no clue.
Clutch and hitting with RISP skills is mostly equal to overall hitting skills.
In a checker players world, yes.
cricket
October 7th, 2011
2:55 pm
Phils fan
…you win cricket. but only because i have a short attention span.
in that case, you never stood a chance since with my background in cricket, my attention can span over 5 days
Btw, no offense but I hope your guys lose and then cards lose in next round.
cricket
October 7th, 2011
2:57 pm
Clutch and hitting with RISP skills is mostly equal to overall hitting skills.
In a checker players world, yes.
please don’t insult checker players
Ward High Hopes Back
October 7th, 2011
2:57 pm
Hello everyone! Now that i got all that out of my system I will move on. My post with (Enough Of Wren) was drawing to much negative feed back,so I wii cancel that,and now I think I can move on.
ncscoots
October 7th, 2011
2:58 pm
Ward has returned from The Dark Side. All is right with the world.
Random
October 7th, 2011
2:58 pm
DOB (October 7th, 2011 2:51 pm): “In 31 career postseason games, Mark Teixeira is 25-for-121 (.207) with three homers, 13 RBIs, 13 walks, 31 strikeouts, a .315 OBP and a .322 slugging percentage (.637 OPS).”
So it’s not just slow starts, eh? Also slow finishes.
(Of course, we’d've never learned that if he’d've stayed with the Braves, would we?)
T for Texas
October 7th, 2011
3:00 pm
please don’t insult checker players
I’m sorry, cricket. I know there must be some skill there, perhaps the same skill involved in playing Keno, roulette, or the lottery (you just goota understand the numbers, baby). I am just not versed in these areas. I will keep quiet.
Shaun
October 7th, 2011
3:01 pm
A-Rod’s overall numbers in the postseason: .277/.386/.498
The larger the sample, the more closely a player’s results in a distinct situation are going to match his overall numbers.
For example, A-Rod with RISP: .300/.401/.542
Teixeira with RISP: .305/.431/.583
cricket
October 7th, 2011
3:05 pm
T for Texas
I am also not involved in all those areas (except lotto..), just don’t think any section of humanity (or animal world, for that matter) should be subjected to direct or indirect comparison in any way with out resident know-it-all. That is just cruel and unusual.
UKUGA
October 7th, 2011
3:06 pm
What shocks me, after all these years, is that Shaun does not have his own blog with a huge following.
T for Texas
October 7th, 2011
3:06 pm
Chipper should be in the argument for team MVP this year.
What other position player could you give it to? Maybe Freeman, I guess.
Random
October 7th, 2011
3:06 pm
Shaun (October 7th, 2011 2:52 pm): “my point is that a team’s hitting with RISP or hitting in the clutch is typically going to match it’s overall hitting. And if it doesn’t, it’s mostly because of chance and nothing to do with the team not being as skilled in one situation versus the other.”
First, let’s not talk about hitting in the clutch or with RISP on a team level. If “clutch”is a skill, it is an individual skill — looking at team stats would necessarily obscure any potential observations of “clutch” (if it is a skill).
Next — please answer these simple yes-no questions — Is hitting ability a wholly physical talent? Or is there a mental aspect to hitting?
T for Texas
October 7th, 2011
3:07 pm
It’s true cricket, the checker players of the world were just minding their own businees this morning, after all.
raleighbravefan
October 7th, 2011
3:08 pm
Ward – Glad you’re back.
Arkansas Transplant
October 7th, 2011
3:11 pm
Our problem this year… Should have had Francouer in RF and better clutch hitters.
Shaun
October 7th, 2011
3:13 pm
Random, hitting involves being physically and mentally skilled. And if a hitter is skilled enough in those areas to make it to the majors and also is able to get important plate appearances, he is able to perform to those skills no matter the situation. Doesn’t mean he will. But it also doesn’t mean he’s unable to if he doesn’t.
Chipper Jones has a lower batting average and lower slugging percentage in the post season. Does that mean he is unable to perform in the postseason when it comes to hitting for average or for power because of something mental or even physical? No. It just means he didn’t hit for average or power to the same degree, and it is not necessarily because he suddenly lost something mentally or physically in those postseason plate appearances.
David O'Brien
October 7th, 2011
3:15 pm
Shaun, the “sample size” on Teixeira is HIS ENTIRE POSTSEASON CAREER. Give it up, dude. When you resort to using Teixeira’s RISP stats instead of his actual career postseason numbers, you directly contradict your whole point about small sample sizes. Just use his entire postseason career, 31 games, and accept that some players thrive in the klieg lights, on the biggest stage, and others do not.
Or don’t. But don’t expect others to blindly follow you in your stubborn insistence that all players are created equal when it comes to performing in pressure situations. It’s the worst and most uniformed argument of any you make, and you make it always. It’s laughable and a blatant, obvious sign that you simply believe you know better than everyone who actually is asked to perform in pressure situations, not just in sports but entertainment, debate, politics, deadline-type jobs or any other of the many vocations in which performing under pressure is required.
According to some reports, the Yankees have come to grips with fact he’s a non-clutch player and are said to be looking to trade him and get Pujols. I really don’t know if that’s valid, but that’s what is out there.
Ward High Hopes Back
October 7th, 2011
3:17 pm
I’m feeling good now ,and can move on. Time for some baseball next year!Talk tonight my friends…..peace……
Snotboogie
October 7th, 2011
3:17 pm
The Yankees have come to grips with fact he’s a non-clutch player and are said to be looking to trade him and get Pujols.
Whoa!! That’s a lot off moolah for someone to pick up.
David O'Brien
October 7th, 2011
3:17 pm
Just saw this from someone on Twitter. Haven’t checked it myself, but I’ll assume he’s correct. Someone let me know if he’s not, please:
During the past 10 seasons the Yankees’ playoff record is 12-2 against the Twins and 26-34 against all other teams.
P-Town Brave ©
October 7th, 2011
3:18 pm
Shaun-
That doesn’t make any sense to some who have played….
Just ask the Craig Counsell and Mark Lemke’s of the world….
Some players turn it up a few notches come postseason time.
ncscoots
October 7th, 2011
3:19 pm
The Yankees have come to grips with fact he’s a non-clutch player and are said to be looking to trade him and get Pujols.
Wow.
P-Town Brave ©
October 7th, 2011
3:21 pm
DOB-
Its been obvious w/ all the spewing of these arbitrary stats and most things that only geeks in their mother’s basements talk about that Shaun has never stepped onto a field outside of maybe little league and actually partaked in a baseball game…..
Some of the stuff that has been said, a true ball player would never EEEEEEEVER say!
McFann O O o
October 7th, 2011
3:21 pm
Hot dang…glad we already have a first baseman!…
David O'Brien
October 7th, 2011
3:22 pm
ncscoots: I really don’t know of validity of the Teixeira trade rumors. There are conflicting reports. And Teixeira has made it known that he will use his non-trade clause to prevent such a deal because he says he’s finishing his career with Yankees.
TN Jeff
October 7th, 2011
3:22 pm
For what it’s worth, when the Braves had Teixeira, I always said he was the King of the meaningless homerun. Of course that was before McCann came into his own & I mistakenly took to bashing him.
Arkansas Transplant
October 7th, 2011
3:22 pm
P-Town Brave, come on man.. you knkow all players are the same.. it’s just like ice cream, it’s all made from milk and it all tastes the same.
phil
October 7th, 2011
3:23 pm
raleighbravefan
October 7th, 2011
2:53 pm
phil@2:37 – Maybe I didn’t misjudge you after all. Chipper should be in the argument for team MVP this year.
**********************
I think Chipper WAS the team MVP this year….either him or the three headed bullpen group.
Here’s the thing with me. I’m not ignorant. I’m a cut up. You can always assume if I’m saying something clearly moronic that I’m just acting the fool. I’m sure I’m stupid now and then but who isn’t. I’m here a lot, you’re here a lot. I assumed by now you recognized the name.
I tend to emphasize the negative often. That’s my personality. Sorry when it rubs people the wrong way, but overblown optimism irks me just the same.
Anyway, hope you understand my brand of silliness a bit better. I enjoy coming here and acting stupid now and then. Life is serious enough.
Shaun
October 7th, 2011
3:24 pm
Take Mark Teixeira. His number in the postseason aren’t impressive. Russell Martin has better postseason numbers. If you think hitting in the pressure-packed postseason is a distinct mental and possibly physical skill, you would probably rather have Martin at the plate with runners on 1st and 2nd, nobody out, tie game in the 9th. According to your way of thinking, Martin has shown that he has the mental and physical skills to come through.
If you think some players who have made it through all the filters required to reach the big leagues and are good enough mentally and physically to be given important plate appearances can overcome the pressure-packed postseason, and you think past failures in a small sample of postseason games is not enough of an indication of what a player is able to do, you probably want the better player up there, Mark Teixeira.
David O'Brien
October 7th, 2011
3:25 pm
If you think some players who have made it through all the filters required to reach the big leagues and are good enough mentally and physically to be given important plate appearances can overcome the pressure-packed postseason…
Blah blah blah. Same rhetoric and talking points, over and over and over. No sense debating with him. I forgot how hopeless it was.
McFann O O o
October 7th, 2011
3:27 pm
TN Jeff—
Watch it…Pushover is on alert…
BMac does not hit “meaningless” homers.
ncscoots
October 7th, 2011
3:28 pm
David, I guess I’m just a little jaw-dropped that such a thought might even be formulated. To sign a guy to that much money for that many years, and be willing to kick him to the curb in order to pay another player even more money to play the same position…
I like to think I’ve been around the block, but I have absolutely no context for understanding the Yankees’ ability (and even more, the desire) to do such a thing.
Arkansas Transplant
October 7th, 2011
3:29 pm
with runners on 1st and 2nd, nobody out, tie game in the 9th.
Yes we know.. you want Heyward up.
McFann O O o
October 7th, 2011
3:29 pm
But to your credit—you’re right, bashing BMac is a mistake…
Shaun
October 7th, 2011
3:30 pm
DOB, just because it’s his entire postseason career doesn’t make it a large enough sample to draw conclusions and it has predictive value. It’s 31 games and 143 PA, which is not a large sample. What did Dan Uggla do in a heck of a lot more than 31 games and 143 PA earlier this season, against both playoff and non-playoff caliber pitching? What did several Braves’ players do in the last 31 games of the regular season, against playoff and non-playoff caliber pitching?
Sample size has nothing to do with the percentage of a player’s overall games or plate appearances. One hundred percent of 31 games or 143 PA doesn’t make it a large enough sample to draw conclusions and determine whether you want him at the plate in a key situation in the postseason.
And the Yankees are looking to upgrade to Pujols because he’s the better player. Yes, he’s more clutch because clutch skill is more or less a product of being a good hitter.
TN Jeff
October 7th, 2011
3:30 pm
Hey I said “mistakenly”. When I’m wrong I own up. Do you have a secret pact with McCann though?
McFann O O o
October 7th, 2011
3:32 pm
TN Jeff Hey I said “mistakenly”. When I’m wrong I own up.
I know…I acknowledged that fact above…
Do you have a secret pact with McCann though?
Nope.
Coach (2011 Fredi G. FAILED)
October 7th, 2011
3:34 pm
Our team OPS for 2011 was .695…….
The last time the Atlanta Braves posted an OPS under 700 was 1989.
Yikes!
T for Texas
October 7th, 2011
3:35 pm
The Yankees may not have to trade Texiera. Posada just came off the books, and they could move Texiera to DH, or threaten to if they think that being pulled off the field defensively might make him want to leave.
This type of artificial roster flexibility is yet another reason to hate the DH, and the Yankees for originally proposing that MLB adopt a position designed to get more Little Leaguers playing time.
DAP
October 7th, 2011
3:38 pm
DOB, see what you miss on twitter? :- )
phil
October 7th, 2011
3:38 pm
Shaun – Perhaps you’ve never noticed that the postseason, which is pretty dang important in all sports that have one, is brief in duration.
That means (stay with me here) that the sample size you always love to reference will, by definition, be SMALL (which means little or not very big).
When certain players, year after year, fail to produce in the small sample size season (that means postseason), one is forced to conclude that said certain players aren’t very good in crunch time.
A-Rod has usually stunk in the small sample size season but wasn’t it last year that he had a great small sample size season? So while it can happen, obviously, a trend is still a trend, and Tex ain’t got it in the small sample size season.
Your faith in statistics to always supply THE answer is misplaced.
Arkansas Transplant
October 7th, 2011
3:38 pm
Shaun, you do realize that everyone on this blog sees you as a blow hard without any common sense or deductive reasoning skills, right? Just saying.. didn’t know if your goal was to become the laughing stock or not. If so, you’ve done a good job.
TN Jeff
October 7th, 2011
3:39 pm
McFann – can you get me a pact with him?
P-Town Brave ©
October 7th, 2011
3:41 pm
AT-
Personally I don’t care….
I honestly would like to take this time to say that next year I think we need to do a senior bloggers get together so that we can all meet and then commence in standing in a line to take numbers and continously punch Shaun in the face….
^^^ THAT would make me care
ncscoots
October 7th, 2011
3:41 pm
DOB, see what you miss on twitter?
DAP, are you trying to make a case for him being around more, or less, LOL?
P-Town Brave ©
October 7th, 2011
3:42 pm
McFann-
Oh….and I forgot to mention….I got my BMac autographed bat….and boy does it look pretty now that its behind glass…..
Now I just need to mount it on the wall down in the man cave
raleighbravefan
October 7th, 2011
3:43 pm
phil – Understood…Hard sometimes to determine intint in the printed word, without direction, or at least emoticons. If we had not already had a “difference of opinion”, I probably would have assumed facetiousness. There are certainly some here who truly do feel that way about Chipper.
dap01
October 7th, 2011
3:43 pm
I love Don Sutton’s knowledge but sometimes he talks just to hear himself talk. The ball game is not really important, he would rather ramble and ramble and…
Boston and the Yankees are prime examples of stupid and long free agent contracts.
Shaun
October 7th, 2011
3:44 pm
It’s laughable and a blatant, obvious sign that you simply believe you know better than everyone who actually is asked to perform in pressure situations, not just in sports but entertainment, debate, politics, deadline-type jobs or any other of the many vocations in which performing under pressure is required.
I don’t think I know better. I’m just going by all the evidence.
And these guys aren’t just your typical entertainers, debaters, politicians, etc. Major Leaguers are the equivalent of the best of the best in any profession. The people in any profession that are most skilled and most able to overcome pressure to perform. So the analogy doesn’t necessarily work.
I guess Frank Wren, Fredi Gonzalez and the Braves contradicted what everyone in baseball knows by sticking with Dan Uggla through struggles that lasted more than 31 games and 143 PA and were much worse than what Teixeira has done in the playoffs, especially considering that it was against both playoff and non-playoff caliber pitching. The first half should have been a large enough sample simply because it was 100 percent of his season up to that point.
DAP
October 7th, 2011
3:46 pm
scoots are you trying to make a case for him being around more, or less, LOL?
ha! good point. we should all be on our best behavior when he’s here!
P-Town Brave ©
October 7th, 2011
3:46 pm
Shaun-
Yeah, I’m sure thats exactly what John Smoltz and his well paid sports psychologist would tell you when he was having troubles
Yawn….just STOP IT!
Arkansas Transplant
October 7th, 2011
3:47 pm
I don’t think I know better. I’m just going by all the evidence.
Simply by overlooking results, I assume?
phil
October 7th, 2011
3:48 pm
I love Chipper….he’s one of the few remaining ties to my relative youth in sports….and John Kasey the kicker who actually played at GA when i was there….
As for Don Sutton, he has always annoyed me as a play by play guy….ok on color. You want to know what is happening quickly…not with Don.
“There’s a liner to right”….pause….more pause….”it’s really smoked by McCann….but drifting back into the seats foul.” By the time he tells you its foul, you think it’s a double.
Arkansas Transplant
October 7th, 2011
3:48 pm
P-T, I’ve got my soap wrapped in a towel and waiting.
T for Texas
October 7th, 2011
3:49 pm
I don’t think I know better. I’m just going by all the evidence.
No. You are going by all the statistical evidence–and not even all of that, just the statisitcal evidence that you see fit to go by. The fact that you do not know, or acknowledge that other evidence exists is the exact point at which you miss the boat, repeatedly.
P-Town Brave ©
October 7th, 2011
3:50 pm
AT-
Ahh….so we’re going by prison rules then?
UH OH
monty
October 7th, 2011
3:50 pm
Braves went 0-9 against Philly and the Cards down the stretch. Nuff said, win a couple of those games and we’re still playing possibly. Phillies are our neighborhood bully come laste season. What 5-19 the past 24 games late in the year. I suppose we are to Philly what Minnesota is to the Yanks, a whippin boy. It’’s already a mental thing.
I said at the beginning of the year that if we won the East we would have to win the head-to-head match-ups with the Phils, little did I think, that we would need to not go 0-6 in September against them to get into the WC.
Expect the WC to be close again next season and we simply can’t let them dominate us again in Sept., it will most surely knock us out. Not sure how the same team(basically) gets past the mental part of it. As much money as the org. spends on the physical side of stuff, looks like they could spring for a sports psychologist. It might have helped this year and paid for itself many times over.
McFann O O o
October 7th, 2011
3:52 pm
P-Town—
Sweeeet!!
Shaun
October 7th, 2011
3:54 pm
Shaun – Perhaps you’ve never noticed that the postseason, which is pretty dang important in all sports that have one, is brief in duration.
That means (stay with me here) that the sample size you always love to reference will, by definition, be SMALL (which means little or not very big).
phil, exactly. This is why the best baseball team often doesn’t win in the postseason and doesn’t go on to win the World Series. Sometimes for reasons that have nothing to do with players’ skills and mental toughness, a player will not get what seems like his typical results over the course of say 31 games, and certainly not over the course of 5 games or 7 games. You aren’t really learning all that much in the postseason that you haven’t learned after 162 games of the regular season. You pretty much know which teams are the best teams. Just because a team may lose 3 out of 5 games or 4 out of 7 games, doesn’t mean they are the inferior team. How many times do really good teams lose 3 out of 5 or 4 out of 7 in the regular season, often against worse teams than they’ll play in the postseason? If the Phillies lose tonight, do you actually think they weren’t the best team in the NL? Do you actually think they didn’t have the mental toughness or skill to win in the postseason or do you think just chance happenings and flukey things may have caused them to lose 3 out of 5? Which do you think is more likely? Seems obvious to me.
Arkansas Transplant
October 7th, 2011
3:54 pm
Ahh….so we’re going by prison rules then?
It gets the job done.
JRW
October 7th, 2011
3:55 pm
Texiera could be folding under the pressure to perform up to his contract on the biggest stage under the brightest lights in front of the most demanding front office and fan base. A-Rod collapsed last night twice in the 7th and 9th innings, while Jeter just missed being the hero to the opposite field in the 8th. Guys like Russel Martin don’t have all of those pressures to perform like the “Super-Stars”. But find a Manager with the Cajonies to replace a Texiera or A-Rod with a Martin in those situations.
ncscoots
October 7th, 2011
3:56 pm
If I conduct an experiment over a large number of trials and get the same result each time, I’m confident in the high probability of the same thing occurring each time I perform the experiment.
However, If I change a variable in the experiment and the results differ, and I get the differing result each time that variable change is included in the experiment, I am also confident in the high probability that including that variable change will produce the differing result each time I perform the changed experiment. Nor do I need a large number of trials to achieve that confidence (the large number of trials used to prove the validity of the first premise is enough to prove the validity of the second).
This is pretty standard stuff for evaluating hypotheses.
The post-season is the variable change for a guy such as Teixeira, in case anyone is wondering. Guy sucks when the rubber meets the road, and you don’t need a 1000 PAs to be confident in the assumption.
Robert
October 7th, 2011
3:57 pm
“I mean, it happened. It’s not like we can close our eyes and it will go away. It happened, and it’s going to be there forever… It offends me, but I mean, what can you do about it? It happened.”
Thank you Fredi.
Just by the fact that you own up, admit it was a failure, and that it bothers you – you’ve done WAY more than the idiot before you
This was a frustrating end to a promising season – You took responsibility, you didnt act like nothing happened, as if it was business as usual. Take the lumps, learn some hard lessons, and use this experience to do better next time
Now – if falling short of realistic goals becomes a predictable repeated event like it did with your predecessor, then we will have a problem
But for now, it was nice to hear you talk about it – the way you did reassures us that you are not like Cox – and that is a very good thing
Shaun
October 7th, 2011
3:59 pm
T for Texas, so show me a player that performs vastly different from his career norms in any given situation, given, say, a season or two worth of plate appearances in those situations.
P-Town, just wondering, when Smoltz was having those problems, did it show up in just his clutch stats or was he bad in general? A player who is unable to perform, is going to be unable to perform in pretty much any situation, and vice versa.
Robert
October 7th, 2011
4:00 pm
“Do you actually think they didn’t have the mental toughness or skill to win in the postseason or do you think just chance happenings and flukey things may have caused them to lose 3 out of 5? ”
Flukey things can and do happen and end up causing an underdog team to win a playoff series
The thing is though, that a championship caliber team will do what it takes to not let it go to a game 5, or game 7
All the things you cite are EXPLANATIONS. Champions dont use them as EXCUSES
Robert
October 7th, 2011
4:02 pm
Regarding the thing on clutch performance
I think it’s much more common for a player to clearly NO be able to perform when under pressure than for a player to be able to voluntarily rachet it up to perform BETTER under pressure
So – the clutch player ends up being the one who chokes the least, so to speak
Tomahawkin
October 7th, 2011
4:03 pm
Whats Up All?
I call the Epic Braves Collapse “The Curse of Tomahawkin!”
What Was our Record after the Night I got Bozo’d for cussing out the Team during the Philly Series at CBP( Sept 5TH)? The Braves Collapsed because I got Bozo’d From The Blog! The team needed me on here!
I still haven’t heard the real reason as to why I got Bozo’d!
Arkansas Transplant
October 7th, 2011
4:03 pm
A player who is unable to perform, is going to be unable to perform in pretty much any situation, and vice versa.
Shaun, you need to ask his wife this.. not sure that P-T will know the answer.
raleighbravefan
October 7th, 2011
4:04 pm
Yunel, Frenchy, Furcal, etc, etc, etc……And now Robert just has to get a another dig at Bobby. Don’t you people EVER get over it and move on????
Tomahawkin
October 7th, 2011
4:04 pm
Shout Outs to all My Peeps on here excluding a few on here and those 2 know who they are!
lew lineberger
October 7th, 2011
4:05 pm
The question i would ask Wren (or anybody) is: Why did the Braves pickup pitchers (Protor)off the scrap pile and lose games for us, when we had the nu. 1 pitchers in the minor leagae? Is it money??
TeheranTime
October 7th, 2011
4:05 pm
Bring back Chief KnockAHoma!
T for Texas
October 7th, 2011
4:06 pm
a season or two worth of plate appearances in those situations.
600-1200 situational PAs? LOL. You are sad.
See scoots post at 3:56.
Shaun
October 7th, 2011
4:08 pm
ncscoots, okay, so the games in the first half of the season were enough trials to know that Uggla sucks? You didn’t need a couple hundred or 1000 PA to be confident in that assumption, did you?
Basically you are arguing sample size is irrelevant.
JRW, if a manager doesn’t have the cojones to put his money where his mouth is and choose Russell Martin over Teixiera or A-Rod in a key spot in the postseason, he doesn’t really believe that a poor postseason performance in a small sample is an indication of what a player is able to do.
ncscoots
October 7th, 2011
4:10 pm
Christ, the day was going along pretty good, and BAM! Shaun, Tomahawkin, and Robert, all in a row.
This is the fault of all those people who just had to make the last blog go to some ginormous number. I knew some bad karma was coming from that.
phil
October 7th, 2011
4:10 pm
The real reason we don’t prevail down the stretch is Dave Bristol….
So I blame him.
ncscoots
October 7th, 2011
4:10 pm
Basically you are arguing sample size is irrelevant.
Wrong on the facts, wrong on the law. Try reading the brief again.