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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Feb 23, 2022 14:54:06 GMT -5
I've heard the argument about "cost of living". Tell me a job that has cost of living wages built into contracts or pay? Minimum wages don't and haven't for years. Salaried employees don't. Doctors don't. Teachers don't. Police officers don't. [..]] Are you kidding me? Tons of people get different kinds of cost-of-living raises. Many unions get that built into contracts, including many police officers and some teachers. Other companies offer them voluntarily to keep their employees happy. You better believe most doctors will not sit still if inflation lowers the actual value of their compensation--it doesn't! The minimum wage rose steadily from 1956- 2009; that fact that it has not gone up since then is a disgrace. "West Palm police and fire employees will likely get big cost-of-living raises" www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/local/westpb/2021/09/03/cost-living-raises-salary-adjustments-way-west-palm-employees/5684043001/"orkers who belong to a union may have a cost-of-living adjustment, sometimes referred to as a cost-of-living allowance, built into their contract. One example is the COLA required for U.S. Postal Service workers." www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/112814/how-does-cost-living-adjustment-cola-affect-my-salary.asp“Many collective bargaining agreements set guaranteed minimum salaries for various positions, as well as minimum annual pay increases,” explains the Department for Professional Employees (DPE), AFL-CIO. One of those increases commonly included in contracts is a cost of living adjustment (COLA). uniontrack.com/blog/cost-of-living-adjustments"Each year, Social Security bases the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) on changes in the Consumer Price Index." choosework.ssa.gov/blog/2021-12-16-update-2022-cost-of-living-adjustment"Staying ahead of inflation: Physician compensation is increasing faster than the cost of living." www.mgma.com/resources/financial-management/staying-ahead-of-inflation-physician-compensation"As inflation rises, more companies are giving cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs, to their employees." www.wsj.com/podcasts/your-money-matters/employees-get-cost-of-living-increases-to-fight-inflation/c1090528-0aa7-4709-b3aa-fe3a705aca0d
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jimoh
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Posts: 3,987
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Post by jimoh on Feb 22, 2022 16:49:33 GMT -5
Mlbtraderumors chat
Red Sox Catchers 3:11 What should the Red Sox do? Extend Vazquez? Plawecki? Both? Trade for a Catcher, who? There nothing in the system to speak of. Steve Adams 3:13 Vazquez is a perfectly solid 2022 option. I think the bat will bounce back a little bit, and the glove is excellent. There's plenty of quality backstops on the market next winter: Willson Contreras, Austin Barnes, Max Stassi, Omar Narvaez, Tucker Barnhart, Mike Zunino and Vazquez himself.
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jimoh
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Posts: 3,987
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Post by jimoh on Feb 20, 2022 19:33:14 GMT -5
Leon had all of 114 ABs in 2015 and was barely playing in 2016 and then something happened where he got a chance - I can't recall if it was an injury or not, but he got some ABs and had the hot streak of his life which enabled him to be the 2nd half regular catcher and bought him more opportunities to play to prove that he could hit some, but he couldn't which is why the guy hardly had more than 250 ABs in a season. As a refresher on the Sandy Léon experience... 2015: In camp, Vázquez tears his UCL and needs TJS. A week before opening day, Red Sox trade cash to Washington for high minors depth catcher Léon, who begins the year as Ryan Hanigan's backup (Did you forget he played for the Red Sox, never mind opened the year as their starting catcher? Me too!). From April 10 until July 10, he hits .180/.247/.191 in 103 PA. On May 2, Hanigan goes on the IL and Blake Swihart comes up. In July 2 they activate Hanigan and Swihart goes on the IL the next day with a sprained foot. When Swihart comes off a rehab assignment on July 20, Léon gets DFA. He gets outrighted and comes back as the third catcher in September. After the WS, they sign him to a one-year deal and outright him to Pawtucket. 2016: Red Sox begin the year with Swihart and Hanigan, then panic 11 days in and swap Swihart and Vázquez, who was "rehabbing" and apparently did so super fast yay (get me started on the Blake Swihart thing sometime, it's a blast). On June 5, Hanigan and Swihart (after hurting himself in LF) go on the IL the same day. Léon is the next guy up. When Hanigan comes back Vázquez gets optioned. Things get bad enough that they claim Bryan Holiday off waivers in August when Hanigan heads back to the IL. Meanwhile our dude Sandy hits .310/.369/.476 in 283 PA, and Hanigan and Vázquez don't come back from IL/AAA until September. He won't come close to this kind of production ever again but it sets up a real question of what the hell the Sox are to do in 2017 at catcher between him and Vázquez, and maybe Swihart. 2017: Léon and Vázquez split PT at catcher, down to splitting the 4 starts in the ALDS. Léon his a poor-but-livable-for-the-backup-catcher .225/.290/.354 though and any questions of whether his 2016 was legit are gone. 2018: Vázquez is the primary catcher, with Léon getting decent run too as a reliable backup, but definitely his backup. Léon has 12 more starts than Vázquez but that's because Vázquez misses 2 months with a fractured pinky. They split time in the postseason though. He hits just .177/.232/.279, raising the question of what his future with the club is. 2019: Léon, in something of a light surprise, is not only outrighted during camp but clears waivers - again, nobody claimed him. In mid-April he comes right back when the Red Sox DFA Blake Swihart weeks after committing to him yet again. He sticks the rest of the year as the backup but again hits just .192/.251/.297. After the season, he is traded to Cleveland for Adenys Bautista who had just spent his age 20 season getting torched in the GCL. He spent 2022 in the FCL and barely pitched. Must be a nice guy. So the takeaway is that Léon did only win a job as anything more than the 3rd or 4th catching option by raking in 2016 when everyone else got hurt. He split the starting playing time while Vázquez figured out the majors but once he stopped hitting, he was never more than a decent backup who got playing time because he handled the staff well and catching is super scarce. Again, by 2019 he was a guy who cleared waivers and you wonder if a more creative GM than Dombrowski would've found a better option like Bloom did almost immediately after being hired. That's a great summary of Leon's offensive ups and downs (mostly downs) but says not much about how the pitchers felt about him. From 8/16/2018: “People look at numbers and stats and all these things, but you don’t really look at how he really commands the staff and calls a game,” Sale said. “I mean, I put every bit of faith and trust in him."... "That trust in Leon resonates throughout the pitching staff. The Easter egg in the Sox’ major league-leading record is the fact they’ve lost only once in the last 18 times Leon has been behind the plate and have won 28 of the 30 times he’s caught since June 21."... “No disrespect to any other catcher I’ve thrown to, but he’s the best catcher I’ve ever thrown to,” Porcello said. “His game-calling, he’s prepared for every start, for every pitcher, starting or bullpen. He’s kind of the heartbeat of our pitching staff. We rely on him a lot. He’s always on point, he always knows what pitches to throw. Gives guys different looks. He’s as good as it gets as a game-caller and a catcher.”
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Feb 20, 2022 13:54:55 GMT -5
Good catchers barely need to hit. See Sandy Leon. And the Red Sox seem to really like Wong's ability to handle pitchers. They have to hit some to keep a job. Sandy Leon got his job hitting .310 and lost it hitting .170.Wong will have to show he can hit enough to supplant Vazquez and show that he's good enough defensively. We know he has some pop but has had some terrible K/BB ratios that could be very problematic in the majors. He needs to have a big year at Worcester for the Sox to think of him as a starting catcher because I don't know that he is as he is right now. I'd say that the jury is still out on that. Sandy Leon got his job with the Red Sox after hitting .156 with the Nationals. His first year with the Sox he hit .225. They brought him back for another year. Somehow he made a deal with the devil and hit .310 in 2016. That .310 is not how he "got his job." In 2017 he hit .225 but the Sox brought him back for another year. When he hit .177 in 2018 the Red Sox won a lot of games, and they brought him back for another year. After he hit .192 in 2019 at age 30 they let him go. "Good catchers barely need to hit. See Sandy Leon." is right.
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Feb 20, 2022 11:01:01 GMT -5
Jason varitek wasn’t seen as catcher of future when traded for or called up. Vasquez wasn’t seen as catcher of future when he was promoted. Both were seen as backups. Hernandez had the most power of any player in his league while in a- and high a. He was also rated the best defensive catcher. Now I’m not saying this hasn’t changed. Or that they will be anything more. I personally would like to give them the chance as a backup before we go and write them off as not our catcher of the future. More than any position catchers just take TIME and opportunity. Let’s give them that and see where it goes. Atleast as a serious backup Varitek had his ups and downs in the minors, but had the pedigree, not many guys are taken in the 1st round TWICE Varitek had a pedigree, but also a lot of minor league performance that made it look dubious to expect much from him. From John Sickels' prospect retrospective. "Varitek made his pro debut for Double-A Port City in 1995 [at age 23] and was terrible, hitting just .224/.340/.361. He did hit 10 homers and draw 61 walks, but he struck out 126 times in 352 at-bats. He was unimpressive on defense as well, throwing out 27% of runners (worse than expected) while coughing up 21 passed balls in just 89 games behind the plate. Reports were pretty negative and he was generally considered a massive disappointment. He was supposed to be a future star, but his performance didn't match the expectations generated in college. Varitek returned to Port City in 1996 and improved slightly, hitting .262/.350/.406 with 12 homers. He drew 66 walks and reduced his strikeout rate, whiffing 93 times in 503 at-bats, and he wasn't as bad with the glove, either, although his 29% caught rate was still not as good as anticipated. He was now 24 years old and had repeated the league without a massive upgrade in performance. Moved up to Triple-A Tacoma for 1997, Varitek hit .254/.329/.443 with 15 homers, 34 walks, and 71 strikeouts in 307 at-bats. Late that summer he was traded from the Mariners to the Red Sox along with Derek Lowe in exchange for Heathcliff Slocumb. He hit .197/.284/.318 in 20 games for Pawtucket after the trade. Reviews of his defense were improving and he looked a lot more like the player anticipated on defense, but his swing was perceived as too slow and long for him to be a major league star at that point. He looked like a Grade C prospect to me, and I wrote "while Varitek won't be a luminary in the Show, his combination of power and defense does have value, provided that expectations aren't too high." www.minorleagueball.com/2012/3/6/2849678/career-profile-and-prospect-retro-jason-varitek-retires
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Feb 19, 2022 14:13:06 GMT -5
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jimoh
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Posts: 3,987
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Post by jimoh on Feb 18, 2022 7:37:43 GMT -5
Fergie Jenkins tweets that he tried to call Joe West to congratulate him on his retirement “but he missed that call too.” Yesterday someone else tweeted that Fergie Jenkins' brilliant mlb career also included his playing for three seasons in the off-season for the Harlem Globetrotters (Bob Gibson also did that). The Canadian Jenkins responded to the tweet: "and hockey was my best sport." I did not know that the Boston Bruins had the first black NHL player, Willie O'Ree, in 1958, a year before Pumpsie Green played for the Red Sox
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Feb 17, 2022 7:47:21 GMT -5
Brandon Warne @brandon_Warne
MLB’s next proposal:
“Is third base *really* necessary?”
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jimoh
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Posts: 3,987
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Post by jimoh on Feb 15, 2022 9:04:47 GMT -5
What does Law mean by saying Mayer has a "solid floor as a soft regular"?
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Feb 15, 2022 9:00:09 GMT -5
OK I've done my part. Just remembered to cancel the automatic renewal on my mlbtv subscription, which would have renewed on March 1.
"2021 MLB.TV Yearly Subscription You are currently subscribed to 2021 MLB.TV Yearly
Your MLB.TV subscription will automatically renew annually on or about March 1 each year at the then-current full yearly price.
To cancel the automatic renewal of your subscription next season, click on the "Cancel Automatic Renewal" button below. You will continue to access your subscription through the remainder of this season."
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Feb 14, 2022 12:00:43 GMT -5
Fergie Jenkins tweets that he tried to call Joe West to congratulate him on his retirement “but he missed that call too.” I think Fergie also mentioned that when West worked the plate they used to call him Ray Charles. Good sense of humor. No wonder Zimmer didn't like Jenkins. The Sox got less out of 2 years of a HOFer than imaginable. The Phillies foolishly dealt him away as a kid. The Cubs reaped the benefits and traded him to Texas for young Bill Madlock (I'd say that was definitely a solid return). Then the Rangers trade him to the Red Sox for young up and coming spare part Juan Beniquez (who wasn't breaking into an OF of Rice/Lynn/Evans). So Zimmer jerks Jenkins around, gets two mediocre years out of him, and then gives him up for nothing (John Poloni???) So the Rangers steal him back and Jenkins returns to be a highly effective starter (gee, couldn't the Sox have used him in 1978? Maybe he could have made a difference in a race decided by 1 game?) And eventually Jenkins finished up back with the Cubs and wound up in the HOF. But it's remarkable (in a bad way) how the Red Sox got so little out of Jenkins when you compare what he did with the Cubs and Rangers. In effect, of course, they traded Jenkins for nothing and then signed Mike Torrez to take his innings. Jenkins gave up a lot of home runs. but his FIP was almost a run less than Torrez' in 1978.
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Feb 12, 2022 12:54:36 GMT -5
This is absolutely the worst take for a corporation I have ever read in the United States in 40 plus years. I hope the owners get absolutely taken to the woodshed ( and that’s not the wording I’m thinking) over comments like that and the settlement is astronomical in nature for the minor league players. 1 month no pay. Come on. Just put all minor league players on a 30,000 or 35,000 yearly salary. There big bump comes when they make majors and signing bonus. Doing a rough math estimate that’s $5-$7 million a year per team. And I’m not saying 30-35k is a lot but it’s atleast McDonald pay. If you really want to get crazy pay them 50k per year. That’s $10 million roughly not counting travel expenses or housing. So even if you double that it’s cost of $20 million per team to stop this below poverty rate for a huge part of baseball. Just sad But I personally think union should be negotiating that in this agreement too. I know it’s not their “job” but come on already. Look outside your own personal gains You've made the "justice" argument well. But isn't there also a "self-interest" argument? If you pay your minor leaguers a living wage and allow them to work full-time year-round on their bodies and skills without eating baloney or sleeping badly, don't you help maximize the chances that a late-ish draft pick becomes a modestly-priced major league player?
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Feb 11, 2022 9:28:01 GMT -5
Fergie Jenkins tweets that he tried to call Joe West to congratulate him on his retirement “but he missed that call too.”
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Feb 10, 2022 21:22:22 GMT -5
So will JD be our DH in 2022 or will he be traded?
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jimoh
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Posts: 3,987
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Post by jimoh on Feb 10, 2022 21:04:47 GMT -5
Mata at 4 feels like assuming no ill effects from TJS, which the guy at 5 feels like a prime example of not being the case. Eovaldi and Whitlock and eventually Rich Hill have done OK, and Sale semi-OK so far; it's not hard to imagine a 5-man post-TJ rotation at some time. Pivetta is the only uncut starter, right? Plus Houck?
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Feb 3, 2022 18:45:31 GMT -5
Jen McCaffrey @jcmccaffrey · 3h Red Sox announce their minor league coaching staffs. Among the changes, Chad Epperson is now Double-A manager with Corey Wimberly moved to OF/baserunning coordinator. Epperson had been a catching coordinator. Anthony Iopace hired from the Cubs as a senior hitting coordinator Also Pete Abraham in Globe The Red Sox announced some changes to their minor league staff on Thursday, including the addition of former Rangers and Cubs hitting coach Anthony Iapoce as senior hitting coordinator. Iapoce, 48, will oversee hitting development along with coordinators Reed Gragnani and Lance Zawadzki. Iapoce was with the Rangers from 2016-18 and the Cubs from 2019-21. He has coached hitting in different organizations since 2006. And some things they said about him when the Cubs hired him www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cubs/ct-spt-cubs-anthony-iapoce-things-to-know-20181016-story.html?outputType=amp
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Feb 2, 2022 10:40:35 GMT -5
In 1981 during the strike I drove down to Pawtucket to see the Pawsox, who had Boggs, Barrett, Gedman, and Hurst, but I knew nothing about them. In June they had played that record 33 inning game, but that was before the strike. That was the big story of the 1981 strike. The PawSox and Rochester Orioles (including Cal Ripken Jr) play a 32 inning game in April of 1981 while the major leaguers are still playing. The strike takes place on June 12th if I remember the date correctly. [...] And that strike lasted until early August if I recall correctly (could be wrong about that). I know that they did a 2nd half where the season starts from scratch again with the 1st half winner guaranteed to go to the first ever division series post-season series. The Red Sox surprised again going 29-23 and finished tied for 2nd just 1.5 games behind Milwaukee. Overall they finished 59-49, 5th place, but only 2.5 behind the best combined AL East record. I thought it was a fluke but they went 89-73 in 1982 as well and got off to a good start in 1983 before collapsing. I think this strike could cost the season about a third of the games like it did in 1981. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a June 1st start date or something like that. Right, "the 1981 strike forced MLB to cancel 713 games during the season and lasted from June 12 to Aug. 9." dodgerblue.com/complete-history-of-mlb-lockouts-and-strikes/2021/12/10/Dwight Evans led the league in HRs with 22 and also BB and TB and PA; hit 296 .415 .522 .937 for the year, but was hitting .341 .453 .578 1.031 when the strike happened
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Feb 2, 2022 8:24:57 GMT -5
Jimenez above Duran, who is not listed, is quite a diss to Duran. They say that they are using the same rookie standards as mlb, 130 at bats; Duran has 112.
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jimoh
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Posts: 3,987
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Post by jimoh on Feb 2, 2022 8:18:47 GMT -5
Grr. Looks like Truck Day is getting delayed... [...] Refresh my memory. The big mid-90s stoppage, did minor league baseball continue as normal?? I believe it did. I think the big story during the MLB strike of 1994 - 1995 was the play of a .200 hitting White Sox outfield prospect named Michael Jordan, who was managed at Birmingham by a new, young, up and coming manager named Terry Francona. In 1981 during the strike I drove down to Pawtucket to see the Pawsox, who had Boggs, Barrett, Gedman, and Hurst, but I knew nothing about them. In June they had played that record 33 inning game, but that was before the strike.
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Jan 31, 2022 11:46:38 GMT -5
Please do not post entire portions of content behind paywalls like that. Thanks. I quoted two phrases and a sentence in the Casas thread. I can change it if that is not ok.
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Jan 31, 2022 8:51:03 GMT -5
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jimoh
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Posts: 3,987
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Post by jimoh on Jan 30, 2022 8:44:17 GMT -5
Umpiring is a skill and most umps are actually very good at what they do. That's how they get to and stay in the big leagues. Can anyone name a game that was decided by a bad ball/strike call? The closest I can come is a Braves-Marlins NLCS game in the 90s (must've been '97) [...] I'm late to this discussion, but isn't the answer to this question Sox-Astros 4th game, 10/19/21, when Eovaldi seemed to have struck out the side, but Laz Diaz called what seemed to be strike three a ball, and the Red Sox fell apart and lost the game and the series? Laz Diaz has been mentioned in this thread, but I don't think this question was explicitly answered.
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Jan 30, 2022 8:07:30 GMT -5
Walt Hriniak was a Charlie Lau guy. Yes he was and the ultimate poster boy was Wade Boggs. Also (or perhaps even more) Dwight Evans, who was lost in 1980 ("At the 1980 All-Star break, he was hitting .194 and was being platooned in rightfield with Jim Dwyer. 'I was the easiest out in the league,' says Evans") before Hriniak remade his swing and he went on a tear for the next seven years at .279 .388 .504 .892, starting with leading the league in HRs in 1981, and after hitting .262 .344 .448 .792 his first nine years (Hriniak should also get credit for the .316 .413 .588 1.001 after the all-star break in 1980, not included in that .892 cited above). This story also has a lot about the serious health problems of his two young sons (which--this is not in the old story-- stabilized but lasted their whole lives until they passed away in 2019-20 in their 40s): vault.si.com/vault/1985/05/06/back-on-the-right-trackTo keep to topic: wouldn't it be great if Casas hits .279 .388 .504 .892 sometime soon? And Evans was an all-world RF who is not in the Hall of Fame.
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jimoh
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Posts: 3,987
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Post by jimoh on Jan 26, 2022 8:41:56 GMT -5
Amazing to look at the box scores from 2003 and see that after his first month on the Red Sox, David Ortiz had played in about half the games, some as 1b, some as DH, and was hitting .200.308.327.635. Shea Hilllenbrand and Kevin Millar were both hitting like JD Martinez. Damian Jackson and Doug Mirabelli got starts either in LF (with Manny at DH) or DH. Luckily Jeremy Giambi was even worse than Ortiz, who from May 3-June 15 hit .375 .433 .614 1.047
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jimoh
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Posts: 3,987
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Post by jimoh on Jan 25, 2022 13:24:05 GMT -5
I'd be curious to see a legible version of that. Do you have a link? Maybe here? If you cut and paste the link? https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/sb36b3/mlb_standings_since_2010/
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