SB Nation User Blog: timlacy

Yeah, We Better Move Him To The Rotation

timlacy — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:12:51 -0000

Yeah, We Better Move Him To The Rotation

"Late in the game here," DeJesus said, "you can always feel that Red Sox aura. But once we got Soria in the game, we feel confident that he’s going to do the job. And he did the job as usual."

And this is why they're called stoppers and get paid the big bucks and are occasionally invaluable. - TL

An Intellectual History Of Grit (For Real)

timlacy — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:41:58 -0000

A favorite topic of some RR members, always brought up ironically, of course, has attracted the attention of a highly respected member of academia. Intellectual historian Wilfred M. McClay has written a kind of short history of grit. No, he doesn't mention the Royals, or any particular Royal, or any recent baseball players for that matter. But he does trace how the term likely originated in America, much like our national pastime, and how it has strong democratic overtones.

This McClay paragraph in particular caught my attention:

Grit is a democratic virtue, the poor man's (or woman's) heroism, the common man's virtue represented by common stuff: by that granular resistance, that friction, that commonplace particulate material needed to hold the mortar together, that elemental stuff on which everything else in life depends. This collocation of meanings is not the least bit fanciful, and it is no mere coincidence. Consider the fact that the word sand had a similar meaning and usage in the nineteenth century, and was a favorite term of Mark Twain's; a person with unusual gutsiness and persistence was said to have "sand."

I think I first heard the term "sand" in Gangs of New York (the "sand of the Dead Rabbits"). I digress.

Anyway, it seems to me then that awarding the attribute of "grit" to a KC ballplayer is, at least in the eyes of McClay, a compliment of the highest order in America. Indeed, anyone having the appropriate quotient of grit is probably our most uncommon common ballplayer. ;) - TL

Sox Are Worried: Greinke's Inside Their Heads

timlacy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:45:41 -0000

Sox Are Worried: Greinke's Inside Their Heads

The Facts:

Exhibit A: "Nine of the 29 batters Greinke has hit in his career have been Sox hitters."
Exhibit B: "Greinke has hit four Oakland Athletics -- second most but still five fewer than the White Sox."
Exhibit C: "There also have been some near-misses, such as fastballs that buzzed the heads of Carlos Quentin on April 8 and Alexei Ramirez on May 3."

Quotes from

1. Dye: "He knows he has to keep us honest and pitch in. "
2. Guillen: "[Greinke] is a great pitcher and I don't think he's going to hit people just because he wants to hit people."

Conclusion

He's inside their heads. They're more worried about him than hitting the ball.

Prediction: The Royals win 3-1. The Sox's only run comes from a Dye homerun

Why Baseball Folks Keep Chasing The Farnsworth Dream

timlacy — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:46:34 -0000

Why Baseball Folks Keep Chasing The Farnsworth Dream

I realize this link might seem like unnecessary piling on after all that's been posted here in the last 24 hours. But this piece helps explain why managers and GMs keep Tightpants employed. - TL

Expectations of Jacobs on the Rise

timlacy — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 02:30:29 -0000

Expectations of Jacobs on the Rise

This is great news. I mean, what's the incentive to raise expectations on the guy if he's really not doing well. This should cheer all of us. I'm most pleased by the OBP for ST.

But let the ripping begin. - TL

Wild Dream: Pujols to KC?

timlacy — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:31:48 -0000

Wild Dream: Pujols to KC?

If only he'd come home. ...Sigh. - TL

Say What You Want About Bradley, But You Have To Admire This

timlacy — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:29:23 -0000

Say What You Want About Bradley, But You Have To Admire This

From the piece (bolds mine)::

After playing for six teams in the previous eight seasons, Bradley said he was tired of being a "rent-a-player" and felt like Wrigley Field was the perfect landing spot.

"As much as we courted him, I've never seen a player court us like he did," Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney told fans at the Cubs Convention. "He was scouting us in the third game of the division series , sitting in Los Angeles trying to figure out where he would play in our lineup, and he left himself, basically, with no escape clause.

"He was negotiating with us and really didn't have a safety net. This is a guy who chose Chicago and the pressure and the limelight. I don't think he expects to fail. He wants to be a Cub."

This is just fantastic. I might be a sucker, but things like this make me want a Bradley jersey for the season. I hope he succeeds beyond his---and our---wildest dreams. - TL

Loved This Bit From The Onion's ARod Edition

timlacy — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:27:31 -0000

Loved This Bit From The Onion's ARod Edition

Maybe we can add Gload to the top-10 good players from the non-steroid team? Or maybe Matt Stairs? - TL

The Real Problem With The Current ARod Revelations

timlacy — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:51:10 -0000

Doug Glanville hits the nail on the head with another insightful NYT column---this time on the ARod revelations. Here's the excerpt I found most intriguing:

There is a lot of outrage out there about Alex. Not surprising. But what really surprises me is the lack of outrage about how a confidential and anonymous test could be made public. We seem to gloss over the fact that these players voted to re-open a collectively bargained agreement in a preliminary effort to address the drug problem. When privileged information is shared it effectively hurts anyone who has expected privacy in any circumstance, just as when someone made Brittany Spears’s medical records public.

This same point struck me yesterday. And why have only ARod's results been made public? Someone clearly has it in for him. Glanville on the same:

In the end, it isn’t about Alex Rodriguez, though we are making it about him. ...Sure, all this has come about because of certain choices he made, but he was outed by forces beyond his control, in a way that was not honorable. That is not good for any of those 1,200 players who were tested. That is not good for anyone. And why focus on Alex Rodriquez and not the other 103? Why weren’t there leaks about everyone?

And the conclusion:

I don’t see the good in selling our souls while claiming we want to chase the devil from our midst.

Whether you love or hate ARod---and I've sort of been in the latter camp for years---this is not the way to catch a cheater. There's a reason why our legal system has in recent years tried harder to regulate the way we collect evidence.

So this post is only indirectly related to the KC Royals. But philosophical issues with the game are relevant to us and the rest of the League. - TL

This Is A Great Suggestion

timlacy — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 16:16:54 -0000

This Is A Great Suggestion

Mellinger is on the right track here. I concur with his observation that McClure might be the guy to help. I mean, this is the kind of stuff Dave Duncan and the Cards take advantage of. Normally the Cubs take advantage with Rothschild being their pitching guru. But one man's guru is another man's bad fit. What's the downside for KC? - TL

SB Nation User Blog: timlacy

Yeah, We Better Move Him To The Rotation

An Intellectual History Of Grit (For Real)

What historical KC ballplayer (present team excluded) is the grittiest of all-time?

Sox Are Worried: Greinke's Inside Their Heads

Why Baseball Folks Keep Chasing The Farnsworth Dream

Expectations of Jacobs on the Rise

Wild Dream: Pujols to KC?

Say What You Want About Bradley, But You Have To Admire This

Loved This Bit From The Onion's ARod Edition

The Real Problem With The Current ARod Revelations

This Is A Great Suggestion