www.firejoemorgan.com

[tomterp]

I make this site a regular stopping point for light entertainment.  They specialize in analyzing what baseball broadcasters say, and basically ridiculing them for their logic and lack of geniune insight.  Here's a passage I thought very typical and quite funny, too.  WARNING - OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE (F- words, etc.)

Sutcliffe Steps It Up For The Playoffs

It's been a while, old friend. Rick Sutcliffe has done us the kindness of putting something down on paper for the Diamond Daily section of ESPN.com. And boy, is it wrong.

CUBS "X-FACTOR"

Bear in mind that about seven times out of time, when an analyst calls a player an "X-Factor" it's because that player is normally not very good, so an above-average performance gives you a significant advantage over what the guy typically does. I guess "X" means mediocre.

The Chicago Cubs have that type of player you want in the postseason: Ryan Theriot.

No. Nope. Not really. I think you'd want more Aramis Ramirezes or Derrek Lees or Alfonso Sorianos. Theriots grow on baseball player trees.

Lou Piniella saw Theriot busting his butt in spring training, but he was pressing for a couple of weeks. Piniella told Theriot he was on the team and he needed to just let the game come to him. Piniella talks about having certain types of players who are winners, and Theriot is that kind of player.

This winner wins to the tune of a .245 EqA. That is awful. And if you believe in BP's FRAA, he's at -4.

Piniella told me that Theriot will have a World Series ring before his career is over; furthermore, he compared his shortstop to Craig Counsell and David Eckstein -- players similar in style to Theriot, and both have two World Series rings.

Remember when David Eckstein played all nine positions and beat the Tigers in the World Series all by himself? And Piniella's being modest about Counsell -- he won a dozen straight rings pitching, fielding, hitting, managing, general managing and owning the Carolina Counsells, whose team picture consisted of Craig Counsell posing in front of a mirror. (He was also team photographer.)

Ryan Theriot has as good a chance of getting a ring as literally any other player in this year's playoffs.

Probably less than most, actually.

When the Cubs need someone on base or to ake a play made in the field, Theriot usually makes something happen. The Cubs have a front-line starter in Carlos Zambrano, a solid No. 2 in Ted Lilly and offensively they have power hitters Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez.

Yes, those are their good players. Those are the players Theriot should get on his knees and thank if the Cubs are so fortunate as to win the championship this year. Theriot should get marginal credit unless he carries them over the next fifteen or so games.

But players like Theriot usually are difference makers in the postseason -- someone who steps up and steals the attention from the big boys. Just look at David Eckstein last year being named the World Series MVP.

"Usually"? I'm looking back at David Eckstein's World Series MVP...okay, now I'm looking a little further back, and I'm seeing

Jermaine Dye
Manny Ramirez
Josh Beckett
Troy Glaus
Schilling/Johnson
Derek Jeter
Mariano Rivera

These guys look more like Theriot or more like "big boys" to you? You have to go all the way back to Atrocious Scott Brosius in 1998 to find another crappy player. And at least that year was actually his best regular season, when he posted a .297 EqA.

Anyway, Sut, I'll make you an offer. Construct your team, your Tennessee Theriots, and enter them into the playoffs. Keep in mind this team will slug .346, score 4.1 runs per game, and hit 27 home runs all year. As a team. That's right. Ryan Theriot hit 3 home runs all season. The Theriots will be a team full of winners. Guys who bust their butts. X-Factors. They won't play baseball well, but that's secondary. It's the darn playoffs now.

[nospinzone1]

I THINK JOE MORGAN IS ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING GUYS IN THE BUSINESS OF ALL TIME.

[tomterp]

I THINK JOE MORGAN IS ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING GUYS IN THE BUSINESS OF ALL TIME.

I think one of the constant themes about Morgan, is that he says a lot of stuff, and it all sounds good, but he never says anything meaningfull.  Like eating cotton candy, not much substance to it.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

I hate Joe Morgan, and I read this blog RELIGIOUSLY.  Ken Tremendous is my hero.

[nospinzone1]

I think one of the constant themes about Morgan, is that he says a lot of stuff, and it all sounds good, but he never says anything meaningfull.  Like eating cotton candy, not much substance to it.

we must be talking about different Joe Morgans....I find him well versed and very informative about the game.

[tomterp]

we must be talking about different Joe Morgans....I find him well versed and very informative about the game.

I would suggest reading the www.firejoemorgan.com blog, you'll have to search for the Morgan stuff a bit as he also puts criticisms of stupid things that other broadcasters say, too.  And I'm not telling you to agree with all the criticisms, but they are well put and entertaining as well.

[MrMadison]

I think one of the constant themes about Morgan, is that he says a lot of stuff, and it all sounds good, but he never says anything meaningfull.  Like eating cotton candy, not much substance to it.

the typical response to anything he says on a broadcast is.."well...DUH!"

[PANatsFan]

The team that scores the most runs is going to win the game. Also, pitching, defense, and hitting are keys to a winning ballclub. Things I've learned over the years.

[tomterp]

The team that scores the most runs is going to win the game. Also, pitching, defense, and hitting are keys to a winning ballclub. Things I've learned over the years.

Right. And the team that executes is going to win.  Cubs?  Failed to execute.  Phillies?  Ditto.

You too can be a baseball analyst!

[NatsAddict]

The team that scores the most runs is going to win the game. Also, pitching, defense, and hitting are keys to a winning ballclub. Things I've learned over the years.

Right. And the team that executes is going to win.  Cubs?  Failed to execute.  Phillies?  Ditto.

You too can be a baseball analyst!

From some (most?) of the gameday threads I thought it was solely based upon who the umps wanted to win.

[PANatsFan]

Right. And the team that executes is going to win.  Cubs?  Failed to execute.  Phillies?  Ditto.

You too can be a baseball analyst!

Football announcers are even more fun. "It all comes down to 3 things: offense, defense, and special teams"

[shoeshineboy]

Right. And the team that executes is going to win.  Cubs?  Failed to execute.  Phillies?  Ditto.

You too can be a baseball analyst!

Joe Morgan is a buffoon. He espouses a lot of platitudes that may sound good, but do not hold up under scrutiny. What I find particularly annoying about "analysts" like Morgan is that they are incredibly lazy. He comes off like he does absolutely zero research. He's living off of the knowledge that he has from 40 years ago and simply mention things that seem like they are reasonable grasps at the current state of affairs and what is going on with the players, teams, and game he is observing at that moment. That's why this site is so funny, because it exposes Morgan and others as guys that don't bring any analytical thought and actual research work to the table.

I compare that with what we get from a guy like Dave Jageler. I remember when he took over for Dave Shay following the 2005 season, and I thought he would come off sounding like he was just getting up to speed on who the team members were. But that guy has an incredible work ethic. He does an incredible amount of preparation and lets the actual facts speak for themselves. Joe Morgan is like the baseball equivalent of Larry King - except Morgan actually did something in his former life as a player. At least you can't take away his HoF playing career. He just brings nothing to the table on TV except his out-dated thoughts on the game and his stubborn animosity for anyone or anything that demonstrates objectively that many of the things he believes are simply false. 

[2k6nats]

Here's something on that blog about Acta, very nice:

We've covered Manny Acta before, but it's just, I don't know, pleasant to find out that a current baseball manager seems so eminently sane. Here is the man giving an interview to some sort of Internet computer blog:

SB: What’s your stance on bunting and other one run strategies?

MA: Bunting is pretty outdated. Everybody scores so many runs nowadays, it doesn’t make sense to play for one run unless it’s late in the game and it’s close. I hardly ever bunt early in a game, unless it’s with a pitcher. A big inning can win you a game. One run in the third inning can’t, unless you have Pedro pitching.

Correct. Even throws in an interesting point about the increased run-scoring environment of the modern game. Outs are precious. Manny Acta understands this.

SB: Lightning Round. Best hitter in the game, non-Barry division.

MA: Albert Pujols. No question.

Fine with this. Down year this year, but Albert has been superhuman for several seasons now.

SB: Best pitcher.

MA: Roy Oswalt. He’s just tough as nails. He comes at you like nobody else. That’s a tough place to pitch, and he’s been very consistent.

Would've chosen Santana probably. Oswalt is on the downslide. Joe's c-word rears its head. But still, read on for Manny to redeem himself.

SB: Best player.

MA: Alex Rodriguez.

Sure.

SB: What’s your favorite blog?

MA: Squawking Baseball, of course. I read Baseball Prospectus a lot too. Will Carroll writes some of my favorite stuff. I also loved Mind Game.

He reads several blogs? The Prospy? Wilfred B. Carroll? We gotta start rooting for this guy, right? I point this out not only to raise Acta's profile a little, but also to show that you can read nerdy computer number Blackberry Internet iPhone crap and still manage a team without everything falling apart. I think the Nats actually outperformed expectations -- not that Acta necessarily was responsible for this, but still.

Sorry so positive. More venom to come.

[tomterp]

More entertainment from firejoemorgan.com

Do we have any White Sox fans around here?  Warning, not pleasant reading.

Thursday, October 25, 2007
 
PECOTA Predicts 2008 White Sox: 0-162
Several people point us to this giddy bit of craziness from our old pal Ozzie Guillen, via the Trib:

Spring training won't be dull if White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has his way.

He's gonna call someone a fag again?! Great!

As Guillen talked Tuesday about the additions of third-base coach Jeff Cox and bullpen coach Juan Nieves to his staff, he emphasized the Sox will change their preparation radically in an effort to improve dramatically from their 90-loss season.

"You're going to see a lot of crazy stuff in spring training, regardless of the baserunning," Guillen said during a conference call.

Let me just say that Ozzie Guillen is pretty clearly already crazy, based on the quotations you will find if you search for his name on this blog. So when he says, "You're going to see a lot of crazy stuff in spring training," he's basically saying he's going to like drive a Volvo onto the field in the middle of the game, and dress his players up like '30s gangsters, and maybe have guys run right across the mound to second on grounders to the infield, and possibly like fire guns in the air during pre-game pepper drills.

"You're going to see hit-and-run [plays] when it's not a hit-and-run situation. You're going to see people bunting when it's not a bunting situation.

That...that is awesome. A guy who already loves to do two stupid things -- bunt and hit-and-run -- is now telling us that he is going to start doing these things more. Doing them when the situation doesn't even "call" for them. This is the equivalent of saying, "I'm going to start intentionally walking guys with runners on first and second with no outs after an 0-2 count." Or: "I am going to buy extended warranties from Circuit City for products I didn't even purchase."

"Maybe people are going to criticize me for the way we're playing in spring training, but we have to go with a different approach. In spring training we're going to turn the switch on right away."

Someone should remind Dumb-Dumb here that the 2005 team that won the WS was 4th in the league in HR, first in caught-stealings, and had four great starters and a fantastically over-performing bullpen. They did not win because they didn't bunt enough. They won despite how much they bunted and foolishly got caught stealing. Ozzie Guillen is a moron.

Even before Guillen fired Razor Shines and hired Cox to take over, he hinted at such changes.

Cox, 51, will take on more duties in overseeing the bunting and hit-and-run drills, along with former major-league manager Buddy Bell, who was named director of minor league instruction and will help implement the emphasis on bunting and situational hitting at all levels.

Someone in Chicago needs to stop these people. They are dooming this franchise to another 100 years of title-less baseball.

Guillen worked with Cox for three seasons in Montreal and Florida (2001-03) but became impressed with Cox's work in Kansas City in 1995 and said his upbeat personality could fulfill the humor that was missing last year when goofy bullpen catcher Man Soo Lee returned to South Korea.

Reasons the White Sox Stunk Last Year: aging players, injuries, bad starting pitching, bad relief pitching, too much bunting, too much dumb strategy, not enough good hitters.

Not a Reason the White Sox Stunk Last Year: humor void caused by goofy bullpen catcher Man Soo Lee returning to South Korea.

Cox played in 61 games with Oakland in 1980-81. He put down 11 sacrifice bunts in 59 games with the Athletics in 1980, including four squeeze bunts.

Yup. That's the dude you want instructing your hitters. The guy who hit .213/.273/.231 with a 45 OPS+.

The Sox have been lacking in executing hitting fundamentals over the last two seasons. They struck out 1,149 times in 2006 and their .318 on-base percentage was the worst in the majors.

The strikeouts are meaningless. The 2004 Red Sox led the league in Ks and won the World Series. Philly, Colorado, and Cleveland were all in the top 7 in MLB in Ks this year and they all made the playoffs. It's the OBP you should worry about. You know what doesn't increase a team OBP? Sac bunts, dumbasses.

"I'm tired of being afraid to put on the hit-and-run because we don't know if we're going to put it in play," Guillen said. "I'm tired of striking out.

Hey -- I have an idea. Don't put on the hit-and-run.

Guillen warned everyone not to be surprised if A.J. Pierzynski is laying down a bunt or executing a hit-and-run in spring training, and that even the core hitters (Paul Konerko, Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye) will be asked to work on situational hitting.

You seriously want to try to make Jim Thome try to move runners over with ground balls? You want to make Paul Konerko go the other way, instead of letting him just do his thing? Really? That's your solution? Trying to strip your only power hitters of their power? What else you got in store for the off-season, genius? You going to sign David Eck--

The Sox could give [SS Juan] Uribe a $300,000 buyout and attempt to re-sign him if they fail to land a free agent like David Eckstein, who can bat leadoff and play shortstop, or fail to trade for a younger shortstop.

Eck and the ChiSox. A match made in heaven.

[arkymark]

Nobody should listen to anything Ozzie says.  It's all pretty harmless.  But he's got one more world series championship than lots of the geniuses who criticize him.  No way he can cause a 100 year draught.  If they have another year like this one, he's probably gone and so is the general manager.  In the meantime, lighten up.

[The Chief]

I thought sac bunting was against the rules in the AL anyway