MLB Funnies (1996 Season Premiere)
Mischa E Gelman
The reds signed Davis and Sabo? When? Why?
>* Since McWeekly and McBiWeekly's Peters (Pascarelli and Gammons) are
>aspiring to become baseball journalism's version of "Dumb and Dumber",
>which one plays "Dumber"?
What's so bad about Peter Gammons? He is one of the better baseball
"analysts" I have heard. One brief summary-I hate readsing flamewars
abotu mediots and such.
--
Bumblebee:That was Swindle, a Combaticonm. They're Decepticons.
Roland:This sure is getting complicated. We should've just taken the F
in science.
(Ain't weird quotes that make no sense cool?)
Colin T. William
> >* Eric Davis, Chris Sabo and Marge Schott are all together again. Neat.
> The reds signed Davis and Sabo? When? Why?
They are both signed to minor-league contracts for cheap money. So the
Reds figured to give them a shot to make the team out of spring training
if either shows any performance at all.
Colin
Jonathan Bernstein
: What's so bad about Peter Gammons? He is one of the better baseball
: "analysts" I have heard. One brief summary-I hate readsing flamewars
: abotu mediots and such.
Actually, Gammons probably gets a sightly bum rap around here. I'd rate him:
Reporter: B, B+
Analyst: C-
As an analyst, he's a good reporter: while he does use a wider range of
information than some other analysts do, he's wildly inconsistent, often
within the same column or ESPN thingy. For example, he'll claim that X
is a good hitter because he has a high OBP, but then also claim Y is a
good hitter even though Y is a high BA, low OBP guy. Either he's too
dumb to recognize inconsistency *or* he's parroting what he hears *or*
he's trying to stay on good terms with everyone. I suspect some of each,
but especially the latter; in other words, as an analyst he's a good
reporter.
As a reporter, he gets a bad rap for being wrong all the time, but I
don't think he's making stuff up; I think people use him as a
semi-official conduit for information. I don't think it's fair to say
he's a bad reporter just because he passes along trial balloons.
The one thing I find it really hard to forgive is his constant flacking
for the small market clubs. Other than that, I think the best way to
treat him is to ignore his analysis, and to treat his reporting as trial
balloons, not as fact.
JHB
Jim Gindin
>What's so bad about Peter Gammons? He is one of the better baseball
>"analysts" I have heard. One brief summary-I hate readsing flamewars
>abotu mediots and such.
Gammons has a bad reputation because he often doesn't do his
homework. For instance, he popularized the claim that Jack
McDowell "pitches to the score" and thus "wins games," even
though his stats often aren't as good as some of the top
pitchers. Analysis showed that McDowell doesn't pitch to the
score, he was just the beneficiary of a lot of rallies the
year he won the Cy Young. Gammons probably won the Cy for
McDowell that year.
Gammons also romanticizes the notion that some players are
"clutch RBI men," another popular theory that doesn't hold
up well under analysis. When 3rd and 4th hitters happen to
be batting behind high-OBP men, they simply have amazing
numbers of opportunities to drive in runs. Look at the teams
Joe Carter has played on.
On the positive side, Gammons has good contacts with many teams,
and perhaps his romantic notions endear him to the old guard
within baseball. He's fairly inoffensive, especially if you
ignore his tendency to mount campaigns for players he likes
(McDowell for the Cy, Mo Vaughn for the MVP).
He's kind-of the anti-stat man's analyst. This in itself is
okay, but what ticks me (and I think many others) off is that
people tend to repeat his "analysis" as gospel, even though it's
often not backed up by reality.
Worse, I think Keith Olbermann is starting to model himself
after Gammons. I had so much hope for Olbermann, but he's
definitely gotten lazy in the last year. Maybe the strike
dampened his enthusiasm for the game.
Mischa E Gelman
>up well under analysis. When 3rd and 4th hitters happen to
>be batting behind high-OBP men, they simply have amazing
>numbers of opportunities to drive in runs. Look at the teams
>Joe Carter has played on.
Bell? Carlos Garcia? Yet King drives in runs every year. I think RBI
men do exist- but RBIs are much overrated anyways.
>On the positive side, Gammons has good contacts with many teams,
>and perhaps his romantic notions endear him to the old guard
>within baseball.
I loved his comparison between the '75 Series and the '91(? Twins-Braves)
one. That was my favorite piece of baseball commentray I've seen in awhile.
>Worse, I think Keith Olbermann is starting to model himself
>after Gammons. I had so much hope for Olbermann, but he's
>definitely gotten lazy in the last year.
Olberman has always sucked. i've never seen him do specifically
baseball, but just hosting Sportscenter, which has gone dowhill at 80 MHP
since he and his cronies took over.
William Constantine Tsimpris
: >up well under analysis. When 3rd and 4th hitters happen to
: >be batting behind high-OBP men, they simply have amazing
: >numbers of opportunities to drive in runs. Look at the teams
: >Joe Carter has played on.
: Look at Jeff King-who before him has high OBPs? Jake Brumfield? jay
: Bell? Carlos Garcia? Yet King drives in runs every year. I think RBI
: men do exist- but RBIs are much overrated anyways.
: >Worse, I think Keith Olbermann is starting to model himself
: >after Gammons. I had so much hope for Olbermann, but he's
: >definitely gotten lazy in the last year.
: Olberman has always sucked. i've never seen him do specifically
: baseball, but just hosting Sportscenter, which has gone dowhill at 80 MHP
: since he and his cronies took over.
This is a joke, isn't it? Oh yeah, bring me back the days of Eric
Clemons and Jim Bergamo anyday, fellas. If you call making sports fun
going downhill at 80 MPH" then hand me my sled, bob-o.
To your comment, then, I have to give a big GUUUUHHHHH!
BASIL T
--
*****************************************
"Red snapper...Very tasty!
--Coonie, the karate-chopping,
Wheel of Fish game show host
from "UHF"
*****************************************
Boon Sheridan
Jonathan Bernstein <j...@uclink2.berkeley.edu> wrote:
>
>As a reporter, he gets a bad rap for being wrong all the time, but I
>don't think he's making stuff up; I think people use him as a
>semi-official conduit for information. I don't think it's fair to say
>he's a bad reporter just because he passes along trial balloons.
It has been suggested more than once that baseball folks will tell
Gammons stuff that they WANT to get out and be that
'semi-unsubstantiated' claims for whatever purposes. Interestes in FA,
trade rumors, etc. I don't think he makes much up, but I do think he may
be getting deliberately skewed information that people just love to hear.
People eat up his columns because they're fodder for other discussions,
"did you see what Gammons wrote?" "the Expos would be CRAZY to trade
Cordero at all, let alone for a #4 SP and a bag of balls!" etc.
Boon
--
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Boon Sheridan .sig under beta testing
bo...@world.std.com http://world.std.com/~boon
"The he is mad, 'tis true: 'tis true 'tis pity; and pity 'tis 'tis true"
Paul Andresen
|>
|> Olberman has always sucked. i've never seen him do specifically
|> baseball, but just hosting Sportscenter, which has gone dowhill at 80 MHP
|> since he and his cronies took over.
Au contraire. Olberman is the only thing that makes SportsCenter worth
watching.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Baseball is religion without the mischief...Tom Boswell
pa...@koufax.cv.hp.com Paul Andresen Hewlett-Packard (541)-715-3511
home: 3006 NW McKinley Corvallis, OR 97330 (541)-752-8424
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