― bnw (bnw), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 17:15 (twenty years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 20:00 (twenty years ago) link
*nervous laughter*
What's the word on Jason Schmidt this year?
― mattbot (mattbot), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 20:08 (twenty years ago) link
The surgery went well according to Stan Conte and the fact that the Giants didn't go after Maddux as strongly as they could have is probably a good sign.
*robbed of the Cy Young in my opinion.
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 22:13 (twenty years ago) link
PriorWoodMadduxZambranoClement
BorowskiLaTroy Hawkins FarnsworthRemlinger (L)Mercker (L)Juan Cruz
It looks pretty good, but not many left handers.
― earlnash, Thursday, 19 February 2004 01:00 (twenty years ago) link
(sorry for the dumb question and possibly incorrect terminology, but I haven't been following baseball for all that long and we don't get much coverage here in Oz)
― ojitarian (ojitarian), Thursday, 19 February 2004 03:49 (twenty years ago) link
Yes. It is also baseball by the numbers statistically, left handed hitters hit better against right handed pitchers and usually right hitters do better against left pitchers. This is also why a good switch hitter is considered a valuable player.
All Switch Hitter Team:
c- Ted Simmonds1b- Eddie Murray2b- Roberto Alomarss- Ozzie Smith3b- Pete Roself- Chipper Jonescf- Mickey Mantlerf- Tim Raines
― earlnash, Thursday, 19 February 2004 04:44 (twenty years ago) link
― ojitarian (ojitarian), Thursday, 19 February 2004 07:01 (twenty years ago) link
last year the cubs RH starters faced 1347 lefties and 1727 righties, so that's 44% of opposing batters. i'd guess the actual percentage is quite a bit lower, maybe 1/3?
― John (jdahlem), Thursday, 19 February 2004 21:14 (twenty years ago) link
― earlnash, Thursday, 19 February 2004 21:23 (twenty years ago) link
It's possible, but I think they'd probably trade Juan Cruz before Zambrano. I'm not yet convinced Zambrano can replicate his success from last year, but if he can then holding on to him--even if it's just to trade him at the end of the season--means he'll appreciate on the market that much more. Cruz is a very similar pitcher to Zambrano (his off-speed stuff isn't quite there yet) and has been languishing in the Cubs pen for the last few years. The longer the Cubs hold on to him, the quicker his transition from prospect to bust will occur, at least in the minds of MLB GMs. That seemingly-credible Juan Cruz + PTBNL for Mike Lowell trade rumors were buzzing around last year gives you some idea of his value.
But I think you're definitely on to something. The Cubs have an insane amount of pitching in the minors right now, I would expect some blockbuster trade involving Cubs pitching in the next two or three years.
― mattbot (mattbot), Thursday, 19 February 2004 21:46 (twenty years ago) link
Where I think they might unload a pitcher is mid-season before the trade deadline, if the pitching is healthy and they have an obvious need in the lineup. The Cubs did pretty well last year with their trades in season and have made a couple of other interesting moves in the offseason.
Possible Cubs starters:
1b - Derek Lee2b - Mark Gruzielanek/Todd Walkerss - Alex Gonzalez3b - Aramis Ramierezlf - Moises Aloucf - Corey Pattersonrf- Sammy Sosac - Damian Miller/Paul Bako/Michael Barrett
Questions:
Is Patterson recovered from his injury?Is this the year age takes it's toll on Alou and Sosa?Can any of these catcher hit their weight?Have Lee and Ramierez peaked or can they improve into bonafide stars?Does Gruzielanek and Walker have another season in them like last year, when both did well at the plate?Can Gonzalez harness that power, lay off crappy pitches and not strike out like Rob Deer?
With Patterson and Lee in the field, the defense should be improved.
― earlnash, Thursday, 19 February 2004 23:25 (twenty years ago) link
― ojitarian (ojitarian), Friday, 20 February 2004 01:07 (twenty years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 20 February 2004 01:11 (twenty years ago) link
The catcher position looks pretty weak.
― earlnash, Friday, 20 February 2004 01:14 (twenty years ago) link
No one really knows anything about Barrett that I've talked to, but Jim Hendry seems to think he's the bee's knees. He couldn't do much worse than .233/.310/.369, I guess.
Maybe putting Bako and Maddux back in each other's arms will spur each to greater heights?!
(Oh wait, I just looked up Barrett's 2003 numbers: .208/.280/.398. Ow.)
― mattbot (mattbot), Friday, 20 February 2004 14:16 (twenty years ago) link
Henry Blanco = HITTING MACHINE!!!
I always wondered how that worked with Javy Lopez in Atlanta. Was it Bobby Cox just plotting a regular day off or did Maddux/Lopez just not work well together?
― earlnash, Friday, 20 February 2004 15:23 (twenty years ago) link
― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 20 February 2004 16:22 (twenty years ago) link
In the late 90's, it seemed as though Maddux was the greatest pitcher any of us would ever see. Since then, his performance has slowly declined as one would expect for a pitcher in his late 30's. However, Clemens and Johnson, his contemporaries in the "Great Pitchers of the 90's" club, have remained ageless and dominant.
Will any of this affect Maddux's legacy? His profile has fallen off the table since the 90's. The success of Clemens, Unit, and even Pedro have seemingly relegated Maddux to a distant fourth in terms of popularity and prestige among many fans. Every time one of those three guys start, it's a major event. When Maddux starts, he's just another #3 starter on a club fighting for the wild card.
In 30 years, the greatness of Clemens, Pedro and Unit will be obvious to those who never saw him pitch: fireballers who blew batters away, with personalities as potent as their fastballs. What about Maddux? Will he be a "you had to see him to appreciate him" pitchers?
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 30 June 2005 18:48 (nineteen years ago) link
I think that, superficially, Maddux's legacy might tarnish a bit, but folks that actually look past his career marks & his decline will see how ridiculously good he actually was. Also, Johnson & especially Clemens are freaks & outliers, and any pitcher is gonna look like spew compared to them.
― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 30 June 2005 18:58 (nineteen years ago) link
― Gear! (Ill Cajun Gunsmith) (Gear!), Thursday, 30 June 2005 19:00 (nineteen years ago) link
You could rank Clemens and Maddux about equally 4 years ago; obv not the case anymore.
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 30 June 2005 19:00 (nineteen years ago) link
Also working against Maddux: his best two seasons were in 1994-5, and therefore their significance was diminished by the work stoppage. The guy was 19-2, 1.60 in a shortened season! Those numbers are unreal, but who even remembers that now?
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 30 June 2005 19:05 (nineteen years ago) link
The one thing that might "hurt" Maddux, in terms of his place in the game: no charisma. Pedro and Clemens are hotheaded (and headhunters), and Randy Johnson, he's tall and has a mullet. Also, throwing hard helps. Chicks dig the fastball, not the black-catching change-up low and away.
― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 30 June 2005 19:09 (nineteen years ago) link
Maddux best HoF contemporary might be Lefty Grove ... not a flashy personality, not nearly as famous/larger-than-life as many of his contemporaries, with extremely impressive numbers that aren't fully appreciated for their Pantheon-ness (?) until you look at the offense-dominated era they played in.
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 30 June 2005 19:14 (nineteen years ago) link
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 30 June 2005 19:15 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 30 June 2005 19:17 (nineteen years ago) link
Anytime Maddux's name is mentioned in 30 years, peeps need to bust out the "chix dig the long ball" commercial because that was some SERIOUS pantheon-type shit. I think I'd be happy if he was remembered for that above all else. You can't tell me that Clemens ever did anything that cool.
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 30 June 2005 19:18 (nineteen years ago) link
― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 30 June 2005 19:19 (nineteen years ago) link
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 30 June 2005 19:23 (nineteen years ago) link
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 30 June 2005 19:27 (nineteen years ago) link
― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 30 June 2005 20:37 (nineteen years ago) link
Came close a few weeks ago to starting a thread devoted to amazing Tony Gwynn-related stuff that is forever turning up on my FB wall. Didn't, but I can post this here: in 330 career AB against Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz, they struck him out three times.
(I can't check that, so trusting its accuracy.)
― clemenza, Wednesday, 24 May 2023 21:42 (one year ago) link
nice clip here of bonds and maddux both talking about the same AB
Bonds vs. Maddux - a chess match for the ages!🎬 #MLBNPresents "One of a Kind" pic.twitter.com/wHPcivxcaB— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) August 26, 2024
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 5 September 2024 10:51 (one month ago) link