Marcus Stroman won't stop tweeting; 2019 Vlad Guerrero Jr/Blue Jays thread

habit of arguing balls and strikes

one of my big pet peeves, with batters at least. matt carpenter used to drive me _crazy_ with his bickering about called strikes that were clearly out of the zone. i can see how with pitchers it's different because their ongoing argument with the umpire is potentially a part of every PA for the rest of the game, depending on how much of a grudge the umpire is capable of holding

I've read different accounts of whether arguing helps or hurts. With a certain kind of old-school ump, to question them is suicidal. Lots of famous anecdotes to that effect..."Tell Mr. _________ that it's in his best interest to be swinging from here on out." And, to me, if a pitcher or batter shows you up, human nature is to push back. On the other hand, you'll hear that arguing something in the third inning gets you a close call in the seventh inning. I guess, ultimately, it depends on how you argue and depends on the ump.

for sure. yeah, i think one of the intangible values that a catcher provides, sometimes, is playing that game with the umpire, depending on who it is. i'm sure some catchers don't talk to the umpire at all. some catchers, though, have ongoing dialogue with some umpires throughout the game. i'm sure that some catchers, the ones that are skilled with reading that kind of game within a game with the umpires, have helped out their pitchers over the course of games and even seasons/careers by manipulating the umpires in certain ways.

(note: i am basing this only on my reading of ron luciano's books about 20 years ago)

I love variations of these stories (no idea how true they are):

Catcher: "Well, was it a strike or not?"
Umpire: "I don't know--let's ask Mr. Williams."

To me, Stroman and Donaldson (and various others) are interchangeable

ctrl-f STROMAN 40 hits (admittedly some of those are mine! and also, for some reason, the thread is named after him!)
ctrl-f DONALDSON, who won an mvp in toronto, 3 hits

none of which involve donaldson calling tim anderson 'jackie' last year. the most relevant post, from another thread, is

I realize Donaldson can be an asshole - but if Anderson was comparing himself to Robinson, it kind of opens himself up to some ribbing.

― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Sunday, May 22, 2022 12:44 PM

yous can do what you want, of course. but also i can find it a bit ugly

No Blue Jay hat (or any hat) for Fred at the induction. Which is not a surprise--more surprised that he's not going in as a Brave.

Dude. We have a new jays thread. You even started it!

I honestly feel like this thread took a gross turn (maybe not as gross as the animal mutilation that kicked it off, tho some don’t seem bothered by it), so let’s move on.

Oops--that detour threw me and it slipped my mind. Back to brilliantly titled To What Extent Does Your Life Revolve Around Alejandro Kirk? (The 2023 Blue Jays Thread)