On his first official day as the Mets’ manager, Jerry Manuel proposed molding his team into the Los Angeles Angels. More of an East Coast version, actually.
Come spring training, Manuel said, he planned to do some “serious teaching” with his players, changing their offensive strategy and inculcating the importance of unselfish baseball. He wants them, as well as the organization, to diminish the emphasis on statistics and establish a culture of selflessness that values sharp situational hitting, flawless fundamentals and impervious defense — things that the Angels, perennial contenders, do better than perhaps any team in baseball.
“What has been done in the past is that you get so many statistical people together — they put so many stats on paper — and they say, ‘Well, if you do this and you score this many runs, you do this that many times, you’ll be in the playoffs,’ ” Manuel said Saturday in a conference call after the Mets announced that he had agreed to a two-year contract. “That’s not really how it works. And that’s what we have to get away from.”
...“You don’t see a lot of guys that have statistical numbers play well in these championship series,” Manuel said. “What you see is usually the little second baseman or somebody like that carries off the M.V.P. trophy that nobody expected him to do. That’s because he’s comfortable in playing that form of baseball, so therefore when the stage comes, it’s not a struggle for him.”
Repoz
Posted: October 04, 2008 at 11:27 PM |
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Statistical Numbers! dibs on that name for my blog......
But if you and Warthen and Omar just fix the damned bullpen, I have a feeling we'll face a lot fewer "situations" where it'll matter. Just sayin'.
...“You don’t see a lot of guys that have statistical numbers play well in these championship series,” Manuel said.
Who you have in mind does have a high BA? Hmmm, let me see who isn't thinking of....
But I can't believe that the Mets, or any other team, have been stressing statistical analysis amongst the players. The GM, on the other hand should be doing that. The coaches should talk numbers with management and how-to with the players.
So do you folks have any idea? Are players really sitting around talking numbers with their coaches and manager?
Oh them stat numbers. What does the "that" mean in "that form of baseball"? Anybody know?
I'm too lazy to do it, but one could do a study of all the playoff MVP winners and see how many scrappy little guys walked off with it versus what number of scrappy little guys we'd expect to walk off with it...
Huh? What? Sure you see little 2B walk off with WS MVP and such honors on occasion. But it's not because they sacrificed well or moved a runner over, it's because they hit 420 over 7 games.
The last few WS MVPs: Lowell, Eckstein, Dye, Manny, Beckett, Glaus, Johnson/Schilling, Jeter, Rivera, Brosius, Livan, Wetteland, Glavine, blank, Molitor, Borders (!), Morris, Rijo..
OK:
Eckstein: 364/391/500, 4 RBI, no sacs.
Brosius: 471/471/824, 6 RBI, no sacs.
Borders: 450/500/750, 3 RBI, no sacs.
Now maybe he means that, for some reason, scrappy players know how to hit under pressure ... but that would only lead one to wonder why they don't in the regular season ... or for that matter, in other postseason series or even earlier in those same playoffs (Eckstein was 8 for 41 going into the WS ... admittedly Borders and Brosius were hot the whole postseason those two years).
Yes, that Pujols guy only hits .323/.429/.593 in the playoffs - not quite what he hits in the regular season, so see!
I choose to believe you mean Petunia here, and not Mark Lemke.
Only with someone else.....
Juan Gonzalez. I suspect it happens on occassion. It usually will revolve around RBIs or SBs. I think Manuel doesn't know what he is talking about, and it is simple enough to point to bringing in Scot Schoenewies to face Mike Jacobs on the last day of the season to demonstrate as much.
I phrased that badly. Of course players know their numbers and they about stats. It's natural and it helps at contract times. I meant talk numbers like sabr types and GM types. I wouldn't want the players sitting around focusing on complex statistical analysis and thinking about roster construction and whatnot. I mean, if they think about it or talk about it occasionally, fine. But I'd mostly want them to go about the business of learning and practicing doing it, not analysing it.
I think Show could rebound next year in a pen where he is used correctly all year long, and I think he will probably still be a Met next year. I also think Sanchez will still be a Met next year and can rebound with a off season and this year under his belt. But the key for Minaya this year is to bring in two quality arms to allow Manuel to set some steady roles in the pen and to make better use of the other arms in proper situations. Might Muniz be able to take a bigger role next year? Possibly. Might we have another arm in the minors we can use last year, there are a couple that might be able to help. But Minaya can't depend on that. He has to bring in 2 guys to settle down the pen and that is it.
I do get...improving fundamentals, attention to hitting in critical situations, improving defense....the manager should say he wants his team to work on those areas. What I don't get...why do you blame statistical analysis when your team doesn't do those things? Statistical analysis is more relevant to putting the team's personnel together. But you don't teach the players statistics. I just don't like scapegoating "statistical numbers" for something to which it is unrelated.
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