Thursday, April 11, 2013
WSJ: No, Really, Tell Me About You (Mariano Rivera’s farewell tour)
(online.wsj.com)
posted on April 11, 2013 at 03:20 PM by Esoteric throws a 'hard slider' to class, hall of fame, new york, yankees
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18 comment(s)
Mariano Rivera is…impossible to dislike.
Read More...CLEVELAND—It is two hours before the scheduled start of Wednesday night’s Yankees-Indians game, and baseball’s all-time saves leader is deep inside the bowels of Progressive Field, holding a marching band’s bass drum.
Mariano Rivera wants to know how the drum’s owner, John Adams, hits it when he’s really mad.
“When the Indians are supposed to score, and they don’t score, how do you hit it?” Rivera asks. [...]
When Rivera decided to retire, he ...
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< 1 2 3 4 >It'd be a fairly safe bet with most pitchers. But there are no useful priors for Dickey.
His career is over. It's always been over.
Except it wasn't true for a lot of very good to great pitchers in the recent past.
Just in recent history, all of Clemens, R Johnson, Maddux, Glavine, D Wells, Smoltz, K Rogers, Moyer and Wakefield pitched very effectively from 38-40.
I'd say if a guy is excellent at 37, the odds of him pitching into his 40s are really good.
Can you believe the nerve of this showboating turd.
Sorry Jimmy Carter. You're no longer history's greatest monster.
Ha. I wonder if Davidoff felt ridiculous even writing this. It's gotta be the lamest hatchet job of all time.
He probably didn't even ask David Wright if it was OK to donate it to the Jays charity, rather than the David Wright Foundation. You know what he should have called that book: "Wherever I Wind Up, as long as David Wright Says It's OK".
I don't know where people get this idea. He seems like a moron to me.
Well he's had a really nice run from 35-37. Is that enough to dismiss the fact that
a) most pitchers show real age related decline starting at 36 and it becomes more pronounced at 37.
b) He wasn't much before 35.
a probably matters a great deal more than b, but (as you've noted) there are plenty of specific exceptions.
Joe Niekro's probably as useful a comp as you'll get and while he lasted until he was 43, he didn't pitch all that well (ERA+ of 92 after putting up a 117 at 36 and a 135 at 37)
Of interest. Did not realize that Dickey had the 3rd highest K/9 IP in history for a 37 year old. This is of course a very useful indication of longevity.
Strikeouts per 9IP age 37
1. Randy Johnson 13.4 20012. Nolan Ryan 9.7 1984
3. R.A. Dickey 8.9 2012
4. Steve Carlton 8.7 1982
5. Roger Clemens 8.3 2000
6. Greg Harris 8.3 1993
7. Curt Schilling 8.1 2004
8. Kevin Tapani 8.0 2001
9. Mike Mussina 7.8 2006
10. Stu Miller 7.8 1965
But Greg Harris and Stu Miller? Never thought of either as old power pitchers.
The Killer Moth? Hooda thunkit.
I just checked his BRef page and a strange thing happened when he was traded to the AL. In the NL, he never had a K/9 > 6.6 (and most years were much lower). But his first year with Baltimore, he went up to 9.1 and stayed relatively high for a few years
As he does to me. Who knows. Mets fans have been really silly with this stuff.
Can you actually provide 2 examples from different Mets fans here that would lead to this conclusion? Or are you rambling here about idiots you hear on talk shows?
Oh, Ray. Let's see if we can get you to elaborate.
See, here's the thing, Ray. I (and other Mets fans) think he's smart because
a.) I realize English Literature compared to copyright law is some kind of rampart of idiocy, but 3.35 and Academic All-American and All-SEC is not nothing, and that kind of education and writing takes brains.
b.) Everyone who has ever interacted with him has talked about how well-spoken and intelligent he seems.
c.) When you listen to him in interviews, he IS well-spoken.
d.) His (co-authored) autobiography was well-received and well-reviewed.
So, now that I've given you the reasons for my silliness of thinking he's intelligent, why not give me the excellent non-silly reason you think he's a moron. Let's hear even one single reason for saying so. Something you read. Or something. I'll wait.
(P.S. I wrote all that already knowing he was a born-again Christian. I'm closing that response down right now. Good try, though.)
Orcrist is actually from The Hobbit.
He seemed thoughtful and open, especially compared to Wakefield who was a fine stand-in for the typical professional athlete who speaks in cliches. I should note this is not to suggest Wakefield is a moron. Professional athletes are well-trained in speaking without saying anything and "being boring".
As a note, Knuckleball was an interesting movie. I didn't realize the extent to which Dickey remains in communication with former knuckleballers throughout the season and goes to them for advice. At one point he visits with Charlie Hough (if I recall correctly) before a game in California and they talk through, and correct some of his mechanics.
I haven't followed Dickey especially closely, where in particular does the moron impression come from?
I named one of my bats "Needle" last year*. Do I get any intelligence points?
*Though I did sadly break it before it saw a live game.
My current bats are named "Gwenyth" and "Rubba-Hubba".
Alderson was on WFAN today.
He was "surprised" by the Dickey comments at the Christmas party, but said he "gets a pass" because otherwise he had handled the difficult situation so well. He added that Dickey was actually a last-minute add to the Christmas party - the Mets found out that very day that he was in town, and asked if he could come.
The implication was that Dickey may not have thought about the media being there, and how he would handle that when they asked about the contract talks. Seems pretty reasonable.
I doubt the slagging of Dickey came from Alderson. That's not really his style. If he wanted to slag Dickey he would have just been upfront about it.
Then in 64, you say that you think Dickey is a moron.
No.
This would not surprise me at all.
In football, Academic All-SEC means you behaved in prison.
You don't really want me to opine on the silliness of an English lit degree, do you?
Yes, ignoring the whole post for a cheap shot a high-school senior could manage is very impressive.
So, I assume you can't elaborate and you are just flapping your lips?
####'s sake, Ray, I've got three of 'em! Technically American Lit, but still!
Teaching reading and writing! What enterprise could possibly be sillier?
MCoA, I doubt that Sandy is the type of supervisor who permits any underling to engage in such antics. I vote for Jeffrey.
I would echo everything in #70. Knuckleball was a very enjoyable movie (although ~50% too long) and Dickey comes across very well in it. I actually was at the premiere at the IFC center in New York, where Dickey and Wakefield were supposed to do a panel discussion with the filmmakers afterwards. The Mets had a rainout that was rescheduled for the day of the premiere, so Dickey was unable to attend, but they got Phil Niekro to come in his place, and Dickey sent some autographed baseballs for the kids in attendance. Once again, the idea that this guy was a prima donna is just laughable.
Dickey himself, the great man and also the world's greatest monster, had what seemed an impromptu appearance on WFAN this afternoon as well (with Evan and Joe filling in for the late-career Carson-like Francesa's schedule).
both interviews could be on the FAN website, but I'll let someone else carry the ball the rest of the way...
Nice eight minute interview on both sides there. Mutual respect, fun, joking around. I've read in a few places how polite and cordial he always is with people, "thank you's" after compliments, etc. Not just because of the similarities in the two trades, but Mets fans respect for Dickey reminds me of Halladay for TOR fans. Dazzling player to watch, and an excellent person off the field as well. Hurts to lose those guys. I started following 7 or 8 NY reporters on Twitter Friday once the trade rumors starting leaking, and all weekend it's been overwhelmingly obvious how well liked he is and held in high regard. Just like Halladay, in the scads of articles i've read, and interviews i've watched/listen too in the last few days, I can't imagine anyone badmouthing this guy. Seems pretty f'n awesome to me.
As a Met/Jay fan, seeing Halladay dealt to the Phils stung. This and the Reyes trade go a long way to make up for that.
You must have missed the one where he said "anals" instead of "annals."
This is part of the deal if you sign with the Blue Jays.
I really don't care if Dickey is a moron, or if he's a giant self absorbed ass-hole, a puppy kicker, or even worse, a "born-again Christian." Just get that knuckleball to dance in the dome and makes hitters look dumb.
Ray has nothing constructive to offer anyone, so when he runs out of gas in the political thread--there's not much mileage to be gotten from telling us over and over that nothing can be done, ever, regarding gun violence--he has to run over here and dump his odious nonsense in the Mets threads.
I guess the idea that the team had a smart, interesting, talented player was too much for Rayray.
Yup.
That's extremely impressive company.
One thing, though, is his 2012 rate represented quite a jump for R. A. Would it make more sense to average (weighted average, probably) his previous three seasons? His Ks were 5.4/9 in 2010, and 5.9/9 in 2011. A 3-2-1 weighted average for 2010 through 2012 puts him around 7.3K/9. I'm just leery of outlier seasons, even when they're off a new, improved pitch (or batting stance, or ______) that depends a lot on touch, that may be putting additional strain on his arm, that helped keep him in games and therefore keep his innings total as high as its ever been, and whatever else may be involved.
P.S. Ray is still egregiously f**king wrong about Ichiro and his HOF credentials. But then again his lovable indefatigability in arguing his side of the case is part of why we love him.
I can't tell if you're being serious here because it certainly feels like a whole lot of people on Primer are libertarian.
The inspired thing about this line of attack is that Davidoff has no way of knowing what Dickey might have said to the Mets brass behind closed doors -- his real objection seems to be that Dickey didn't criticize what the Mets were doing publicly. Yet if he had done so, Davidoff would have been able to use this as further evidence that Dickey is overly concerned about cultivating his public image and is for that reason unpopular with his teammates. So it works both ways!
I feel like I'm perfectly willing to back down when I've said something wrong or ridiculous. Ray is completely unwilling to do so. He isn't the only one by a long, long, long shot. But he is the loudest one.
good grief.
I've taught a lot of varsity athletes over the years, and baseball players have things stacked against them. They tend to be mobile (transferring often, leaving school early if they're much good at baseball), and as a sport played several times a week, baseball monopolizes their time during spring semesters. When ballplayers do well in a humanities degree despite these distractions, it's pretty safe to say they're not morons.
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