Link doesn't work. Takes you back to BBTF.

link

It would be amazing if such a simple exercise could yield such dramatic results. You'd think that they had already tried everything last season. And if it really was Ventura's idea then bringing him in as coach has already paid off.

That some players can look as toasty as Dunn did for an entire season, and then after an offseason just come back as their old selves, while others are truly done for good, is one of those mysteries of baseball. Whenever I see a player have a season like Dunn's 2011 and then rebound, my first thought is that they were probably dealing with some sort of injury, however minor, that didn't keep them out of the lineup but had a major effect on their performance. (Carlos Beltran 2005 comes to mind as an example of this.)

It also makes me think ... how many players have retired after an awful season, when this might have happened the year after?

It also makes me think ... how many players have retired after an awful season, when this might have happened the year after?

First you have to get rid of Ozzie...

Whenever I see a player have a season like Dunn's 2011 and then rebound, my first thought is that they were probably dealing with some sort of injury, however minor, that didn't keep them out of the lineup but had a major effect on their performance.

The appendectomy Dunn had the first week of last season has been raised as a factor in last year's debacle.

Could be. I'm just glad he's back to being a Three True Outcomes deity.

The homer Dunn hit yesterday was an absolute poke -- opposite field shot to left-center that was just a few rows from clearing the bleachers. Helped make for a lovely weekend of baseball, outside of some kvetching about Humber supposedly-but-not-really throwing at LaHair's head.

Some fun Dunn facts: He had 6 hits and zero HR all of last year against LHP, this season he already has 8 hits off LHP, including 3 HR. Last season in 496 PA he had 11 HR, this season in 182 PA, he has 14.

The homer Dunn hit yesterday was an absolute poke -- opposite field shot to left-center that was just a few rows from clearing the bleachers. Helped make for a lovely weekend of baseball, outside of some kvetching about Humber supposedly-but-not-really throwing at LaHair's head.

It was, and BP's 3rd order wins really likes the White Sox. This team isn't great, but they are also seemingly no longer bad. A mediocre season and 88 wins might be enough for a Central title.

Make Pujols do this exercise.
--signed, an Angels fan

It also makes me think ... how many players have retired after an awful season, when this might have happened the year after?

Probably not that many. I feel like the bias towards veterans is strong enough that if you were ever any good, you get a few chances to totally suck before every team gives up on you. Plus the money is enough to make it worth your while to keep trying. I can't think of too many guys who just had one atrocious year and hung 'em up -- Brian Giles, maybe, but he was 38 at that point.

(Carlos Beltran 2005 comes to mind as an example of this.)

Beltran's OPS+ went 135--> 97--> 150

Dunn's are 138--> 56(!!)--> 165 so far this year--he's prolly not going to keep that up, but still....

Couple of buddies and I were chatting about Dunn's 2011 results over the winter when I remembered poor Steve Blass of the early 1970's Pirates.
Blass literally woke up one morning and completely forgot how to throw a ball.

He struggled through a horrible 1973 and retired the next year.

He never got it back.

Thankfully Dunn has found a way out of his own personal hell.

And hell is what it must have been for the Big Donkey last year.

Make Pujols do this exercise.
--signed, an Angels fan

In all seriousness, lunging like they describe looks like Pujols' issue to my (untrained) eye. So hell, why not give it a try?

In a few years, Dunn's 2011 will be about as remembered as Konerko's 2003.