• What’s your feeling about the debate whether or not to include players who used performance-enhancing drugs in the Baseball Hall of Fame?
RH: “In their era everyone was trying to compete, that’s why it go so large and got out of hand because if you didn’t do certain things to keep your body up to go out and compete, then you wouldn’t be on the ballclub. It’s hard for me to try to judge a ballplayer who did so well and whatever he took. I think mentally you still have to prepare yourself to play the game. … It’s all in (the voter’s) hands. For me, I didn’t understand the steroids era and whatever they were doing.”
• How has the game changed since you played?
RH: “The game has changed a lot. Modern technology, computers. They know about all the players on every team. To me the game has changed too much because we share so much information with the kids that they’re losing the ability to trust themselves. That’s what’s making the game not as well-played as in my era.”
• Do you see yourself staying in baseball as long as you can?
RH: “I’m hoping I can stay in the game until the day I die.”
Repoz
Posted: June 28, 2012 at 06:58 AM |
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1. TomH Posted: June 28, 2012 at 07:56 AM (#4168313)God, so are we Rickey. So are we.
Rickey can. Rickey just doesn't want to any more.
Yeah, but that middle answer in the excerpt is a bit perplexing. I'm not sure what he's going for there. And ironically, the Billy Ball A's used to advertise about their use of computers. Dwayne Murphy, for one, thrived on information to position himself defensively.
Rickey
That's your problem, Tom- always ready to snark for no reason. I'm sure Rickey is glad you were impressed with his snippets.
Okay, allow me to translate, Shooty. Now, more than ever, players have access to better scouting reports, instant video, more data, and stuff that makes Fangraphs look like the back of a 1990 Bowman baseball card. But not only do they have access to where they should position themselves (Davey Johnson was a "computer guy" in the 1980s as well) it is pretty much mandatory/socially accepted for players to "follow the algorithms" as opposed to relying on their natural instincts. That's all Rickey is saying: that with so much information players trust the stats (how to pitch to batters, when to steal, what pitch is coming on which count, etc.) players lose confidence in their natural abilities- the "just do it" aspect.
Did Rickey like to study video of pitchers or did he memorize a list? Actually he felt more comfortable reading pitchers on his own or just running when he felt like it compared to say, Bret Gardner who looks "stuck" or afraid sometimes at 1st, even though Joe Girardi gave him a permanent green light on him.
So send him a nice one today.
Seconded. Rickey likes getting mail.
When I read a post like this I like to imagine it might have been Rickey who wrote it.
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