In 747 Major League at-bats going into the game on Sunday, Theriot had a .344 OBP and a .383 SLG. That's a .727 OPS. Methinks he's way over-performing in the first three weeks of the season.

And according to RZR, he's the worst-fielding shortstop in the National League among those that qualify (Theriot is 14 out of 14).

That dude really loves him some Ryan Theriot, and he is not afraid to call you an idiot if you disagree with him.

God are you and your frat buddies ####### stupid. Theriot helps his teams win and it’s something you morons will never understand. You imbeciles only understand home runs and strikeouts. For you guys, a hit and run is like ####### quantum mechanics.

Gotta love it when a guy makes himself look stupider than anyone else ever could.

Theriot seems to be a new version of David Eckstein. Meaning: he's really not very good, has no power whatsoever, is weak defensively, but still seems to help his team win when it counts through sheer effort.

The blog this guy is responding to says this...

"The ability to hate a ballplayer means you also have the ability to love one and I think most of us would find that to be rather foolish."

Really?
Really?
I'm not talking about romantic love (duh) but it really does make you look like the coldhearted, game ruining, spreadsheet cliche when you say its foolish, as a fan, to love a ballplayer.

I have had the pleasure of watching Chipper Jones' rookie year as I was starting to love baseball and have been able to watch him grow into a future Hall of Famer as I grew up. I have watched John Smoltz go from nasty-stuff yet erratic youngster to Cy Young to so injured he might not pitch again to untouchable closer to back to being a Cy YOung Caliber starter.

Or if we are talking about guys closer to Theriot in talent why can't I admire Mike Mordecai for his timely hitting?
And why can't I say I loved watching him come up as an undertalented kid and manage make himself a 12 year major league career, culminating in clutch three-run double in the NLCS. A double that was key part of a miracle eight inning that was the difference between losing to the Cubs in 6 and winning a WS ring.
How can you NOT love that, watching the little guy do something he, and you, will remember for a long time?
The guy has two World Series rings now

Why can't I love a ballplayer?

Nice post.

If those numbers are right defensively, Hanley is the best player in baseball. His defense has been really bad the last two years but he has the tools to be good. Those numbers could be right because they Tulo and Reyes well and everyone thinks they are good.

You know the David Ecstien thing is odd. Half of baseball fans overrate his abilities because he is "scrappy" or whatever but the other half go so far overboard in blasting his abilities. It is really puzzling how some stat heads see a certain kind of player and do as much as they can to tear him down by making him out to be far worse than he is.

Eckstien is a shortstop with a career .351 on-base percentage and he really does do an excellent job getting the bat on the ball. Plus he is perfectly willing to take a dose to get on base.(three time league leader) He is not a world beater but he is a useful player. And he is not a bad defender. His physical shortcomings do not allow him to be a strong one but he is solid.

And he has hit .333 in 51 World Series at-bats.

Even his biggest fans don't claim that he is any kind of stud, so why do people go so far to convince others that hes a bad player when that isn't very true over the course of his career?

Loving a ballplayer means never having to say you're sorry.

Loving a ballplayer means never having to say you're sowwy.

Fixed. Get it on a T-shirt!

Not even worth commenting on. Oh wait...

somewhat related:

Cedeno has looked really good so far. His approach at the plate is much better than it was the last two years. Certainly, the raw numbers he has put up come with a sample size warning. But his approach has looked solid, and that is much more encouraging.

Of course, my amateur scouting might be biased by his success during the first few weeks of the season.

Hopefully the emergence of beloved folk hero TheRiot will finally allow SLG-crazed statheads to transfer their hatred to a new whipping boy who is more deserving of their whips than Eckstein.

Repoz, and you dunce factory stathead dumbfuck losers... stay the #### away from my site. You're a bunch of ####### imbeciles who don't know the first thing about winning baseball.

You all read my work every time I write... and I don't read a word of your ########. That's the difference. You morons read every ####### word I write and don't think I don't know it. You can keep reading... but you're not worthy of having my work at this site of academic rejects. You quasi-scientists, non athletes... who make up stupid Dungeons & Dragons stats about baseball that mean nothing... shouldn't even watch baseball. Go examine some ####### grains of sand you nerd dolts.

Every time I'm the subject at sites like this, the discussion is a billion times better than it is otherwise. You're the most boring, idiotic forms of life on earth. And Symborski, or whatever the #### your name was... my gay friends would tell you what a ####### faggot you are. #####.

I'm not talking about romantic love (duh) but it really does make you look like the coldhearted, game ruining, spreadsheet cliche when you say its foolish, as a fan, to love a ballplayer.

I take it you've never read our esteemed Sam M. expound on the virtues of David Wright.

Dude has got it bad.

Best Regards

John

P.S. I don't mind having David Eckstein around--a club needs solid role players and he fits the bill.

Repoz, and you dunce factory stathead dumbfuck losers... stay the #### away from my site. You're a bunch of ####### imbeciles who don't know the first thing about winning baseball.

You all read my work every time I write... and I don't read a word of your ########. That's the difference. You morons read every ####### word I write and don't think I don't know it. You can keep reading... but you're not worthy of having my work at this site of academic rejects. You quasi-scientists, non athletes... who make up stupid Dungeons & Dragons stats about baseball that mean nothing... shouldn't even watch baseball. Go examine some ####### grains of sand you nerd dolts.

Every time I'm the subject at sites like this, the discussion is a billion times better than it is otherwise. You're the most boring, idiotic forms of life on earth. And Symborski, or whatever the #### your name was... my gay friends would tell you what a ####### faggot you are. #####.

Flirt.

Best Regards

John

P.S. Would you and your ego mind getting a room?

So... do you not know how to construct a sentence without unneccessary cursing? I don't think anyone is trying to hide from you the fact that we're reading your work. If we were, the link wouldn't be posted right on the front of the homepage. I also don't think you should be allowed to use numbers to quantify Theriots effectiveness if you're going to call us "stathead dumbfuck losers." Terms such as "scrappy, gamer, and dirtdog" are all far more appropriate. And, for what it's worth, her name is spelled Jane Austen. Is it really that hard to correctly spell the name of one of England's finest female authors?


Btw, how did dumbfuck and faggot manage to get through the nanny?

So what do we think? 100% off his meds/0% shtick? Or 0% of his meds/100% shtick? Or maybe somwhere in between. I'm thinking 15% off his meds/85% shtick.

Now, why you'd you choose this particular technique as your shtick I'll never know--it doesn't get that much attention here--but if it makes him happy, good for him.

Cedeno has looked really good so far. His approach at the plate is much better than it was the last two years. Certainly, the raw numbers he has put up come with a sample size warning. But his approach has looked solid, and that is much more encouraging.

I was thinking the same thing during yesterday's game. He seems to be recognizing breaking stuff out of the zone much more successfully than in his earlier major league trials, and he's hitting the ball with much more authority. I'm thinking there's a causal link between the former and the latter.

Sample size and all, but he looks like a completely different hitter.

You're a bunch of ####### imbeciles who don't know the first thing about winning baseball.

Aren't you a Cub fan?

Why can't I love a ballplayer?

Because it is not even legal, that's why.

Repoz, and you dunce factory stathead dumbfuck losers... stay the #### away from my site. You're a bunch of ####### imbeciles who don't know the first thing about winning baseball.

Who are you calling "stathead"?

Hey, BadNews is Lee Elia!

Who are you calling "stathead"?

No kidding. Some of us never got past Stats 101 and couldn't scrape data from a db to save our lives.

If he were serious, he'd arrange it so that any link from baseballthinkfactory.org got redirected somewhere else.

You quasi-scientists, non athletes...

You're right. I haven't been able to crack 90 on the gun since my labrum surgery.

I was thinking the same thing during yesterday's game. He seems to be recognizing breaking stuff out of the zone much more successfully than in his earlier major league trials, and he's hitting the ball with much more authority. I'm thinking there's a causal link between the former and the latter.

Was it yesterday or saturday that he started off 0-2, then ended up seeing about 10-12 pitches before drawing a walk? Compared to the guy that stunk up the offense two years ago, that's pretty unbelievable. Cedeno really has a chance to put up a solid offensive season. He'll probably start taking more playing time from Theriot as the season goes on.

This is pretty exciting, to see a young Cubs position player develop offensively.

And according to RZR, he's the worst-fielding shortstop in the National League among those that qualify

And looky who was #1 in 2005.

I guess some trolls are kind of fun to feed, but really, as a rule it's not a good idea.

and he is not afraid to call you an idiot if you disagree with him.

When I'm right, I'm right.

Was it yesterday or saturday that he started off 0-2, then ended up seeing about 10-12 pitches before drawing a walk? Compared to the guy that stunk up the offense two years ago, that's pretty unbelievable. Cedeno really has a chance to put up a solid offensive season. He'll probably start taking more playing time from Theriot as the season goes on.

This is pretty exciting, to see a young Cubs position player develop offensively.

It was Saturday. He worked a 10 pitch BB. Jill was keeping score for me as I was a little shaky, and for some reason my vertigo was acting up in the 500 level. She records each pitch (I don't), and I distinctly remember asking her, so how many pitches in that AB. She said 10.

His approach looks completely different from what I have seen before from him. Felix Pie should take notice.

I was sure that #14 was a parody, a joke. I clicked on the user name to see the profile, and expected to see some longtime primate with 10 gazillion posts. But #14 is for real, isn't it? Wow.

If those numbers are right defensively, Hanley is the best player in baseball. His defense has been really bad the last two years but he has the tools to be good. Those numbers could be right because they Tulo and Reyes well and everyone thinks they are good.

I haven't seen any Marlins games yet, so I have no idea how he looks, but I was listening to Tim Kurjian on the radio just the other day and he was raving about how much Hanley's D has improved. I was skeptical so went and looked him up at THT and was pretty surprised to see that.

Like you said, if the numbers are right, he's the best player in the game right now. EDIT: Of course it's only 3 weeks worth of baseball, so the numbers really can't tell us much.

Dudes, its a trap. Don't lower your IQ.

I still like BadNews more than Mariotti.

And I did trim my sideburns.

Yeah, #14 is for real.

Given the "intelligence" level of Bad News Cubs, I'm disturbingly intrigued to see what would happen if he actually declined into self-parody.

Of course it's only 3 weeks worth of baseball, so the numbers really can't tell us much.

#### you you dirty ############# ########## and stick your shitty ####### "small sample size" ######## right back up your ass where it ############# belongs.

I haven't seen any Marlins games yet, so I have no idea how he looks, but I was listening to Tim Kurjian on the radio just the other day and he was raving about how much Hanley's D has improved. I was skeptical so went and looked him up at THT and was pretty surprised to see that.

FWIW, Hanley looks better out there this year. Last year I fel sorry for Marlins pitchers, but he seems much more comfortable.

#### you you dirty ############# ########## and take your shitty ####### "small sample size" ######## right back up your ass where it ############# belongs.

Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Someone should tell him that no Primates ever RTFA.

Someone should tell him that no Primates ever RTFA.

Actually, people should be careful about reading his articles. If we are in fact living in a false vacuum, the dumb particles generated from a thousand people simultaneously reading his thoughts could very well trigger a vacuum metastability event, ending our existence.

You quasi-scientists, non athletes...

Hey, I competed in a beer-pong tourney on Saturday, a kickball game on Sunday, AND walked to the train station this morning. I'm a freakin' triathlete.

Hey, I competed in a beer-pong tourney on Saturday, a kickball game on Sunday, AND walked to the train station this morning. I'm a freakin' triathlete.

But if you were any good at the former, no way could you have competed in the latter two events. Amateur!

a thousand people simultaneously reading his thoughts could very well trigger a vacuum metastability event, ending our existence

Or we could just wait for the hadron collider to come online.

I have posted remarks at his blog and with his moderating rights, they somehow disappear. You cannot make fun of a man who is so vastly superior to all of mankind. That must be why most of his idiot posts have no comments, because I cannot see many folks agreeing with most of what he says.

I read it mainly for the humor element.

I read it mainly for the humor element.

The rest are just rubbneckers.

Folks used to flock in huge numbers to Tyburn Tree to witness mass-hangings--today their descendants read Bad News Cubs.

Best Regards

John

#### you you dirty ############# ########## and take your shitty ####### "small sample size" ######## right back up your ass where it ############# belongs.

I don't think anyone is going to top that one.

You're right. I haven't been able to crack 90 on the gun since my labrum surgery.

I was actually thinking how varied the experience of the people here are. It seems like there are some former ballers, some pure statheads, etc. It's a pretty diverse, and therefore, a little fairer.

Badnewscubs has over 70 posts here. Any chance I can get a link to all the others???

The first BadNews thread.