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Baseball Primer Newsblog — The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand Thursday, April 04, 2013Jeff Pearlman: Q&A: Kevin MenchMench Forever After.
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1. Drexl Spivey Posted: April 04, 2013 at 08:58 AM (#4403995)But this quote from Mench threw me for a loop:
I've always had the "just do your job" type of mindset. I always get angry when some big-headed guy (in this case that also applies in the literal sense - the guy wore a size eight hat) overly values his his own abilities.
Coming off the bench is a definite skill. There is a reason some guys don't DH well. My gut feeling has always been that singles hitters are better suited to come off the bench because sluggers seem to get out of their swing mechanics easier but I've never seen any study one way or the other.
That's an outstanding point. I've always thought that potential pinch hitters should be able to swing in a batting cage before their ABs.
If relief pitchers are allowed to warm up, then why not also have a space for pinch hitters? (I know the obvious answer is a lack of space. But just design the place to fit in a batting cage under the bleachers).
Kevin Mench was a monster his last year in college.
EDIT: Read TFA. A little weird to see the Delaware love. There's nothing wrong with being proud of where you're from but I have no emotional attachment to Delaware.
One of the reasons Macon lost the Braves to Rome was that Macon didn't have an indoor batting cage. That's in Low-A.
That said, you saw our old-time stadium Luther Williams Field in "The Trouble with the Curve," now see Luther Williams Field in "42."
And in a case like Mench's, if he truly was better suited to regular play, it could make all the difference. His OPS+ in his last three years with Texas, as a semi-regular, was 102; in his first full year with Milwaukee, in more of a platoon role, it was 90. That might well define the make-or-break point for staying in the league, for a just-adequate-defensively corner outfielder. The problem is that if you're at 102 and showing no great upside, there are tons of guys ready to take your place, and if you're at 90 as a fourth outfielder, there are even more guys available. By descending to your theoretical level of backup play, you're accelerating that descent by taking on a role that doesn't suit you.
What I do know is that these Q&As; he does are frequently excellent. I really enjoyed his one with Tom Verducci from awhile back as well.
It was High Heat 02. Mench and Ruben Sierra were the inexplicable studs in that game.
He came off the bench a lot. And the guy could work on his craft between games. His problem wasn't getting exposure to big-league level pitching.
Yeah, I remember reading Peter Gammons's article about Kirk Gibson taking cuts in a batting cage while he prepared to pinch-hit against Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of the '88 World Series.
Here's the article.
Coke to Spivey, I need to read more carefully.
I know, I hate it when this happens. Like those scrappy middle infielders who can't hit a ball 300' with the wind blowing out, who then take steroids and lead the league in homers.
I think Tom "Buffalo Head" Niedenfuer and Dave "Head" Hollins are also in the conversation.
So thanks for that, Kevin.
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