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Lou Not Making Much Sense On Felix, OF
After telling Felix Pie that when he was a ball player he had to walk uphill in three feet of snow both ways, Lou Piniella gave this explanation of why Pie is a worse option than a Jim Edmonds/Reed Johnson platoon:
Piniella said Pie has to "be ready" to succeed on every day, not just once in a while. "I played in the minor leagues six full seasons before I got to the big leagues," he said. "But when I got there, I stayed for 17 years. That's what you have to look at. You can't look at the short haul. … Some kids develop and learn their skills a little later than others, and you have to be patient with them. But at the same time, we're not in a rebuilding situation here."
OK, Lou, we'll play along.
Lou's Rookie Year
In your rookie year, you played in 29 of your team's first 31 games and 62 of the first 67. Here's how you fared:
After 15 games, you were hitting .234 with an OBP of .296. Eegads! Lou, did you come to the park ready to succeed every day - and not just once in a while? If so, your 3-for-20 slump in mid-April does not demonstrate that readiness to succeed.
After 38 games, you were hitting .260 with an OBP of .297. Lou, were you still coming to the park ready to succeed every day - and not just once in a while? If so, your 2-for-18 slump in the week leading up game 38 does not demonstrate that readiness to succeed.
But, Lou, you got your average up to .303 by mid-July and has high as .293 in September. Because you came to the park ready to succeed every day. And because your manager stuck by you, wrote your name on the lineup card every day and LET YOU PLAY FREAKING BASEBALL, giving you the opportunity to succeed.
Felix's Rookie Year
Now, Lou, let's take a peek at how Felix has been handled in his young career:
After 15 games of playing more or less every day in his rookie year of 2007, Felix Pie was hitting .229 (.005 lower than Lou after his first 15 games) with an anemic OBP of .245. Days later, that earned him a month-long demotion to Iowa - presumably because he wasn't coming to the park ready to succeed every day. Only once in a while. Unlike Lou.
After coming back, Felix quickly raised his average to .287 (with a .318 OBP) after seven consecutive starts in early June. Those numbers slid considerably (.227/.275) with a 6 for 48 slump over the next two weeks, earning Pie a week of pinch hitting duties followed by a trip back to Iowa.
Pie returned to the Cubs August 8, started four straight games and then did not start consecutive games the remainder of the season.
In short, he was demoted twice after two bad weeks of baseball.
Felix - Year Two
Felix has started consecutive games on the following occasions:
March 31-April 4 (four games)
April 29-30 (two games)
May 5-7 (three games)
That's it.
So, Lou, instead of yanking Felix around day after day and playing him behind Reed Johnson - who is not appreciably better at baseball than Lyndon Johnson, at this point - why not put him in a situation where he is not constantly looking over his shoulder, wondering which over-the-hill center fielder you are going to bring in to take his job?
Do you and Doughnut Jim truly, truly believe that a platoon of Johnson and Edmonds will perform better - offensively, defensively - than Felix Pie? Really?
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20 comments:
Kenny Lofton should be the free agent signing here.
Nothing has happened, yet, though.
you do realize that Joe Morgan was the king of OBP and getting on base to avoid outs.. and now he hates things like this with a passion.. Your thought process as a player is different than if you're a broadcaster or a manager.
I would just like to add that Jim Edmonds is the anti-Christ.
mrdrew - so you stop making sense?
Yes,something like that, I believe it is commonly referred to in the medical profession as "senility"
That's crazy talk.
Glad to see you're start to dish Lou the same pounding you dished Dusty....There's two common denominators -- the pressure to win now and Jim Hendry.
So maybe Dusty wasn't so bad afterall. And I'll point to Dusty's talent judgment once again: name one of those "kids" he had who's turned into anything? Patterson? Gonzalez? Anybody?
This is why the Cubs haven't developed a position player out of their own system in 20 years. There's nothing Felix is going to learn in AAA. He'll just get more playing time against inferior pitching.
Then he'll get a September call-up where he'll be used as a defensive replacement in the late innings. That'll probably happen for another year or two. After destroying his confidence and not teaching him an f'ing thing, we'll trade him to some struggling franchise for a 30-something utility infielder. Five years from now, he'll be working at the same auto dealership as Corey Patterson, Brooks Kieschnick, and Ty Griffin.
no, dusty was as bad as we thought he was. that doesn't mean other people don't do dumb things.
and i knew this post would be catnip for sarge. this issue drives him insane.
The players union could file a grievance against the Cubs for ruining so many promising careers.
Dusty took you to within two outs and one Bartman of the World Series. Name the last Cubs manager to do that, chippy.
Your precious Lou hasn't yet. All he got us is swept by a team who's team batting average was lower than its team ERA.
Kieschnick...forgot about him.
And where's Szmardja or however you spell his name. Didn't we give him a crapload of money so he wouldn't play football and be ready for the pros soon? Is he a dud, too?
Because if so, the Bears need a wide receiver...we should make a trade with the Bears. Szmardja for Ditka. Fire Hendry, put Ditka in there and he'll clean out our entire minor league system for one draft pick. Then we can start over.
great, dusty should be manager for life, sending players up to bat out of order and emphasizing the need to not get on base. brilliant.
Good to hear Sarge is still hovering the ole blog. And he has a great, great point. How will these prospects ever develop if the managers and GMs never allow them the chance?
I'd like to reiterate that there hasn't officially been an announcement.
Yes, Dusty should be manager still. And you once again engage in the old political adage -- if you can't win on the merits of the argument, tear down the person.
Dusty has gotten the Cubs closer to the World Series than Lou or any Cubs manager of the modern era. Bottom line. And he did it with $300 million in less talent than Lou has....and we're still searching for missing parts.
Dusty is and was a terrible, terrible manager.
how is that "tearing him down"? he has, for two jobs in a row, sent the wrong batter up to bat. and - as manager of the cubs and now of the reds - he demands that his batters be aggressive at the plate and gets aggravated when they take walks. that has been reversed this season on the cubs. even soriano is beginning to show more patience (he hasn't struck out in 24 straight at-bats, for example). that, to me, is a recipe for a better offensive team.
as far as getting within five outs of the world series in '03 ... well, what is the statute of limitations on that? how long does he have guaranteed work, beyond the four-year life of his contract?
as for who had more talent, the '03 or '08 cubs ...
the infield is better in '08. the outfield was definitely better (offensively) in '03. the starting pitching was light years better in '03. bullpen better in '08.
so, i don't think dusty managed the sisters of the poor to the NLCS. in fact, given the pitching (wood and prior at full strength and an emerging zambrano who nearly threw a no-no late in the year), that was a team better built for postseason success. too bad he maimed prior.
Perhaps what you should be clamoring for is some new scouts, rather than fighting about Dusty.
If any of the Cubs' positional "prospects" over the past 20 years had actually been any good, they might have stuck in the majors.
Just don't get any ideas about stealing Jack Zduriencik.
that is excellent advice from a fan of a team that hasn't been to the playoffs in nearly three decades...
Sad that a Brewers fan needs to get WV's focus back on track instead of taking pot shots at a great former Cubs manager. Thank you Matt.
But -- to defend Dusty once again on Woody and the puss Prior -- why don't you talk to Orel Hershiser, Rick Sutcliffe, Dave Stewart, Pete Vukovich, Greg Maddox, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Mike Mussina, Jim Palmer, Martinez brothers, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, et al....And I'm just staying in the last 20 years (except for Vuke, but threw him in for Matt)....Each of those guys threw well over 100 pitches every start, going into the 8th and 9th innings in most starts and still had gas left to win world championships or at least get to WS. And all had good, long careers.
Problem is we pansy these pitchers today instead of building up their arm strength and endurance because they give these guys such huge bonuses out of HS. But that's a topic for Fridays with Dusty. Blaming Dusty for Woody and Prior is just silly.
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