His ability to connect has Berkman written all over him, less natural instinct around the plate (Berkmans hand speed legendary) but more dedicated to fitness to make up for it. Dominated Yuli and Gattis in every offensive aspect of the game this season, no way he should be dropped in favor of either unless he has a 10 game slump.
First, I think there are probably a large majority of us (and Astros fans in general) that are uncomfortable with that nickname...and I'd guess Tyler White would be, too. It's not funny. It's not cute. It's not witty. Second, I had the same thought in regards to the Berkman comparison. I think White has that ability but we'll have to wait and see if he has the ability to do it consistently. Hopefully, he's more committed to fitness than Berkman famously was. I'm not sure he has Berkman's power but that might still develop. He certainly has ability to hit for average and drive in runs. I think he's made the next offseason a little easier. He and Yuli platoon between 1B and DH, letting Gattis walk.
Not a funny nickname in the slightest. Get over yourself thinking your are funny by bringing racist tropes onto a family website.
Because those are totally the same situations. By the way, I was on the side of "1836" and actually had conversations with Oliver Luck about it. He wanted to keep the name, too, but politics and the reality of wanting to build a stadium got in the way. I still have an "1836" t-shirt. Got it the moment the name was announced. I remember speaking to many of my soccer-playing Hispanic friends. Even they liked the name and didn't understand the controversy. This isn't political correctness. This is asking to not give an Astros player a nickname ONLY associated with f***ing Nazis. Why is this something that has to be pointed out to anyone?
He’s closer to Carlos Lee at the moment than Berkman. The only one coming close to Berkman’s Doubles ability, power to all fields, and superior OBP/Slugging is Bregman... but even he’s lagging behind what Berkman was doing at his age.
Lance Berkman had a tremendous amount of natural talent and power.... not seeing the connection to White. If anything, Berkman was an underachiever that was incredibly lazy. Tyler White is an over achiever that is really driven and busts his butt.
Is that a bad thing? Carlos Lee was pretty damn productive with us in his first 3 years. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/leeca01.shtml#2007-2009-sum:batting_standard
Not a bad thing at all... just that Carlos Lee’s best year with the Astros was not necessarily better than Lance Berkman’s worst year with the Astros. Just basically Lance Berkman was (and is) in an entirely different echelon than anything the Astros have right now short of Altuve (Bregman knocking at door with this year’s career performance).... and comparisons should reflect that. I know Lance’s work ethic (or lack thereof) gets him some harsh criticism around here... but the guy was an amazingly productive hitter, both regular and post-season.
I feel like the only reason we are making this comparison is because they were both fat and white. I don't see any similarities of how the two hitters swing the bat. ETA: I say "fat" as a relative term in relation to your typical professional athlete.
I love the chubby athlete. I think all former butterball kids like myself have this appreciation. I want whitey(heard hinch and Lancemc call him that) to do it for more than a year before being compared to the big puma.
Agreed. Berkman was a HOF-caliber player. If he had been a quality defender or healthier he would be in the HOF. White has lived up to that somewhat this year, but so much of that has to due with ridiculous HR/FB ratio
I agree. Using a Nazi/White Supremacist moniker as a nickname of a baseball player is incredibly stupid.
No, he would have been a Hall of Famer if he had anything approaching a work ethic at all. Bagwell had to constantly give him pep talks... he was lazy and entitled.
