umm, yeah, that's kinda my point. way to find a way to taint a great story, stros. amazed that i could be sickened about something on the last day of the year.
should have sat yesterday. but, im very happy with this decision. astros needed to step in and save altuve from himself. good job luhnow!
I don't think it was. I'm sure he could have gotten pissed and talked his way into playing but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt from asking out of the line up. Nothing he's ever shown would indicate that. If he wanted to sit yesterday would have been a perfect time and he chose to play
If only they had the ability this past week or so to let him keep off the field and just hit for a game or 2. This is incredibly weak. I've always been fond of the Ted Williams chase for .400. "If I can't hit .400 all the way, I don't deserve it." Goes out the last day of the season and goes 6-8 in a doubleheader to finish at .406
This is seriously the most PR-ignorant tone-deaf management group I've ever seen in pro sports. If I wasn't trying to care about the team, it would be hilarious.
He missed 11 games that season where he went "all the way". People miss games, whether they miss them in June or the last day of the season. Altuve still has over 700 PA, and I imagine that's many more than most batting champs have, and quite a few more than Martinez.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Altuve: "If it were up to me, I'd play today." <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a> <a href="http://t.co/bEUvH5KbxO">pic.twitter.com/bEUvH5KbxO</a></p>— Houston Astros (@astros) <a href="https://twitter.com/astros/status/516247566506135553">September 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Altuve says it wasn't his call. Luhnow and Lawless told him he was out he said. He is disappointed</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/516247194731413504">September 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Hate <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a>’ decision to sit Altuve as he seeks batting title. Altuve’s desire to compete should be model for what team is trying to build.</p>— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/516255037010759681">September 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>So what if Altuve loses title? How much does it really mean to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Astros?src=hash">#Astros</a>? Why does Team Sabermetric even care so much about batting average?</p>— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/516255041083408384">September 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Jose Altuve's current BA is .3399. If Victor Martinez goes 3 for 4, he's .33985. If 2 for 2, .33928. So 3-3, 4-4, 4-5 or 4-6, V-Mart champ.</p>— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/516256316789358592">September 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Altuve: "They let me know it's something I'm not gonna get by myself. There's a lot of people around who deserve that too.” Who… marketing?</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/516257309031673856">September 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Jose Altuve: "Yeah I wanted to play, it wans't an option. They just said no. You know, like I said before, I was ready to play every day"</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/516257774419062784">September 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Mallee, Lawless, Stearns, Luhnow sat down with Altuve today. There's a sense that this isn't just about Altuve but the organization</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/516251935146770432">September 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Lawless when asked if this is the most honorable way to win a batting title: "What's not honorable?" Cited Altuve's huge AB total already</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/516251705294733312">September 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Jose Altuve: "I tried in the beginning but that conversation wasn't a conversation. … They didn’t ask me."</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/516258975760023552">September 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Who told you, Luhnow or Lawless? "Both. And two more people that was in there. I don’t know their name” (This may have been a joke)</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/516259967113121792">September 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Lawless: "We all sat down and talked, for the organization, for Jose, felt it was best if he sits today."</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/516260289948692481">September 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Would Altuve pinch hit if Martinez is having a very good day? Lawless: "Could happen. Could happen.”</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/516261922443132928">September 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Lawless: "Yeah, I had his name down in the lineup …. Like I said, we talked and that was the decision we came up with."</p>— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) <a href="https://twitter.com/EvanDrellich/status/516262288643612672">September 28, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Agreed... but now that its already in the books that he played yesterday, what do you think is the smart ANALYTICAL move in order to give this organization the best chance to have the batting title? Like another poster says, you either totally buy into the analytics, or you don't... I understand this has nothing to do with winning games, but the front office is approaching this from pretty much the same mindset.
I know and understand. The last game of the season when there's something meaningful on the line is a different animal.
He was also going for .400, not a batting title. Not exactly the same thing. I'd have played at .3996, just to make it a true .400, and after he got a hit in his 1st AB, it he never had .400 in jeopardy during the double header. At the end of the day Martinez can beat Altuve by going 3-3 or 4-5.
I don't care about analytics here. What they are saying is that Altuve never actually had a say in the matter, despite them letting him tell reporters that he was going to play it out. Just dirty stuff, IMO. I'm in the camp that prefers him winning it no matter how it goes down vs. not winning it, but the way they are handling it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
And it should surprise nobody... especially the front office that should be pretty accustomed to having a questionable/calculating/purely-analytical move be called out by the media. And if it does surprise them... and they get more negative press than positive (presuming Altuve wins), they need to fire or delete the computer program telling them these moves will help with PR.
Oh I agree with you. I was just saying that I'm getting tired of the constant negative press. Would other teams be bashed this much about sitting a guy on the last day to preserve his batting title? Was the same thing done to Jose Reyes a few years ago, or am I "misremembering", as Roger Clemens would say?
And unless I'm reading this wrong, in '41 Williams started every game from July 23 to the end of the season. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=willite01&t=b&year=1941 And no, I'm not comparing the 2 players at all, just the routes they took.
But its pretty consistent with how the front office makes decisions... they're going to put the organization above the player's wishes ("I don't care what the players think")... even if this an individual accomplishment that the individual player deserves to have the final say in. And after all the questionable/calculating moves this front office has made the last 3 years, I'm surprised that THIS is the one that ends up breaking people.
