Oh, man! I love it, too. I loved the 80s Cardinals teams (and hated them at the same time), I loved the '86 Astros.
I hope you aren't referring to me as bandwagon....I have been a baseball fan since before you were a bulge in daddy's pants
I like how you use sarcasm instead of answering my question. Let me put it to you this way, smart guy. 244 of Everett's 384 ABs last year were with the bases empty. That's 64% of his ABs. Now do you have an answer to what "hitting behind the runner" does in those situations, or do you have a clever comeback instead?
In half a season, when a disproportionate number of your PA's are spent bunting, yes. Yes, 15 doubles is a bunch. I'd personally rather have Everett in the 2-hole, but I commented on that elsewhere. As far as the 34%/66% issue, that argument can be raised for every position in the order and for every combination of hitters. What-ifs are an endless excercise in futility. He hit the ball hard, he did his job, he did it well. The offensive woes the first half of last year were due to big slumps from Everett, Berkman, Bagwell, *and* Hidalgo. Biggio and AE were setting the table beautifully.
You came back with a BA, just as I predicted. Yes, btw--1 in every 7 games is a bunch of doubles when you're being asked to bunt 1/3 of your PAs. But you see, those are completely different hitters. Do you really expect the same thing from 2 that you do from 8 or 4 or 6? You're looking at stats only (which is why I asked if you watched him (not the games), and missing things like the way he put the bat on the ball and where it went. Stats don't even tell half the story. We can disagree, and I respect your opinion, but IMO, for the reasons I observe here, AE did an *outstanding* job as a traditional 2-hitter last year.
2/3 of a season...he was on pace for a whopping 22... and thanks for helping our argument that he isnt a good 2 hitter by pointing out that a lot of his appearances were spent bunting. I dont see guys like Marcus Giles, Louis Castillo, Kaz matsui, Placido Polanco, Mark Loretta, Junior Spivey, Jack Wilson, Todd walker or Larry Walker up there "hitting behind the runner"....or laying down a sac bunt. He is an 8 hitter....not a 2.
It's not a what if. I'm telling you that Adam Everett, in the 1 or 2 hole, will be batting the majority of the time with nobody on. That's the way those positions are. And it's nonsensical to dismiss the normal situation as a hypothetical. A 1 or 2 hitter has to be able to get on base, in my opinion, because that gives your 3, 4, and 5 hitters a chance to drive them in.
Jimy asked Everett to sac bunt way too much last year, I agree. But he totaled 22 sacs last year, which isn't anywhere close to 1/3 of his PAs. Not even 1/3 of his PAs with runners on base.
Which would put him 5th on the team. To answer that, I refer you to: and: Modern lineups here in the juice era are frontloading all the pop and power and leaving the contact and slap-hitters at the back. It didn't used to be that way. Hence my use of the word, "traditional".
No, that's the way *every* position is, not just those. Every position, that is, except the guy hitting behind Bonds, who only hits with the bases empty 40% of the time. I didn't mean to dismiss it as hypothetical, but rather as normal for *every* spot in the lineup. I see it a litte differently, and I respect your opinion. To me, if your 2-hitter doesn't have a .400 OBP, it's not the end of the world if he does his job (make contact, hit behind the runner, etc.).
I didn't mention anything about him hitting behind the runner, I simply responded to your ridiclous analogy. I've never tried to make a case for Everett to be the leadoff hitter, if I had my way Biggio would be leading off... but, Everett isn't as bad as he's being made out to be either. With that said I understand Phil Garner's thinking on the current lineup. For one, it's the beginning of the season so no harm done if it fails, and secondly he doesn't want to rush Taveras' progression. He also probably doesn't want to move Biggio from the two spot and starting Everett in the leadoff means he only has to shuffle 2 players around instead of 3 once Taveras takes over leadoff duties.
Feel free to look up the word "analogy" and get back to me, chief. I used no analogy here, and the post you replied to wasn't directed to you.
Uhh, you quoted me so one would think that it was directed towards me. I know it wasn't an analogy, it was too ridiculous to be one.
ROFL. First it was a "ridiculous analogy", then "you knew it wasn't an analogy." Are you slow? And this post, by you, quoted a post of mine that was meant for msn. If I was directing the "analogy" at you, I would have said so. And I like how you created a JPG of my post and named it "sucka". Your parents must be so proud.
