You said it yourself: he needed a change of scenery. Additionally, it's hard for a closer to get consistent work when there's rarely an opportunity, you know, to close. Our beloved Astros *sucked* last year.
Time and time again this discussion was had in '06 and '07 around here. And, time and time again, at least in my opinion, those who think the Pujols theory is nothing more than so much poppycock and irresponsible "journalism" provided a much, much stronger case. And, you can say, "because his teammates took up form him? LOL" all you like--but I will take the word of coaches and actual professional baseball players over experience-less fans sitting behind a keyboard every day. Especially when they didn't seem unreluctant to point out head issues in other "teammates" like Redding, Melusky, etc. I'll also take their word over idiot "journalists" like Richard Justice.
tim redding, melusky never had a history of success. they didn't depend on those guys. apples meet oranges
...said the red herring. I was not comparing Redding to Lidge. You implied that teammates and coaches would not speak ill of one of their own. I provided two examples. "Next."
and i'm countering your examples of why it wasn't prudent to worry about these two because they were never counted on... besides that, melusky was a knuckle head in the clubhouse, so no that's not an example. NEXT
...but not effectively. If they're willing to say something's not right with a teammate, they're willing. What were the Cardinals saying about Ankiel? Were they pretending everything was fine? *That*, btw, is a head case. Pitches flying to the backstop, or 2-and-a-half feet behind the batter. Another type of head case is Redding--looking on the mound like he was in a lion's cage dressed in steaks. Who can forget the look on that guy's face? Another example is John Rocker. Please note that none of these guys had some climactic, devasting home run that sent them over the edge from stud to dud. They were just headcases, and their teammates and coaches said so (even the likeable, hard-working Ankiel). But Lidge had documented mechanics problems that flattened out his slider and made it hard for him to locate his fastball. With has fastball not coming in for strikes, his slider no longer fooled anyone, and they no longer swung at it while it headed for the dirt. Then, he had to throw a meatball just to get a strike. *None* of this smacks of the "headcase" behavior you see in actual "headcases". Good for Lidge. I can't wait, however, for the first time he blows two in a row, for some idiot in the media (or on an Internet BBS) to say that the ghost of Pujols is haunting. And, it'll happen. Mindless drivel, as predictable as the sunrise and sunset.
that's a great technical analysis, what does mechnics have to do with practice/concentration/mentality, exactly
if he had actual physical issues like his fast ball not declining, then it would be physical. what causes someone to forget mechanics? that's mental
Mechanics has everything to do with how the ball gets to the plate. And bad mechanics caused his bad outings. Not "practice/concentration/mentality, exactly." Unless, of course, every last one of his coaches and teammates is lying.
dude, chill out with the "unless the coaches are lying" that's such a stupid argument, anyone who thinks they get the straight dope from the coaches and the club house is naive. really, that's a foolish argument. if there was straight dope, there would never be a steroid scandal, drug scandal, etc. that's stupid
Wow. Mechanical problems develop all the time! That's what the pitching coaches and hitting coaches spend a lot of their time doing! Why do you think guys spend so much time watching tape of themselves? Even Roy Oswalt was finding and correcting mechanical issues last year using video. Yeah, it must have been "mental".
and he just magically fixed them in philly, do the awe gollegy willickers honest to goodness astros coaches suck?
Your opinion is duly noted. However, I have now provided five examples of coaches, teammates, etc. freely discussing "head" issues of their teammates. So, rant all you like, but it's far less stupid than "mechanics are mental."
first of all i've refuted the melusky example. secondly you haven't proven anything without a source. third, john rocker (see melusky). ankiel is a no brainer, what else are teamates supposed to say. hardly an example
I have to address this again. So, therefore, we can totally dismiss everything that comes from the clubhouse and just make **** up? Gotcha.
