Distinctions at this level
Posted: July 7th, 2009 | Filed under: Baseball | 70 Comments »
I have a friend who picked up this saying from a friend* — when talking about preposterously stupid comparisons** he will say: “Distinctions at that level are meaningless.”
*Heard it from a friend who, heard it from a friend who, heard it from another you’ve been messing around.
*These “stupid comparisons,” of course, are some of my favorites … a few from the past:
What song is worse: They Built This City or Broken Wings?
Who is less funny: Carrot Top or Pauly Shore?
Who is the lousier actor: Kevin Costner*** or Tom Cruise?
And so on
***Yikes, I originally had Kevin BACON on that list, which was a complete misprint — I think Kevin Bacon is actually a good actor. But now, at least, this blog has fewer than six degrees of separation to Kevin Bacon.
Well, on Tuesday, the Kansas City Royals had to find a spot on the 25 man roster for Ryan Freel. Yes, I know, most teams in baseball would be working hard to find a way to get Ryan Freel OFF their 25-man roster (two teams have successfully accomplished this feat already this year) but this post is not exactly about how the Royals are brutally bad.*
*I should say here that for a few years there, I was a Ryan Freel fan. I think of the Ryan Freel of 2004/2005 — sure, he had his flaws (no power, didn’t seem to have a true position, wore down and got hurt) but, hey, a guy with a .370 to .375 on base percentage and big-time speed, you know, it seemed to me that guy could really help you in the leadoff spot. I thought the Royals should have gone after him then … instead they got him four years later, at 33, when he can’t run as well, can’t get on base and can’t stay healthy. Oh well. As one smart-alecky baseball person wrote to me: “Ryan Freel AND Willie Bloomquist on the same team? Is that even legal?”
Anyway, they had to find a spot for Ryan Freel on Tuesday … shouldn’t be a problem finding a roster spot for him on THIS team. But the Royals, being the Royals, found they had a difficult choice. Sort of a cosmic choice, really.
Do you designate for assignment:
A) Luis Hernandez
or
B) Tony Pena Jr.
Philosophers have pondered this question right there with the chicken and the egg one. The correct answer, Aristotle said, is “You send down both.” But Aristotle had a very weak understanding of the Royals minor league system. Shoot, the Royals carried BOTH THESE GUYS, so you know we’re a long way from Leibniz’s “best of all possible worlds.”
Choose A or B. What do you do? Well, the feeling among Royals brass seems to be that Pena is a touch better defensive shortstop than Luis Hernandez. This is possible. I actually think Pena is an overrated shortstop — I was thinking this on Monday when the Royals put him in the game in the ninth inning and then, as if to prove the point, someone on the Tigers hit a hot shot at Pena and it bounced off his glove into center field. That doesn’t prove anything, of course. It was a tough play, no doubt, and it was only one play. But when you are as historically bad a hitter as Tony Pena Jr., you should make EVERY POSSIBLE DEFENSIVE PLAY. Whatever the case, Pena isn’t Ozzie Smith or Ozzie Guillen. He’s pretty good defensively. So is Luis Hernandez. Pena might be a touch better.
The feeling among Royals brass also seems to be that Luis Hernandez is a touch better hitter than Tony Pena. This one is easier to figure. Make no mistake: Hernandez is a brutal hitter. He’s slugging .279 in his career and in 88 games he has hit exactly three doubles, zero triples and 1 home run. It’s not good when you have as many grounded into double plays as extra-base hits.
But — and I don’t want to exaggerate with some outlandish statement here because Tony Pena’s offensive skills defy sarcasm — Luis Hernandez is a markedly better hitter than Tony Pena. The last two seasons — that’s 281 plate appearances of joy — Pena’s OPS+ is zero. ZERO. That’s what you get when you hit .159/.179/.193. This year he’s hitting .091/.130/.114. It’s gotten to the point where you simply don’t even think about it anymore — these days, when Pena gets one of his rare hits, you feel this odd blush of pride, much like the pride you might feel when, at the end of a blowout, the college basketball coach puts in the walk-ons and one of them manages to score a bucket before the buzzer sounds.*
*This doesn’t fit here but I have to put it down for posterity and can’t find a better place … On Independence Day, Chicago pitcher Gavin Floyd managed in back-to-back at-bats to …
1. Strike out Alberto Callaspo, who, at the time, was the toughest man in baseball to strike out.
2. Walk Miguel Olivo who, at the time, was the toughest man in baseball to walk.
Back-to-back. That’s a trick. Here’s one more fact to make this little quirk even MORE fun — can you name the players who were second toughest to strike out and walk? Think Molinas. Yep — Yadier was second toughest to K, Bengie second-toughest to walk. Man, I love baseball.
The thing that drives you nuts about Pena is that he’s like the Albert Pujols of bad offensive players — he de-excels (ex-excels? non-excels?) at all levels. He can’t hit, of course, and he hits for no power. But he also cannot bunt — I mean he’s an embarrassingly bad bunter. This is really hard to take. He can’t run at all. He will not allow a pitcher to walk him. You measure his bat speed by knots, and his swing is so long that Hollywood wants to release it as two different movies. This separates him. Luis Hernandez is just a run-of-the-mill utility infielder who can’t hit and belongs in AAA except in case of emergency. But Hernandez is a better hitter and bunter than Pena, he’s a faster runner and he also switch-hits which makes him, as mentioned, markedly better.
So who do you keep — and remember, you have to keep one? At the end of the day, it seems to me you keep Hernandez and here’s why: Because he won’t stand out. Maybe that’s not a fair way of looking at it, but, it seems to me you could have a Luis Hernandez on your team and people mostly would not notice. Lots of teams have bad players. The New York Yankees have given 65 plate appearances to Cody Ransom. The California Angels have given 63 plate appearances to Robb Quinlan. The World Champ Phillies have given 81 plate appearances to Eric Bruntlett. Luis Hernandez probably won’t humiliate you.
But Tony Pena might. Whatever vague (and probably apocryphal) advantage he might have defensively, he more than makes up with his complete impotence as an offensive player. I’m sure his teammates like Tony — I like Tony — but baseball players aren’t looking for a mascot. And whenever Pena pops out on a bunt, whenever he strikes out with a man on third and less than two outs, whenever he hits into a double play, you know that they must think, “Damn, I hate it, but that guy has no business in the big leagues. What the hell is this team doing?” And that’s certainly what opposing players and executives and writers and fans think.
So, I would take Hernandez, the lesser of two evils, the Kit Kat in the “I’m starving and have to find something to eat in this vending machine.”
The Royals on Tuesday, of course, kept Tony Pena Jr. instead.
Update: The Royals apparently stuck with Tony Pena Jr. because of his “lateral movement.” Well, that makes more sense. With better lateral movement, the Royals can play Pena in more bump-and-run coverages.
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I think the real reason TJ was kept is for the late inning, wrong end of a blowout, pitching option. The strikeout of Ivan Rodriguez a couple years back must be the thing that keeps him on the team. Regardless Hernandez seemed like the better choice over Pena. Good post
I figure that Butler at first, Callaspo at second, Gordon at third, DDJ in center, and Teabag in right is half a decent lineup. The problem is you need a catcher, a shortstop, a left fielder, and a DH. Kila could DH. I don’t know where we’re going to get the other three guys.
The starting rotation is actually good, with Zack and Gil. Banny’s having a decent year, and it’s too quick to give up on Davies and Hochevar.
The bullpen sucks except for Soria, but the one thing Moore seems to be good at is finding decent relievers off the waiver wire. Hasn’t worked real good this year, though.
Except for the guys I’ve already mentioned, there’s no reason not to a) trade or b) DFA the rest of them. And I mean now. If Guillen can’t be traded with the Royals picking up half his salary, just fire the guy for cause and eat the eighteen million or whatever it is.
We need a major housecleaning including the manager.
What’s wrong with a Kit Kat? Are you saying it’s a pixiefood?
Broken Wings: http://awesomelybadlyrics.blogspot.com/2009/07/mr-mister-broken-wings.html
Good column as always, Joe.
It’s worth noting however, that none of the “Big Three” publicly-available projection systems saw Pena as a better hitter than Hernandez before the season, and neither has a big enough sample in 2009 to change that. ZiPS projected TPJ for a .250 wOBA, Hernandez at .246. CHONE had TPJ at .266 wOBA, and Hernandez at .263. PECOTA had TPJ projected for a .200 EqA, and TPJ, Jr. for an .186 EqA.
Of course, this is silly all the ay around. Neither has any business on an major league roster. I know you are too measured (and wisely so) to say so, but the very fact the the Royals had to make a choice between Tony Pena Jr., and Tony Pena Jr., Jr., (aka Luis Hernandez) to make room for Ryan Freel means that I think you can feel free to stop pretending that Dayton Moore has any clue when it comes to evaluating major league non-pitchers — offensively or defensively. He’s basically Allard Baird with a bigger checkbook and a more detailed knowledge of the Braves’ waiver wire.
pauly shore gets a bad rap. he knows exactly what he is, and even parodied his entire career (absolutely brilliantly) in the meta-movie “pauly shore is dead” (featuring a cameo from carrot top!). one of my favorite movies ever.
Best move by the Royals since they traded Saberhagen for Ed Hearn et al…
how is molina considered tougher to walk than olivo?
molina: 301 plate appearances, 3 walks (1 of them intentional)
olivo: 213 plate appearances, 3 walks
splitting hairs, i realize, but it seems to me molina is much more difficult to walk. or is it just because at the time he only had 2 walks in 205 plate appearances as opposed to molina’s 3 in 301?
considering 1 of molina’s was intentional, i still vote for him.
I love that you have a Leibniz reference in a post about baseball–and that the postis hilarious. Joe, keep writing and often.
oops, i meant how is oliva considered tougher to walk
“Pena isn’t Ozzie Smith or Ozzie Guillen.”
Hell.
He’s not even Ozzie Nelson.
“He’s not even Ozzie Nelson.” — You’re probably right. I’m sure Ozzie Nelson took a walk every once in a while…
An OPS+ of zero? I had no idea that it was even possible. I mean, if someone had asked me “what is the lowest OPS+ possible”, I probably would have said, “you know, I am not really certain, I suppose it would be zero.” But there would have been doubt in my mind, doubt about whether OPS+ was like the SATs in that you get credit just for showing up. Wow. Zero.
hell, the phillies WON a world series with So Taguchi
Olivo did it again on Sunday, and it must be some sort of record (but I don’t know anyone that keeps track of dumb crap).
He struck out on a wild pitch. A pitch that was so bad, the catcher couldn’t field it and a runner advanced….but Miguel thought it was good enough to swing at.
Trash the team….get rid of Guillen, Jacobs, TPJ, see what you can get for Soria and Meche….
And one last thing, although I am an avid reader of JP and this blog, can someone explain “circle me bert” to me???
Asbury
I am convinced that TPJ has explicit pictures of someone.
Besides the hitting (He had, as near as I could find, the 2nd worst offensive season in 2008 of any player with more than 162 at bats in the live ball era), he has made the key inning extending error in at least 2 snatch defeat from the jaws of victory innings this year. He has had a couple of embarrassing baserunning errors as well, and as you said, is a horrible bunter (Although he is better than Maier-if I have to watch Mitch pop up a bunt for an out one more time, I may implode- Trey, stop telling him to bunt!)
That being said, he does NOTHING well, and costs you runs every time he is on the field. I think they want to give him enough plate appearances to have the worst year ever. (Hey, something for the trophy case.)
At least they did not send Brayan down. He has done well enough to make me think of Olivo as trade bait.
Asbury: “Circle me, Bert” is a reference to Bert Blyleven, currently a Twins broadcaster. Years ago they gave him a telestrator, and he didn’t see the point of using it for baseball, so he started circling fans in the stands.
This being Minnesota, we deemed that charming. Now fans come to games (even road games) with signs saying, “circle me, Bert.” Sometimes they make little holes in their signs and stick their heads through. Bert circles all of it.
Posnanski could tell a far better story about this, undoubtedly, but that’s the gist…
Khazad has the ONLY explanation!!!!
or I suppose it could be to “honor” his dad for walking out on the Royals??
PS Ozzy Osbourne is also an apt comparison–they even kind of look alike!!?
Pena’s now hitting 5th in the Royals lineup. I’m guessing that Maier will hit for him in the 8th, which means Bloomquist will do the rare SS-RF-SS shuffle.
But why put Pena in the game as a pinch-runner in that spot? Unless Guillen is hurt, that didn’t make any sense.
ted: 0 isn’t the lowest ops+. last i checked, pena’s ops+ was at a glorious -7.
he might have improved since then though!
i just checked. looks like pena has an ops+ of -34 in 46 plate appearances on the year!
[...] Posnanski explores the mind of the Royals front office in a typically excellent post. The subject is, “Whom do the Royals send down to make room for [...]
So, I am watching the Tigers’ telecast of Tonight’s (Tuesday’s) game and Rod Allen (who may be the goofiest color commentator out there) desribed Tony Pena Jr’s BA as a “Bingo Number” “oh-91″
Let’s not forget the potential major league arm the Royals gave up to get Pena a few weeks before he was going to be released!
bruntlett just replaced a guy who spent his week on a roll (greg dobbs — smoothest swing in baseball) because he’s right handed. He ended two innings. He is now batting .141.
The big question is who can the Royals add to the Bloomquist/Freel tandem? Maybe they can out-scrap everyone in 2010.
As an Orioles fan, I would never wish Luis Hernandez on anyone. That’s all I really have to say.
dja: Holy hell. Negative numbers? Well I clearly had no idea this was possible. And apparently my understanding of OPS+ is vague at best. Really, minus 34? Goodness.
1) For the first time in my memory (2-3 years), this article was truncated in the RSS feed. If you’ve made the decision that you need to redirect more traffic to the actual site, that’s perfectly understandable (although I’d argue against it). If it’s a technical thing though, I’d fix it ASAP.
2) Have to second the amazingness of a Leibniz reference in a Royals post. G-dd-mn that’s awesome. Can you work in a Candide reference soon to finish it off?
The moment I saw that the KC Royals had acquired Ryan Freel and I saw Freel’s stats I half chuckled because I KNEW that Joe had to soon be saying something about this most amazing development. How sad, how very, very sad. I can only imagine how disinterested much of that wonderful city and surrounding area must be.
OK, I have to call out all those people who voted Woods over Federer as the most dominant athlete.
Here’s the stat that says puts any comparison to bed: Roger Federer has reached the semi-finals of the last 20 Grand Slam events. The previous record was 10 (!!). So when Tiger places in the top 4 of the next 20 majors, let me know, and then maybe we can talk.
Hey, by the end of your post I was afraid the punchline was going to be that they didn’t send down either one, but somebody else. So I’m relieved. Talk about low expectations….
Someone beat me to the Detroit booth referencing Pena’s “bingo score” average. The other half of the booth laughed and said “That’s brutal”
I moved out of KC 15 years ago. Last year watching the Chiefs late in the season I looked at my wife and asked “Why am I still watching these guys?”
After learning that Pena was still on the team, the same question was asked about the Royals.
There used to be a time in my youth when at least one of the two teams was good.
“The big question is who can the Royals add to the Bloomquist/Freel tandem? Maybe they can out-scrap everyone in 2010.”
The Royals should acquire David Eckstein and Nick Punto,(not that Gardy would ever allow his binky to leave the Twins) and then name Phil (Scrap Iron) Garner as Trey Hillman’s replacement. They’d only score about 400 runs next year, but by God, every single run would be “gritty”!
I’m sure glad we got a 5th first baseman instead of that back up SS in the off season. That’s one of the reasons I like DM as much as I do. He is able to see through the obvious to make decisions so pertinent to our success as a team.
Thanks for laying some humor on this JoePo. That’s really the only way you can look at this anymore. There is no logic left concerning this.
I’m hoping for some MAJOR moves in the offseason. Three needs: batting, defense, bullpen.
I’m 32 years old, haven’t played baseball outside of 25+ men’s leagues since my sophomore year of my D-III college stint, and I am convinced that, given the opportunity to take batting practice every day, I could pull a higher OBP than TPJ right now. At least I could draw some walks. (Of course, I couldn’t play anything resembling Major League defense at any position, let alone SS, but the point stands that they could pull a name out of a hat from their minor league system, probably including pitchers, and that player could hit as well as Pena has). I thought it was a weird roster technicality that he was even invited to spring training. The fact that he is still on the roster is a complete embarrassment.
Oh, and I would endorse Phil Garner for manager, if they wanted to go that way. I watched his Astros stint, nearly every game, and I thought he was a fine manager.
(I know that Phil’s supposed to be a joke among stathead types, but he was good in Houston. Can’t speak for Milwaukee or Detroit.)
It is clear that the Royals have been told that this week, some team in MLB will experience “Freaky Friday”. They’re desperately hoping that TPJ turns into his father. And the chance of that happening is worth more than the difference in value between TPJ and Hernandez.
Joe, is it weird how everyone says the braves are a model franchise but they drafted both pena and hernandez? seems to me we should blame the braves for all this for drafting them in the first place. why wouldn’t the royals sign them, the model franchise thought they were good enough. If the royals signed them first they would have been out of the game a long long time ago
The Ottawa Senators’ farm team is the Binghamton (NY) Senators. When a player is sent to the farm team it’s referred to as “going to Bingo”. If the Royals moved their AAA team to Binghamton then whenever “someone” has a bingo number batting average the GM could yell “Bingo”!
@Steve: Jesus Christ couldn’t manage this team to a winning record.
And, brilliantly, on the very day of this post Trey Hillman inserted TPJ into the game in the DESIGNATED HITTER spot in the linuep. High comedy!
I didn’t really have high expectations of the Royals this year, something like “be within sight of .500 most of the year”, but I did hope that they would at least put an end to the comedy of errors they’ve been stringing along for the past decade. Joe has chronicled many of these before and there’s no need to repeat them, but in just the past week the Royals have:
1) Acquired a 33-year old with an OPS+ of 12 to play center field instead of the 27-year old with the OPS+ of 63.
2) Had their second catcher or the year forget how many outs there were in an inning.
3) Had a runner called out because he basically tackled third baseman as he tried to field the ball.
4) Faced the Pena/Hernandez question.
I’m fine with them being bad, but I don’t think it’s too much to ask that they not be comical in the process.
Broken Wings, Pauly Shore, and Tom Cruise are all the worst.
Now, Mr. Prime Minister, call the election!
How are Pena’s stats even possible? I mean, if the Royals just told him: “Go up there. Try to do NOTHING but simply make contact”, then wouldn’t he at least get a hit 25% of the time? 20% of the time? I know he’s dreadful but has he also been just a bit unlucky? What’s his BAPiP?
And why is the Federer/Woods thing even close? Look, I like Tiger and he’s amazing. But Federer is on a completely different level. How many semis has he reached in a row in grand slams? 20 or something. And in a much more physically demanding sport.
Somebody @14.
So did the Cardinals. Maybe So is doing something right?
…his swing is so long that Hollywood wants to release it as two different movies.
Love it.
Actually, they should keep Hernandez and demote Pena – to turn him into a pitcher, as you yourself noted last season. Although he would still be a bad hitter for a pitcher, he would hopefully give you a little value, and if he came out of the bullpen you’d never again have to see him toting lumber to the plate, not even in interleague games. (This presumes that, by the time he returns to the Royals roster, Trey Hillman is no longer managing. He’d find a way.)
I thought the great debate was who is the lousier actor: Kevin Costner or Tom Cruise?
Did Cruise win that poll so he is now onto bigger and better actors?
Not to pick, but I think you mean Voltaire, not Leibniz…..
And if this is the best of all possible baseball worlds. we are in big ****ing trouble!
Jim Clark, the Poz means Leibniz- you’re thinking Voltaire because Leibniz’ entire philosophy was so savagely parodied BY Voltaire in the book Candide.
Voltaire however had no illusions that this world was the best or that the Royals could be saved by acquiring Ryan Freel.
On behalf of all the Blue Jays fans who harbour an irrational love for John MacDonald, allow me to propose a trade: Johnny Mac to the Royals for, well, anything. Sure, Johnny Mac can’t hit at a major-league level – but he’s closer than Hernandez or Pena Jr. He is even good for a home run or two every season. He is a good baserunner – he must be, considering that Cito uses him to pinch-run on a pretty regular basis (although he did get embarassingly picked-off against the Phillies last week). And, most importantly, he is a legitimate defensive wizard – he makes a play every game (it seems, although I’m sure this is perception, not fact) that is just unbelievable.
Bottom line: if the Royals are going to have a lousy-hitting SS, they might as well get one who isn’t embarassing, and who can really field.
Free Johnny Mac!
I wonder if Steve Jeltz is available?
Buddy Biancalana Stats for 1987
71 at bats .155 .178 .211
Tony Pena 2009 projected season
90 at bats .o89 .128 .111
Go figure!!!!
Question:
Given the choices of two ringers to play shortstop on your city league softball team, who would you choose?
Steve Jeltz
or
Tony Pena
Background: I grew up with Steve Jeltz. During my third year of law school, I organized a fall ball team. I was short a couple of players miday through the season, and on a whim, I called Steve Jeltz, who was back in town after ending the ‘84 season as the Phillies backup shortstop.
(77 at bats .206 .276 .279)
Steve was happy to oblige. He was stellar in the field, turning two double plays without a pivot. (yeah, I was playing second, and I don’t blame Steve for forgoing the pivot.)
Regardless, everybody on the field laughed when I started bragging about “my major league shortstop. ” (Perhaps because Steve went only went one for four at the plate)
My opinion:
I say, go with Jeltz. A better fielder, and at least you’ll get a hit out of him.
I have to argue against any comparison made between Robb Quinlan and Luis Hernandez. Quinlan hits lefties decently enough to be useful and can play a variety of positions in a way that won’t make you want to throw things.
I don’t know where the Tiger-Roger debate came from, but I find it laughable when it is argued that CLEARLY one or the other is superior.
So for the two commenters who said it was clearly Federer, how about the fact the when Rog wins an event (or in the case you both made, gets to the semis) he generally beats five, six or seven guys. When Tiger wins an event he beats 150 of his peers each time.
[...] debut with the Braves in 2006. He was then traded to the Kansas City Royals, where he has become Joe Posnanski’s favourite baseball player. And because he is the son of the first Tony Pena, this means he has a hot sister (hubba, hubba, [...]
per14 @54:
Pena’s BABIP is indeed excruciatingly bad at a mere .118. Normally, one would point at this as a sign that he’s just unlucky, and for his BABIP to be THAT low you DO have to ascribe some of it to bad luck… even taking into account the fact that Pena’s overall hitting profile screams “I should be expected to have a lower than normal BABIP anyway since I have zero power and hit tons of weak groundballs.”
That’s one of the illusions present with BABIP which you should always consider; some hitters are going to be prone to higher or lower numbers based on how they hit.
Sabby proposes a great idea in trading for John McDonald, he would be a great pickup. He also has one of the coolest nicknames in baseball, the Prime Minister of Defence after Sir John A. McDonald, the first Prime Minister of Canada.
It’s too bad Alex Rios has a full no trade clause, otherwise I’d suggest making an offer to take that contract off of their hands long term since the Blue Jays have so much money tied up in the outfield right now between Vernon Wells and Rios and promising young guys in Travis Snider and Adam Lind. Jose Guillen’s contract would probably have to be involved, and he could be a decent DH option over Jose Bautista for the next year and a half, but I don’t know what else KC would send. That’s all speculation, though.
Being an Oriole fan I got the displeasure to watch both Hernandez and Freel. They are brutal. At least Luis plays hard and keeps quiet. Just wait until Freel starts complaining about not playing enough.
I don’t know if I’ve ever said this, but Tony Pena Jr. makes me think that I could be a Major Leaguer. I’m 25, I played a little college ball, and I can run. I’m probably faster than Tony Pena Jr.
It’s completely possible that I could be a better offensive player than Tony Pena Jr., and that’s really not good for TPJ.
I voted for Tiger in the poll because it is much, much, MUCH harder to win golf tournaments than it is to win tennis tournaments – it’s the nature of the sport. Tiger’s level of dominance relative to all of the great golfers that have gone before him is better relative to Roger’s level of dominance relative to all of the tennis playes that have gone before him.
You don’t play matchplay on the PGA Tour. Even if you did, 18 holes is the equivalent of about one set of tennis – not necessarily enough time for the better player to emerge. If the tournaments Tiger was playing in each week involved a series of 36-hole matches in an elimination bracket, he would win more often than Federer wins tennis tournaments. Federer is amazing, but Tiger is even more amazing.
Firstly, I would like to take exception to the idea that there is a meaningless distinction between “Broken Wings” and “Built This City”. While “Broken Wings” is indeed not good, it shows some basic concept of song writing, putting parts together, etc. “Built This City” is a disjointed, nonsensical effort with lyrics that really deserve to stand in more exclusive company in regard to their badness. I think it would be more apt to say the distinction is meaningless between “Built This City” and “Shakedown” by Bob Seger, which is similarly inane and lacking in structure.
Secondly, I think the whole who to send down conundrum can be better presented as so:
There are three doors and Ryan Freel is behind one of them and behind the other two are Luis Hernandez and Tony Pena Jr. You are asked to choose a door and after choosing it, Dayton Moore shows you the contents of one of the doors you haven’t chosen is Tony Pena Jr. Should you switch doors or keep the one you originally chose?
Just found this mistake on Yahoo’s player profile for TPJ
Yahoo seems to be reporting on the wrong Pena… Scary
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7731/news;_ylt=AmP2lQSWlJ2g6nda4Ucxe8KFCLcF
Seems they think that he was just traded to the White Sox for Brandon Allen.
I respectfully disagree with any argument that does not accord “We Built This City” its rightful place as the worst song ever recorded.
@David #57 & Darren #63 –
Absolutely correct. In addition to those arguments, there is also the fact that the only times golf play is suspended is when you cannot see (fog or darkness), when you cannot putt (standing water on the greens), or when there is lightning in the vicinity.
To take a very recent instance, exactly how much tennis would have been played in the conditions that obtained at Bethpage Black for the US Open? My guess is, roughly, none at all. Heck, they put a roof on Centre Court so that the players WOULDN’T have to deal with the elements.
And that’s not to mention the fact that, had it not been for the ridiculous exclusion of professionals from tennis between 1963 and 1967, who knows how many majors Rod Laver would have won? As it is, he won 11, including a Grand Slam as an amateur in 1962 and another as a pro in 1968. I am pretty sure he would have won at least another 4, given that he won the last 4 he played as an amateur and 5 of the first 8 he played as a pro.
@wcw #67 — I agree with you 100% (if I were David Eckstein, no doubt that would be 110%).
Nothing worthwhile to add except to say that this was one of the best articles on baseball that I’ve read (recently at least.) Thanks for making my day. Sorry that’s you’re stuck with Pena, good luck! (Go Phils–we love Bruntlett, but we knew better than to keep both him and So Taguchi.)
Pena is not only not Ozzie Smith or Ozzie Guillen, he’s ot even Ozzie Osborne. On a good day, he might well be Ozzie Nelson although the Old Oz had better range numbers and because Harriet was a true babe which added two points to his OPS.