We Don’t Care
A quick response to something that doesn’t deserve anything longer, from Baker’s Blog today:
But it wasn’t only this site that went quiet. Heard no debate about this anywhere else in the Seattle blogosphere the rest of the weekend. Funny, because other sites had plenty to say about the topic earlier in the week before Wagner spoke up and perhaps enlightened some people as to what actually does go on in a major league clubhouse.
You know why we didn’t talk about this ridiculous “talks to the media after the game” story anymore, Geoff? Because we don’t care. Do you know why we don’t care? Because it doesn’t matter to us.
You care, because it matters to you. It doesn’t matter to us. We don’t care if they talk to you or not. We don’t care if you want to equate talking to the media to being accountable. That’s your distinction, based on your experience as a reporter. People who aren’t reporters won’t draw that same distinction because they don’t care if ballplayers talk to the media or not. It doesn’t matter. You want it to matter, but it doesn’t. You can talk about accountability and playing together and being 25 guys going after the same goal all you want, but it’s all crap to give you something to write about because you just don’t want to write that this team isn’t any good because Jose Vidro, Richie Sexson, and Jarrod Washburn suck eggs.
And, really, if Billy Wagner’s on your side, you probably want to change sides.
DMZ — Are you saying that we are too verbose and redundant? Maybe we should take lessons from Erik Bedard.
You know what would be interesting? If someone took a couple months and wrote up a ridiculously long post discussing chemistry and what it is and isn’t.
Yes.
(bows)
We’re paid to watch them.
Sometimes my wishes get in the way of my writing.
93 –
Two posts down on the main page… two posts down! is a giant article about chemistry. Giant!
Your experience is not a compelling rebuttal to facts and logic.
I have no doubt at all that you believe chemistry helped/hurt you. Heck, maybe it did in Babe Ruth, when Bobby let you feel up his sister, so you dove a little harder to protect his E.R.A.. But we’re talking about MLB.
I’m gonna let this go, because you haven’t been around here too long, so you don’t everybody’s backgrounds… but John in L.A. is just an alias. My real name is Sadaharu Oh. I hang out here to pick up the idioms in preparation to being named manager of the Seattle Mariners in July.
smorinj, do you think any of those teams won or lost more games than they would have based just on talent? That’s where there’s a difference of opinion, I think. Not whether a group can have chemistry, but whether it affects the outcome of games.
I totally played two seasons of T-Ball.
I know for a fact that Jose Vidro hasn’t been able to concentrate in the batter’s box since that jerk Silva took the last donut this past Thursday.
And I think I’d appreciate it if you read some of the other entries here.
Not to be snippy, but if you get piled on for that remark, it’s well deserved.
My real name is Sadaharu Oh. I hang out here to pick up the idioms in preparation to being named manager of the Seattle Mariners in July.
Because you have to master the idioms to have good chemistry. That’s the whole problem with Johjima’s catching.
Geoff’s gotta cool his heels and not take the blogosphere or perceived actions of players so personally. And, as Conor and Matthew Carruth referenced, Shannon Drayer’s already refuted his claim that Felix would not make himself available, and maybe, if he hasn’t seen it yet, someone ought to forward her piece to Geoff.
I think the things we call chemistry probably do affect the lower levels of sports in a much bigger way than the upper levels, just as performance under pressure probably has a much bigger effect. It’s just that by the time you get to the major leagues, all the guys who can’t play under pressure or can’t play with someone they dislike have washed out.
109,
I have read the other entries here and agree with some points but overall just have a little different opinion. Should be no harm no foul right? I’ll admit I made a mistake in that last post, being that I should have stuck to the topic of THIS entry and posted that on the one about chemistry.
Why can’t the team just get a press secretary like Dana Perrino to handle the media? Then s/he can articulate the players’ position (as sponsored by management, of course), and we can then ignore it like we do all WH press conferences. Also, then the journalists have someone interesting to talk to who doesn’t need to be baited to provide fodder–it will be her/his job.
reporter: “Ms. Secretary, can you give us a few remarks about the performance of the team so far?”
press secretary: “Well, we know our stalwarts like Raul and Richie will have their bats come around, it’s only a matter of time. And how about that Carlos Silva? We look forward to the great turnaround in the next few months. Tonight’s game was just the latest in a small string of early season aberrations.”
traditional reporter:
blogger: “Why did Miguel Cairo start and bat second last night? He has no business on a major league roster”
press secretary: “Miguel needs at bats to keep his considerable skillset of gritty clutchness honed. It’s also the natural extension of his invaluable veteranness.”
blogger: “OMFG WTF?!!”
WHO. CARES.
I guess this is the reason baseball is referred to as a soap opera for men. Wake me up when we start winning games, until then I don’t give a rip. Especially if all there is to talk about is who’s talking and who’s not talking, and who’s talking about who. This is so 5th grade.
Not to offend anyone here, but I think this whole back and forth could have ended after post #25 by OscarM.
To nutshell it: different blogs have different philosophies, and thus have different content to offer. Is it so hard to enjoy reading both blogs, even if you identify more closely with one of them? Yeesh.
smb–Replace “press secretary” with “McLaren” and I think I’ve heard that interview before. Several times. And had the blogger reaction.
Team chemistry goes both ways. “Good chemistry†might help players relax but it might also lead to complacency. Likewise, “bad chemistry†might create unwanted tension but it might also lead to motivation. The problem is you never really know what scenario will create the best results until it’s all said and done . . . and even then, without a time machine there is no guarantee that doing it the other way would have produced more desirable results.
Miguel Batista sucks eggs too.
The bench also sucks eggs.
93 – I played ball too. Chemistry has little to do with hitting a ball and pitching. If a pitcher didn’t like me, you think he’d hurt his own performance to show me up? No, no he wouldn’t. Baseball is quite the individual sport and it’s masked as a team sport. It’s not like basketball or football where you need everyone performing tip top to win. In baseball, you only need a few timely hits and many decent individual players.
Remember when Jeff Nelson piped up about the team needing to do something to improve themselves? They punished him by sending him to the Yankees so he could pitch in the playoffs. I miss that guy.
True, and remember those games Buhner did in the booth, where he provided more insight and entertainment value in a handful of days that we will get from Sims and Blowers in a season? He commented like he was sitting on the bench, his passion for the team came through in his exuberance and through his criticisms, and the latter made sure he would not be up there for long. I miss Buhner, too. At least Nelly still talks shite on the radio, I guess.
In which case, it’s not about “accountability”, and he should stop throwing the word around.
Always thought Bone might make an interesting managerial pick, too, for that reason. At least if the team was slumping, you could count on him to light a fire under some rear ends.
Literally! 🙂
Honestly, I do my best not to say anything on here that I wouldn’t say directly to the player and/or person I’m talking about.
To give an example (please don’t derail into a discussion about him), if I were to meet Jose Vidro in the grocery store, I’d be polite to the guy; but if pressed, you’re darn straight that I’d tell him that I think that he’s a drag on the team, there’s no reason he should ever be a DH for a Major League team, and that he’s blocking the team from exploring better options at the position.
So it’s wrong to imply that people here are hiding behind the Internet to say nasty things about players; hell, I post here using my real name, and if Willie Bloomquist wanted to track me down for saying mean things about him from time to time, it wouldn’t take that much work.
I just hope that if he were to try, that he’d use a baseball bat to do it; I should be pretty safe.
LOL Jeff. I know this is cliche, but I’d also like to believe that if I were being paid like a major leaguer, I’d take pretty much everything anyone said like a duck takes water. And if something really, really bothered me, that I’d have the sense to sip a thousand dollar bottle of wine, sit in my jacuzzi overlooking Puget Sound, and laugh myself to sleep.
just a reminder that the Mariners were talking about the trade of Nelson for the 2 weeks before he shot his mouth off.
Well, then it just looks very rude to bring the subject up and totally ignore what’s been written.
It looks like you’re not paying attention and don’t care to.
We’ve addressed this ad nauseam. Geoff doesn’t have to say USS Mariner specifically for it to be clear who he’s mainly aiming his comments at.
I can’t say that I agree with that statement. For all you know he’s calling out the blog that I write for. If he doesn’t call out the blog by name, how can you be certain that he’s calling out USSM.
I’m fairly new to this little blog.v.blog thing so I don’t know all the story, but I do agree that Baker shouldn’t have thrown another Mariners blog under the bus. All of us are fellow Mariners fans. I don’t see how our opinions on player interviews matter.
Please can someone find a respectable system that predicted a good year for the Ms?
The Steve Phillips bathroom material type “pundits” don’t really count.
To suggest that nobody saw this coming is revisionist history at it’s finest unless the one making that statement is admitting that he completely discounts the opinions of those in the saber community as unworthy of consideration.
What a burrito (and that’s not a complement).