Random Thursday Thoughts
DOYLE! Somebody sign that guy.
I’m not that concerned the M’s are investing time, coaching, and spring training playing Griffey in the field. I’m worried that by the start of the season they’ll talk themselves into playing him there regularly.
I’m also worried that Griffey’s knee, which is supposed to be awesome and healed and won’t drain his power and whatever, has already had a swelling issue. Though as I read the report I’m not even sure it’s the same knee.
Nice to see The Interview do well today. If he’s back and healthy it’s a huge step to getting the team to competitive from last year’s disaster.
Manny’s deal with the Dodgers is crazy.
And I hope Lasorda was joking:
“It’s our game. Baseball is America’s game. It doesn’t belong to the Italians or the Cubans or the Koreans or the Japanese,” he said. “It’s our game, and we’re not going to let them beat us.”
Then all the more reason to KEEP HIM A DH.
Lasorda’s working the crowd. I wouldn’t take it too seriously.
It certainly proved to be our game last WBC, now didn’t it?
The quote above is taken a little out of context
–What Tommy was asked–if you watched the entire interview–was what was the motivational speech you gave to your Olympic team before the final championship game.
Tommy is known for his ‘hype’ and motivational speeches.
The swelling in the knee before even playing a game is just a small preview of what is to come. I don’t know what all the worry is about him playing the field he won’t be in the line up long enough to make an impact. I just can’t believe he is going to stay healthy enough to play in over 50 games this year. Sure I hope he plays in 120 games hits 30 homers and such I just think that spending the year on and off the DL is much more likely.
Doyle has turned into Doughboyle. That wanker has put on some weight.
ummm… really? you’re going to go with that as your comment?
Lasorda’s been senile for the last 20 years
At least we have Z on record saying that Wak was concerned about playing Grif in the field. But yeah, I’m worried too.
I hope this isn’t an indication that the Griffey signing was strung out for so long for the same reason the Bedard trade was strung out so long (a not necessarily obvious or nondisclosed injury).
Damn, Doyle still has that stand-on-top-of-the-plate-please-pitch-me-low-and-inside stance. Awesome agressiveness. Awesome patience. I wonder if he should step back an inch or so…
Those comments are just more Tommy Lasorda malarkey. The guy’s full of it, and doesn’t care if you know it. Never has.
A lot of people like him anyway.
And Doyle could be 300 pounds if he wanted to be…come Christmas morning he could still get three hits.
He just knows how to handle a bat.
This reminds me of when, during the last WBC, the Roger Clemens WBC ad where Roger Clemens said much the same thing – America’s game, we’ll show them, etc. – played during the U.S./Mexico game. When the U.S. lost and got knocked out of the classic.
That was awesome.
That is typical Lasorda bluster. One could probably do an internet search and find worse and/or more offensive Lasorda comments.
Not too worried about Griffey. It’s a 2 mil base salary. If he isn’t a regular, oh well. More Endy in LF.
And didn’t Clemens make a joke about the Japanese and Koreans and laundromats. It’s stupid enough to make an ethnic joke. It takes another class of stupid to make an ethnic joke and use the wrong stereotypes.
Well, if Griffey is healthy to DH for a couple months, the fans get him out of their system and he has to go on the DL, I won’t be too sad.
If history is any indication, Junior may be on the DL by July. (Oh and I am not happy or rooting for injury…I am just stating what has been his M.O. over the years).
If this happens, the bright side is we can bring up somebody who can contribute.
headline writer: “Suzuki frustrated by slow start at WBC”
to which Ichiro replies:
“Of course it’s frustrating. If it wasn’t frustrating to me, I’d give up baseball.”
OK, everyone who is making disparaging comments about the Lasorda quote, go read what Oldduck said. I was watching the interview on MLBN also, and he was specifically asked to pretend he was giving a motivational speech to a US team before they ran out on the field. So, he got in character and he was pretending to tell them that everyone wants to beat them because they are the US, so they shouldn’t take any team for granted, play hard, etc. etc.
He wasn’t saying anything bad about Italians or Cubans or any other country.
So tuck your shorts back in.
My hope: Griffey’s knee is such that he is persuaded to stay out of the field for all but a couple of appearances (opening day, etc) for the first few months. By then he has gotten used to “sitting and hitting” and discovered it’s not so bad (perhaps a visit by Edgar might help?) and — what do you know — he’s even pretty good at it. So when Z and Wak gently suggest that he remain a mostly-DH so that he’ll be healthy for a September pennant race that is starting to sound less-than-ridiculous, he agrees.
Hey, it’s spring, right?
I think you are way off base giving Lasorda crap for this quote. It looks like a perfect speech to get Americans fired up to defend our game in an international tournament. Nothing he said was at all offensive, so I don’t even know why it was worth bringing up. But, you know, whatever.
Entirely my opinion, but I think everything about Lasorda and his speech that could be said has been said. Nothing more to see here, move along.
Miggy Batista had better be counting his lucky stars Australia isn’t in the AL.
Does it matter? His real problem is that Batista is still in the AL.
My 10 random thoughts (mainly based on the televised game vs Australia):
1) God was it good to hear Dave’s soothing voice again to open the broadcast…it’s been too long…
2) It only took Blowers less than a minute (his second sentence) to use “no doubt/question about it”…ugh…
3) Junior’s swing is still a thing of beauty…
4) Mike Morse has NO business in the outfield…
5) Mike Morse seems like a great kid and it’s a shame he can’t play D anywhere…
6) Beltre was all positive in his interview, even after all the WBC mess…here’s to hoping he re-signs…
7) Gutierrez and Cedeno going deep back to back was unexpected and awesome…the offense will be better than most “experts” think this year…
8 ) EVERY broadcaster spoke about Griffey in the OF and about how he will help out there…sigh…
9) If you don’t value OF defense, go back and watch the game…if WLAD and Morse/Wilson weren’t in the corners, and were replaced with Chavez and ICHIRO!, we would have won the game…period…
10) The season is upon us, and I am fired up!
It would be hard to imagine that neither Griffey nor his agent heard the same comments we did from Z about Griffey spending most of his time as DH. So he did what he always has done…started working the most pliant media to do his bidding directly to the fans.
Nothing’s really changed that wasn’t obvious the day he signed. His ego wants him to play in the field…baseball minds know better…and it’s only a matter of time until we find out if management just caves…or stands up to him.
If it’s the latter, then we will all be treated to that classic combination of petulance and pouting that for some reason seems to follow him wherever he goes.
Welcome back Mr. Clubhouse Leader!
Agreed about the outfield defense.
Aardsma looked good, didn’t he?
Aardsma looked money…we should have a pretty good pen as usual…
Forget Doyle. We should sign Risinger or Roneberg.
I loved that the “last season stats” for one of the guys was “Spent the season working in the mines”
…as long as the pitching the M’s face is equivalent to Australia’s. Yes, I think the M’s are going to have more offense than a lot of the “big stick” fetishists expect (especially if Clement gets going) but let’s not get carried away.
I never said it would be great, just better than most predict…most people think it will be horrible…
Very true, given the context. Good grief, when you hear a coach tell his team to “get out there and fight”, do you lambaste him for advocating violence?
FWIW, many of the laundries/dry cleaners in LA are run by Koreans, as well as Chinese. Haven’t seen any run by Japanese. But yes, Clemens’ quotes (not just this one) show many signs of him being a horse’s *ss, actually not just his quotes his actions too.
Lasorda = The Don Cherry of baseball???
What’s crazy about Manny’s deal? I hadn’t seen the details yet.
Yes? I mean, he looked considerably larger on Wednesday than what I remember. Last thing Doyle needs is more weight on his body working those already problematic knees.
But with excessive pasta instead of loud jackets.
Fangraph’s analysis. Though Heyman is reporting that the union filing shows the contract to include a lot of deferred money. The actual cost to the Dodgers is $10M for the first two years and $8.33M for the next 3 — which works out to in ’11 though ’13. Which works out to $45, but the Dodgers are apparently paying no interest on the deferred money, which saves them a couple of million (and more, of course, if Manny takes the option to go elsewhere next year)