Friday, February 20, 2004
KEEPING HIS HEAD ON STRAIGHT
``It's not a panic situation for the player and it's not a panic situation for the club,'' Epstein said. ``It's not always easy to reach an agreement on a contract, and if the sides are reasonable, it certainly can be done after the year. You have better information about the market, better information about the player's performance and you have better information about the makeup of the club and the roster.''
In Theo, we Trust. I'll be back on the who the Sox should lock up among the free agents soon. The big boys are remaining - Lowe, V-Tek, Pedro and Nomar.
LINEUPS
The Sox are expected to take a close look during spring training at whether to alter their regular lineup. The possibilities could range from flip-flopping Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez in the third and fourth slots to experimenting with replacements for Johnny Damon as the leadoff hitter. Damon had one of the lowest on-base percentages (.345) last year among Sox regulars. By contrast, Bill Mueller ranked among the team's leaders with a .398 on-base percentage.
Batting order does not mean that much in terms of run production. This topic gets a lot of play in the press but unless an insane lineup goes down on the card, it should not have an impact in the standings. With that in mind, I have three rules for Managers regarding batting order:
1. Communicate with your players and find out where they, honestly, are most comfortable.
2. Other than the leadoff position*, have your best hitters bat first. The more at-bats going to your best hitters - the better.
3. If the hitters are essentially equal, flip-flop RHB and LHB for better late inning match ups.
Next week, I'll post my Red Sox lineup card. It may not affect the standings but it sure is fun.
*Hitting leadoff is the only exception because it is advantageous for the first hitter to see as many pitches as possible for his teammates to get a feel for the stuff the starter has on that particular day.
ADMIN
Over the past week or so, I have added some additional links and more will be coming shortly. If you have linked EGG and do not see your site, please email me and I'll add it.
Please feel free to add comments in the space provided. It is easier for me to respond to feed back in the comments section on the site instead of email and it is likely to be faster.
As you have probably noticed, a list server has been added. If you would like an email notifying you of updates so you do not have to continue to check back, just enter your email address in the space provided to the right.
``It's not a panic situation for the player and it's not a panic situation for the club,'' Epstein said. ``It's not always easy to reach an agreement on a contract, and if the sides are reasonable, it certainly can be done after the year. You have better information about the market, better information about the player's performance and you have better information about the makeup of the club and the roster.''
In Theo, we Trust. I'll be back on the who the Sox should lock up among the free agents soon. The big boys are remaining - Lowe, V-Tek, Pedro and Nomar.
LINEUPS
The Sox are expected to take a close look during spring training at whether to alter their regular lineup. The possibilities could range from flip-flopping Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez in the third and fourth slots to experimenting with replacements for Johnny Damon as the leadoff hitter. Damon had one of the lowest on-base percentages (.345) last year among Sox regulars. By contrast, Bill Mueller ranked among the team's leaders with a .398 on-base percentage.
Batting order does not mean that much in terms of run production. This topic gets a lot of play in the press but unless an insane lineup goes down on the card, it should not have an impact in the standings. With that in mind, I have three rules for Managers regarding batting order:
1. Communicate with your players and find out where they, honestly, are most comfortable.
2. Other than the leadoff position*, have your best hitters bat first. The more at-bats going to your best hitters - the better.
3. If the hitters are essentially equal, flip-flop RHB and LHB for better late inning match ups.
Next week, I'll post my Red Sox lineup card. It may not affect the standings but it sure is fun.
*Hitting leadoff is the only exception because it is advantageous for the first hitter to see as many pitches as possible for his teammates to get a feel for the stuff the starter has on that particular day.
ADMIN
Over the past week or so, I have added some additional links and more will be coming shortly. If you have linked EGG and do not see your site, please email me and I'll add it.
Please feel free to add comments in the space provided. It is easier for me to respond to feed back in the comments section on the site instead of email and it is likely to be faster.
As you have probably noticed, a list server has been added. If you would like an email notifying you of updates so you do not have to continue to check back, just enter your email address in the space provided to the right.
0 Old Comments:
Thank you - Red Sox!
This site is not associated with the Boston Red Sox, Major League Baseball nor Major League Players Assoication
© 2003-2010 Thomas J. Fratamico, III
All Rights Reserved
