Home Run Derby
joestalin
Posts: 12,473 ✭✭
in Sports Talk
Anyone watching this? What a night, I was just able to catch the first round but that was enough! All the
500 home run club guys were there...brought back good memories, I could of done without the Mitch
Willaims/Joe Carter retake but none the less great! Palmeiro looked good even though I wanted Sosa
to go on. Bonds hitting them off the fists 450 feet is amazing. The crowd seems kinda tame but hopefully
tomorrow they will heat up. Can't wait for Clemens/Piazza vs that AL line up.
Its great to be a baseball fan!!
JS
500 home run club guys were there...brought back good memories, I could of done without the Mitch
Willaims/Joe Carter retake but none the less great! Palmeiro looked good even though I wanted Sosa
to go on. Bonds hitting them off the fists 450 feet is amazing. The crowd seems kinda tame but hopefully
tomorrow they will heat up. Can't wait for Clemens/Piazza vs that AL line up.
Its great to be a baseball fan!!
JS
0
Comments
Brian
joestalin has that warm and fuzzy feeling
Jeter Da Leader. How many rings does Tejada have?
Jeter has 13 HR's this year, Tejada 15 HR's. Tejada should save some of those jacks for the regular season. LOL
Jeter has a lifetime batting average of .315, Tejada.274
Nuff said
contest!
JS
<< <i>Anyone watching this? What a night, I was just able to catch the first round but that was enough! All the
500 home run club guys were there...brought back good memories, I could of done without the Mitch
Willaims/Joe Carter retake but none the less great! Palmeiro looked good even though I wanted Sosa
to go on. Bonds hitting them off the fists 450 feet is amazing. The crowd seems kinda tame but hopefully
tomorrow they will heat up. Can't wait for Clemens/Piazza vs that AL line up.
Its great to be a baseball fan!!
JS >>
My observations
1. Bonds was actually a pleasure to watch. Actually has done a good job working on his PR and came off as a nice guy during his interview. Too bad he got tired at the end.
2. Expected more monster blasts from Thome.
3. Sosa showed why he is a prima-donna last night. The camera showed him in the clubhouse spraying water on his face and getting ready for this thing. Then the first pitch arrives and....a swing and a miss. Pitching or no pitching, he was an extreme disappointment last night. And I wish Joe Morgan would stop saying "That is Sammy Sosa like" when another player hits a tape measure shot.
4. Tejada was the sleeper of the night. Before you knew it, he would put up big totals in each round. The last one he just went off.
5. Amazing to see that Palmeiro is the ageless wonder and that his swing is still one of the most beautiful in the game.
6. The interviews were nice, but took away from the home run derby. Why not interview the guys you don't hear from as much like Killebrew?
7. Amazing to see the power that Berkman can put on from the right side of the plate. His interviews stink, though. I was rooting for him since he was entertaining to watch and the home favorite.
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Very nice post with decent all around comments. I enjoyed it completly, Me and a couple of buddies threw twenty bucks and picked a winner (Bonds was not an option) I grabbed Thome,he was a little bit of a letdown but nobody even considered Tejada. My hats off to him, really fun to see somebody come out of nowhere to win.
On a side note - Berkman's one word response interviews were hysterical.
I like the way some folks knock on Jeter for not being like any of the fab 4 of the premier Short stops.Tejada has 70 RBIs and now a HR derby crown.That's Great.A Rod has a "few" game winning hits and a couple awards,Nomar is in limbo,and Jeter Has won more games with his small ball than all of them put togethor.
All Jeter knows how to do is win.I'm sure somewhere else it wouldn't look that way,but the cards are dealt different for everyone.
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<< <i>All this Jeter worship should end - Tejada is the best SS! >>
, I was merely paraphrasing what one of the announcers said. Something to the effect of Jeter is a good leader but looking purely at stats Tejada is better player. Also I was timing to see how long it would take for a comeback to a perceived anti-Jeter comment- 1 hour 13 minutes - Not bad.
Brian
All of those SS are all outstanding and have their merits.Opinions of who is better judging by numbers all the time don't tell the whole picture.However,I think as the O's rebuild around that kind of productivity they can compete in their own division.I would like to see O's have something.After all these years you saw Ripken out there and now they have Tejada.I'd like to see them do well.Look at A-Rod who was an MVP and all these things.So far he has barely hit in the clutch.It's mostly just adding to the totals but few game winning hits.Jeter has NEVER hit a GS in his entier career.He's not going to the plate thinking about that.In a tie game last saturday Jeter broke it open with a bases clearing triple.At that point it makes you think the 3 bagger is more impressive because it won the game.He has gotten more done with 1 hit than anyone In a while that comes to mind.
Thanks!
Rob
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<< <i>Tejada blew them away! 15 jacks in a single round is incredible! All this Jeter worship should end - Tejada is the best SS!
Brian >>
<< <i> Jeter has a lifetime batting average of .315, Tejada.274 >>
Jeter's down to .314 and Tejada is up to .280 career ba.
What have you done for me lately: .308 11 hr 37 rbi vs. .330 20 hr 64 rbi
RobE,
You are not keeping up on your Yankee games. Jeter hit his first Grand Slam a few Saturdays ago against the Cubbies.
I was at the game.
<<He's not going to the plate thinking about that.In a tie game last saturday Jeter broke it open with a bases clearing triple.At that point it makes you think the 3 bagger is more impressive because it won the game.He has gotten more done with 1 hit than anyone In a while that comes to mind.>>
I expressed the exact same sentiments in a post a few weeks ago when someone (I think it was Axtey) questioned Jeter's inabilty to hit a GS.
<< <i> Two hours was way too long - boring! >>
Couldn't agree more. I thought it took as long as a normal game. And hearing Chris Berman get all wound up with his back...back....back... got to be mundane.
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
<< <i>
All Jeter knows how to do is win.I'm sure somewhere else it wouldn't look that way,but the cards are dealt different for everyone. >>
Put Tejada or Arod on that team and they'd have won the championships too.
<< <i>Put Tejada or Arod on that team and they'd have won the championships too. >>
A-Rod is on that team. No ring yet.
<< <i> I don't recall the HR contest being done in the 1950's and 1960's... these guys would not do as well as Aaron, Mantle, Mays, Banks, Killebrew and others >>
They did have a one on one home run contest in that era, I've seen it couple time probably on ESPN classic. It wasn't part of the all-star game just a tv special. I don't recall if the rules were exactly the same but it was fun to watch.
<< <i>
<< <i>Put Tejada or Arod on that team and they'd have won the championships too. >>
A-Rod is on that team. No ring yet. >>
Jeter hasn't won a ring in what, 5 years?
So he obviously wasn't the SOLE reason those teams won championships...I am talking about putting Arod on the teams that DID win championships, and the results are likely the same.
I think Jeter, while a very good player, gets a large amount of undue attention and credit for those teams winning so many championships...as evidenced in their lack of world series wins since, its apparent Jeter wasn't the primary reason.
<< <i>
<< <i>
<< <i>Put Tejada or Arod on that team and they'd have won the championships too. >>
A-Rod is on that team. No ring yet. >>
Jeter hasn't won a ring in what, 5 years?
So he obviously wasn't the SOLE reason those teams won championships...I am talking about putting Arod on the teams that DID win championships, and the results are likely the same.
I think Jeter, while a very good player, gets a large amount of undue attention and credit for those teams winning so many championships...as evidenced in their lack of world series wins since, its apparent Jeter wasn't the primary reason. >>
Agreed 100%. I think most knowledgeable baseball fans (outside of NY that is) would agree with this as well. You could plug in any number of top SS onto that team that won back in the late 90's, and perhaps it would have even been an upgrade for them (Tejada, Nomar, A-Rod, etc.) He has been a product of his environment more so than just about any other player in recent years.
<< <i>Agreed 100%. I think most knowledgeable baseball fans (outside of NY that is) would agree with this as well. >>
I agree as well, but you have to admit Jeter is one of the, and probably the top postseason position player of this era granted he's had alot of oppurtunities. Does anyone else come to mind? Pujols and Beltran put on a show the first two rounds last year but didn't do it in the series. David Ortiz had some incredibly clutch shots last year but he needs to do it in more then one season. Who has performed at a high level in multiple post seasons? I'm not saying there aren't any I just want opinions.
<< Who has performed at a high level in multiple post seasons? I'm not saying there aren't any I just want opinions.>>
Nobody, I can remember since the Mick. Jeter was the baseball man of the 1990's decade and early 2000's with more yet to come.
Jeter, due to the fortune of being on some incredibly successful teams, has the second most post-season at bats in history (following closely behind Bernie Williams). Of course, having such a huge number of at bats, you are going to fall into some opportune hits here and there, but if you look at his career batting average (.315) and his postseason batting average (.306) they are nearly the same, indicating he's no more 'clutch' than he hit at about the same clip in the regular season as he does in the postseason.
I would go so far as to say the entire mythology of a 'clutch' hitter is simply that - myth.
<< <i>has the second most post-season at bats in history (following closely behind Bernie Williams). >>
Well out of the top 10 players in postseason ab's he's only one hitting over .300. You may not want to call that clutch but it sure is good.
<< <i>
<< <i>has the second most post-season at bats in history (following closely behind Bernie Williams). >>
Well out of the top 10 players in postseason ab's he's only one hitting over .300. You may not want to call that clutch but it sure is good. >>
But its no higher than he bats during the regular season...so he's not performing any higher, he's at the same level. Not clutch, is it if you do exactly the same job in the postseason as you do in the regular?
Batting Average
Rank Player BA PA
1. Bobby Brown .439 46
2. Carlos Beltran .435 56
3. Ichiro Suzuki .421 43
4. Pepper Martin .418 60
5. Fred Lynn .407 61
6. Billy Hatcher .404 61
7. Jose Offerman .400 53
8. Lou Brock .391 92
9. Ryne Sandberg .385 47
10. Mike Cuddyer .378 41
<< <i> But its no higher than he bats during the regular season...so he's not performing any higher, he's at the same level. Not clutch, is it if you do exactly the same job in the postseason as you do in the regular? >>
Isn't post-season pitching better than average?