Marty: Forget the walks

[westofyou]

Another HOF Manager weighs in.

Weaver's Fourth Law

"Your most precious possessions on offense are your twenty-seven outs.

I like the home run, but I like the 2-3 run home run best and that means there has to be one or 2 guys on base. And how did those guys get on base in the first place?

Chances are one of them walked.

[Raisor]

More Weaver Goodness:

Announcer: [A fan] from Frederick, Maryland, wants to know why you don't go out and get some more team speed.

Weaver: Team speed, for Chrissake, you get BLEEP [gosh darn]little fleas on the bases getting picked off trying to steal, getting thrown out, taking runs away from you. You get them big BLEEP who can hit the BLEEP ball out of the BLEEP ballpark and you can't make any [gosh darn] mistakes.

[OnBaseMachine]

the old "not make outs" mantra (sigh)......

If you're going to play LEFT FIELD you're there for your HITTING or because you're going to steal 100 bases. I'll take a "not make outs" mantra from a catcher who does a good job defensively and handling pitching staff or from an infield glove guy or "maybe" CF who takes away would be hits. But if you're going to play LF or 1B you're paid to HIT THE BALL. Forget the walks.

MARTY

Dunn .979 OPS. He's HITTING THE BALL just fine. Top 10 in numerous offensive categories.

Did Dunn beat up your sister or something?

oh and

:thumbdown :thumbdown MARTY :thumbdown :thumbdown

[Raisor]

By the way, for everyone so hung up on batting average with RISP, the difference between Dunn's .222 BA with RISP and a .300 BA w/RISP is (drum roll please) 5.6 hits.

All this stuff over 6 hits?

ooookay..

[Johnny Footstool]

I wish Dunn would hit more singles...


BTW - Dunn's career numbers batting 4th:

 AB    BA   HR    RBI    OBP     SLG    OPS
554  .287   37     87   .402    .560   .962

Monsterous.

Amazing what happens when you have protection in the lineup.

[Blimpie]

Nobody obviously wants to "break" Dunn--as is, he's a stud.

I think that when people argue he "walks too much"--they're questioning his approach more than the number of walks per se. His selectivity at the plate really doesn't make a whole lot of sense. How can you have a guy who supposedly has such a good eye that he can walk 100+ times a year but who also strikes out (swings and misses) as much as Dunn?

Another selective slugger--before his skills started declining--was Frank Thomas. In each of his first seven full seasons, Thomas walked 100+ times (including the 1994 strike shortened season). He did strike out 112 times in his first full season but then never struck out again more than 88 times in a season. He hit over .300 (and near or over .350) in each of those seasons. His OBA in each season was well over .400.

Yeah, Dunn's a big guy and has a lot of big moving parts which probably leads to more swings and misses--Thomas is a big guy, too. But I don't understand how such a selective guy, looking for his pitch, strikes out with the frequency that he does--it's really an anamoly for a non-free swinger. The frustrating thing is that he doesn't seem to want to change his approach. He reminds me of Shaq at the free throw line.

While not a perfect analogy, I like the Dunn comparison to Thomas alot better than, oh---say---Dave Kingman.

[traderumor]

By the way, for everyone so hung up on batting average with RISP, the difference between Dunn's .222 BA with RISP and a .300 BA w/RISP is (drum roll please) 5.6 hits.

All this stuff over 6 hits?

ooookay..

But what is his OBP with RISP? That would tell me more, even if RISP is a somewhat iffy stat.

[Raisor]

But what is his OBP with RISP? That would tell me more, even if RISP is a somewhat iffy stat.

.467

(and that's the whole point tr...)

[OldRightHander]

But what is his OBP with RISP? That would tell me more, even if RISP is a somewhat iffy stat.

It is somewhat iffy. The batter is in scoring position as well.

[Puffy]

.467

(and that's the whole point tr...)

[Raisor]

[Crash Davis]

didn't George Foster basically say the same thing about Dunn taking too many walks?

Telling the truth about Dunn (getting paid for rbi's, not walks) wont go well on this board. Didnt George Foster say basically the same thing shortly ago?


Those two dont know aanything about baseball, Im sure.

Well, from God's lips to George Foster's & Marty's ears...

This is completely asinine. Are all players over 6'4" only paid to drive in runs? What is it about Adam Dunn in particular that he's only paid for his RBIs? I'd like to see the language in that contract.

Adam Dunn, like all other baseball players, is paid to play good baseball. He does that better than anybody currently employed by the Cincinnati Reds.

[Outshined_One]

Further trades?:
He also praised Rich Aurilia and said he could help a lot of teams. He mentioned the Cubs specifically.

Oh wait a second, he was a Dusty favorite back in SF...

[Puffy]

I agree with Marty. If only we had a stat which took out all what I like to call the "soft walks" then we could truly decipher whether or not Dunn was a run producer. Dunn needs to turn all those "soft walks" into hits so that he is hitting a billion gagillion with runners in scoring position or else he sux.

gO rEDz!

[pedro]

the old "not make outs" mantra (sigh)......

If you're going to play LEFT FIELD you're there for your HITTING or because you're going to steal 100 bases. I'll take a "not make outs" mantra from a catcher who does a good job defensively and handling pitching staff or from an infield glove guy or "maybe" CF who takes away would be hits. But if you're going to play LF or 1B you're paid to HIT THE BALL. Forget the walks.

MARTY

Oh, the old "I have no idea what I'm talking about but my lips are still moving argument"

Dude, I saw they revolted againt you at mlb.com last light. Running out of places to spout your nonsense? That must hurt.

Why would a guy that hits 40-50 HR's need to steal 100 bases to be valuable? Your pedantic resistance against reality is hysterical.

And for all of you who think that we're just worshiping Dunn and think he has no flaws, save it. We all know that he has room for improvement.