Enquirer article on Dunn

[OnBaseMachine]

Daugherty should be fined for even mentioning Dave Kingman is the same article as Dunn.

Leaving them wanting more
Adam Dunn puts on a show with the longball, but does he aspire to be more than a slugger?

BY PAUL DAUGHERTY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

What do you want from Adam Dunn?

There is a problem with being 6 feet 6, weighing 275 pounds and being a good enough athlete that the University of Texas signed you to play quarterback. It is this:

People are always going to want more.

You hit 40 homers? Great. How many were solo?

You drove in 100 runs? What was your batting average with runners in scoring position?

And by the way: Could you mix in some defense?

Is it fair? Beats me.

If history holds, Dunn will hit at least 40 home runs, drive in 100 runs and score 100 more this season, for the third year in a row. He'll walk at least 100 times. His on-base percentage will be near the 10 best in the National League. He's all of 26 years old.

If that's all there is, OK. As Reds manager Jerry Narron said Wednesday, "That ain't bad."

No, it ain't.

What do you want from Adam Dunn?

It's the $23.5 million question. That's what the Reds would owe Dunn for next season and 2008. That is a lot of money for a pitching-needy, small-revenue club to pay a power hitter.

We've had these discussions for four years, or about as long as Dunn has been a Red. Maybe we should stop. Because for everyone who thinks Dunn has the skills to be a great player, there are as many who think being great isn't what drives him. Often, it's the same people offering both arguments.

Unless you are blessed with supernatural skills, greatness is a mindset. You respect your talent by using all of it. What you lack in skill, you make up for with effort. If being the best drives you, nothing is as important.

Until Narron rested him Wednesday, Dunn was the only Red to play in every game this season. The last several days, he took early batting practice. You never hear a peep from him about switching positions. He doesn't say much when allegedly ill-informed media people crack on his game.

Yet he affects an air of indifference. Dunn has said the worst advice he ever got came from former Reds general manager Jim Bowden, who told him he should pull the ball more. Yet some opponents are shifting all four infielders between first base and second base when the left-handed-hitting Dunn appears at the plate.

He has worked with Reds hitting coach Chris Chambliss, who has urged Dunn to use more of the field and to adjust his plate approach depending on the count he's facing. But when he has fallen behind no balls and two strikes this season, Dunn is 0-for-10 with nine strikeouts.

Yeah, but ...

Dunn leads the Reds in homers. He's tied for the team lead in RBI and second in runs. What more do you want?

If he took pitches to left field ... if he were more aggressive at the plate ... if he put in more time working on his defense ...

I wanted to ask Dunn about all that. He didn't want to talk, at least not to me. Maybe especially not to me. Fair enough. I'm not exactly the president of the Dunner Fan Club. Regardless, the temptation is to suggest Dunn is OK with who he is, and we should be, too.

Dunn is, to most, a genial good ol' boy from a small town 40 miles north of Houston, where everybody knows everybody and where generations of his family have lived. He has that laconic, laid back air familiar to Texans. If the burden of talent and potential bugs him, you'd never know. If ever anyone was born to fish for bass in a pond, it's Adam Dunn.

If Dunn were older, it would be easier to say he was following the career path blazed by Dave Kingman. If he were 36 instead of 26, we all would be urging him to write "designated hitter" on his tax returns. We'd be looking at that size and athleticism and wondering, "Is that all there is?" even as he approaches 500 homers.

But he's only arriving at his best. What he chooses to do with it is anyone's guess.

E-mail pdaugherty@enquirer.com

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...PT04/605260403

[NJReds]

I think it's a fair column. It balances the good and the not so good.

Dunn's immense talent and how far his star will rise is the reason why there are so many threads about him on this board.

[Red in Chicago]

Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine

Daugherty should be fined for even mentioning Dave Kingman is the same article as Dunn.

that's a little over-dramatic, don't you think?

[flyer85]

Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine

If Dunn were older, it would be easier to say he was following the career path blazed by Dave Kingman.

Just to stamp home the point he is nothing but another misinformed sportswriter by comparing him to Kong.

[OnBaseMachine]

Originally Posted by Red in Chicago

that's a little over-dramatic, don't you think?

Well, it was joke. But a person with considerable baseball knowledge should know that Adam Dunn is not Dave Kingman. Paul D. is just another uninformed writer.

[GAC]

Are we allowed to criticize Dunn on this forum?

I just wish he'd quit swinging at bad pitches with RISP.

It's situational hitting and especially RBI opportunities that bothers most about Adam.

Not terrible at all, but could be better by most people's observations.

He's currently tied with BP with 31 RBI's. Kearns has 30.

Griffey has 26 in almost 1/2 as many A/Bs.

If Adam doesn't like the shift, then this is sound advice from Chambliss...

He has worked with Reds hitting coach Chris Chambliss, who has urged Dunn to use more of the field and to adjust his plate approach depending on the count he's facing.

[flyer85]

Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine

But a person with considerable baseball knowledge

no reason to believe that Paul D is that. I listened to him with the Goob one day last week and he admitted he doesn't follow a lot of this stuff. What Krivsky does in the next two years with the structure of the team will likely define his tenure with the Reds.

[westofyou]

If Dunn were older, it would be easier to say he was following the career path blazed by Dave Kingman. If he were 36 instead of 26, we all would be urging him to write "designated hitter" on his tax returns. We'd be looking at that size and athleticism and wondering, "Is that all there is?" even as he approaches 500 homers.

Being tall and striking out alot doesn't make Dunn Dave Kingman, if it did than my short stature and love of hockey would make me Michael J. Foxx.

However the comparison is ridiculous in a column that is about how Adam Dunn the player is misunderstood, in fact it might be the most misaimed part of the whole column.

Because Dunn is tall and hits HR's and K's he should be compared to Kingman, not Howard, not Sexson, not Strawberry... bullocks I say.

What a player needs to do is not make outs and reach base.

Adam Dunn does that better than most of the tall players in the history of the game, much better than Dave Kingman did.

Going tall only

Best vs the league in reaching base under age 26

CAREER
AGE <= 26
HEIGHT >= 78
HOMERUNS vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria
RUNS vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria
RUNS CREATED/GAME vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria
STRIKEOUTS vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria

REACHED BASE                    DIFF   PLAYER   LEAGUE     HR        R      RC/G      SO     
1    Adam Dunn                   202     1066      864       85      107     2.14      315   
2    Darryl Strawberry           191     1238     1047      119      140     2.45      300   
3    Dave Winfield                71     1104     1033       41       62     0.92       48   
4    Tony Clark                   25      652      627       43       16     0.84      132   
5    Frank Howard                 11      606      595       55       22     1.10      161   
6    Richie Sexson               -30      666      696       55       18     0.45      168   
7    Dave Kingman                -91      580      671       73       17     0.07      318   
8    Howie Schultz              -152      471      623       -3      -51    -1.57       73

Best all time 1000 ab's

CAREER
HEIGHT >= 78
HOMERUNS vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria
RUNS vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria
RUNS CREATED/GAME vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria
STRIKEOUTS vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria

REACHED BASE                    DIFF   PLAYER   LEAGUE     HR        R      RC/G      SO     
1    Dave Winfield               412     4351     3939      201      275     1.21       76   
2    Frank Howard                323     2589     2266      223       95     1.63      499   
3    Darryl Strawberry           271     2255     1984      203      203     1.86      486   
4    Adam Dunn                   202     1066      864       85      107     2.14      315   
5    Richie Sexson                78     1452     1374      121       72     1.13      317   
6    Tony Clark                   25     1530     1505       93       -4     0.58      316   
7    Walt Bond                     4      430      426       11        0     0.25       -3   
8    Howie Schultz              -152      471      623       -3      -51    -1.57       73   
9    Dave Kingman               -276     2236     2512      285       34     0.23      832

[Hoosier Red]

I think people are missing the point.
It's not that he is Dave Kingman, but rather that the perception is out there that he's like Dave Kingman.
It's unfortunate, but it's out there.

Much as we'd like him to, Paul D isn't going to bring up OPS or anything like that.

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by Hoosier Red

I think people are missing the point.
It's not that he is Dave Kingman, but rather that the perception is out there that he's like Dave Kingman.
It's unfortunate, but it's out there.

Much as we'd like him to, Paul D isn't going to bring up OPS or anything like that.

What's the point in maintaining a faulty perception?

If thats' the case I'll start one.. Adam Dunn reminds me alot of Dan Issel, really tall and white.

[KittyDuran]

Originally Posted by Hoosier Red

I think people are missing the point.
It's not that he is Dave Kingman, but rather that the perception is out there that he's like Dave Kingman.
It's unfortunate, but it's out there.

Much as we'd like him to, Paul D isn't going to bring up OPS or anything like that.

No kidding about the perception... go to any home game and you get an earful...:

[gm]

How did McCovey not shake out in that comparison?

Originally Posted by westofyou

Being tall and striking out alot doesn't make Dunn Dave Kingman, if it did than my short stature and love of hockey would make me Michael J. Foxx.

However the comparison is ridiculous in a column that is about how Adam Dunn the player is misunderstood, in fact it might be the most misaimed part of the whole column.

Because Dunn is tall and hits HR's and K's he should be compared to Kingman, not Howard, not Sexson, not Strawberry... bullocks I say.

What a player needs to do is not make outs and reach base.

Adam Dunn does that better than most of the tall players in the history of the game, much better than Dave Kingman did.

Going tall only

Best vs the league in reaching base under age 26

CAREER
AGE <= 26
HEIGHT >= 78
HOMERUNS vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria
RUNS vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria
RUNS CREATED/GAME vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria
STRIKEOUTS vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria

REACHED BASE                    DIFF   PLAYER   LEAGUE     HR        R      RC/G      SO     
1    Adam Dunn                   202     1066      864       85      107     2.14      315   
2    Darryl Strawberry           191     1238     1047      119      140     2.45      300   
3    Dave Winfield                71     1104     1033       41       62     0.92       48   
4    Tony Clark                   25      652      627       43       16     0.84      132   
5    Frank Howard                 11      606      595       55       22     1.10      161   
6    Richie Sexson               -30      666      696       55       18     0.45      168   
7    Dave Kingman                -91      580      671       73       17     0.07      318   
8    Howie Schultz              -152      471      623       -3      -51    -1.57       73

Best all time 1000 ab's

CAREER
HEIGHT >= 78
HOMERUNS vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria
RUNS vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria
RUNS CREATED/GAME vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria
STRIKEOUTS vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria

REACHED BASE                    DIFF   PLAYER   LEAGUE     HR        R      RC/G      SO     
1    Dave Winfield               412     4351     3939      201      275     1.21       76   
2    Frank Howard                323     2589     2266      223       95     1.63      499   
3    Darryl Strawberry           271     2255     1984      203      203     1.86      486   
4    Adam Dunn                   202     1066      864       85      107     2.14      315   
5    Richie Sexson                78     1452     1374      121       72     1.13      317   
6    Tony Clark                   25     1530     1505       93       -4     0.58      316   
7    Walt Bond                     4      430      426       11        0     0.25       -3   
8    Howie Schultz              -152      471      623       -3      -51    -1.57       73   
9    Dave Kingman               -276     2236     2512      285       34     0.23      832

[registerthis]

Originally Posted by westofyou

Best vs the league in reaching base under age 26

Sometimes I forget what a talent Darryl Strawberry was. Such a waste, his is one of baseball's more tragic stories.

[deltachi8]

I e-mailed PD and was critical of his comparrison of Dunn and Kingman stating their career OBP numbers and that the goal of the offensive player is to accumulate bases while avoiding outs (thank you, Steel).

PD wrote back to say that Dunn and Kingman have many things in common, OB% isnt one of them.

Sorry with all apologies to WOY, i responded with, "Your right, they are both tall and white."

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by gm

How did McCovey not shake out in that comparison?

6'4"