Marty Brennaman slams Adam Dunn....again.

[jojo]

Originally Posted by Dom Heffner

Marty has his banana phone and other idosyncracies. The fact that harry Carey stunk doesn't make me feel better about Marty.

Sportscasters in general have started to make sports less enjoyable for me.

Someone like Joe Morgan is a prime example.

Caller #1: Joe, what do you think about Jonathon Papelbon?

Morgan: Well, I haven't gotten a chance to see him play, really, so I don't want to offer an opinion on him.

Caller #2; What do you think of Ryan Theriot?

Morgan: I don't get too see him play much, so I don't want to say anything.

Well, gee, Joe, I've never seen these guys play in person, either, but I have this thing called the internet and newspapers and I can tell you about them and I only work for a living.

Morgan, like Marty, thinks we get too caught up in numbers to analyze these players. I'm not sure what else there is to look at, but it must involve watching them every day while holding a stop watch to see how quickly they walk out to their position.

Lets face it, sporting events in general are just one long commercial under the guise of a game...I'm just thankful that baseball isn't quite as bad as football in that regard...yet anyway....

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by jojo

It's about time people start calling out Howard.... why with the 181 ks from last year he's basically just taking that league minimum ($355K last season)...

Lollygagger!

[paintmered]

Originally Posted by jojo

Lets face it, sporting events in general are just one long commercial under the guise of a game...I'm just thankful that baseball isn't quite as bad as football in that regard...yet anyway....

Not that MLB hasn't tried. If they had their way, we would have seen Spiderman bases. Fortunately, the outcry made them think otherwise.

[Highlifeman21]

Originally Posted by redsfanfalcon

Ryan Howard also hit .313. Those ground outs might get a runner over, and those flyouts might get a guy in from third.

Ryan Howard also hits in a much better lineup than Adam Dunn and has more protection. Dunn realistically is the only feared hitter in the Reds lineup. The Phillies have Howard, Burrell, Utley, and last year even had some Abreu, and some Dellucci.

The other reason Ryan Howard also hits for higher average is that he hits well to all fields. Dunn is predominantly a pull hiter, and gets that vicious shift. Teams don't use that IF shift for Ryan Howard.

[Rocket_Fuel]

Originally Posted by Redlegs

The golden tones of the hall of famer regarding Adam Dunn:

"I'm tired of hearing people say he'll give you forty homers and drive in a hundred runs every year. First of all, he didn't drive in 100 runs last year. The most overrated stat in baseball is the damn home run. Give me a guy that'll run to his position and run off the field. More often than not, he walks to his position and walks off the field. Give me a guy that shows some life out there. His approach to hitting is the same if the count is 0-0 or 3-2. We all know his knowledge of the strike zone because he walks over a hundred times a year."

I don't consider it a slam since he's saying what I'm thinking.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by Rocket_Fuel

I don't consider it a slam since he's saying what I'm thinking.

You would choose hustling to and from one's position, which is entirely irrelevant to scoring runs, to home runs, which are actual run scoring events?

[OnBaseMachine]

Originally Posted by redsfanfalcon

How can great hitters strike out 180+ times a year? I think Marty's frustration is a way of saying, "I wish Dunn would cut down his swing and make contact instead of striking out so much. What's the difference if he hits the ball 460 feet instead of 410? Cut down your swing, raise the average, you'll hit more home runs and have more RBI's." That is when you could say Adam Dunn is a great hitter. Marty just has a way of being bitter and telling it as he sees it. I guess that is why I still enjoy listening to him.

All that being said, I still go to the park to watch Dunn.

Ryan Howard struckout over 180 times last year. Jim Thome has too. Mike Schmidt also. Do you consider them great hitters? Now I know Dunn didn't have a great season last year (second half killed him) but he is still normally a great hitter. Guys who consistently hit 40+ homeruns and get on base at a .380 clip are great hitters in my mind, regardless how many times they strikeout.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Adam Dunn strikesout too much? Hmmmm.

Top 10 career MLB strikeout leaders
>> 4 are in the Hall of Fame (Reggie Jax, Stargell, Schmidt & Tony Perez).
>> 4 are not yet eligible for the Hall of Fame (Sosa, Galarraga, McGriff & Thome).
>> 2 will probably never make it (Kingman & Canseco).
* The 4 that are in the Hall of Fame had OBPs of (Dunn .380 career):
>> Reggie = .356, Stargell = .360, Schmidt = .380, Perez = .341.

Top 20 career MLB strikeout leaders
>> 8 are in the Hall of Fame (Brock, Killebrew, Mantle, Winfield).
>> 5 are not yet eligible for the Hall of Fame (Rickey Henderson)
>> 7 will probably never make it (Bo. Bonds, Dale Murphy, Chili Davis, Dwight Evans, Gaetti).
* Only 1 of the 8 H-of-F members has a higher OBP than Dunn (Mantle = .421).

[kbrake]

Originally Posted by Rocket_Fuel

I don't consider it a slam since he's saying what I'm thinking.

Good since you and Marty have similiar views on this maybe you can help out. How does hustling to LF between innings impact Dunn as a player?

Wonder why Marty never points out that the lazy one has missed 5 games the past 3 seasons. 5 freaking games over 3 years. I'm going to pull my hair out if we have to keep going over this all the time.

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by Rocket_Fuel

I don't consider it a slam since he's saying what I'm thinking.

The sound of nothing is stunning isn't it?

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by kbrake

Good since you and Marty have similiar views on this maybe you can help out. How does hustling to LF between innings impact Dunn as a player?

Wonder why Marty never points out that the lazy one has missed 5 games the past 3 seasons. 5 freaking games over 3 years. I'm going to pull my hair out if we have to keep going over this all the time.

Shave your head so you dont have the option, because it will be brought up 100 more times this season.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Shave your head so you dont have the option, because it will be brought up 100 more times this season.

How many games are there in a season, including Spring Training?

[Redlegs]

Originally Posted by Bigredfan#1

How many players sprint or run to their position? I really don't recall that many who do run to their position, there is no emergency to get there. You use up energy that you might need for later in the game, but when I played high school ball I don't ever remember being encouraged by a coach to run or sprint to my position, nor do I ever remember seeing a team mate or an oppontent do so.

First things first, I don't think any player is expected to sprint to their position. It would be nice to see a player jog to his position. I don't know if Adam Dunn walks to his position or not, but I don't think your statement holds water. While there may not be an emergency anywhere, it falls under the old school rule of having "respect for the game". If a player actually walked from the dugout to left field on a regular basis, or even if a player jog to the pitcher's mound or infield and began walking the rest of the way, I would have a problem with that as a fan. These guys are making millions of dollars so a 300 ft. jog to your outfield position 9 times per day isn't asking a lot.

As far as using up energy that may be needed later in the game, I have to ask if you are serious. So, without further adeau, are you serious? If a player is so out of shape that jogging to his position wears him out then perhaps he should care enough to get extensive cardio training. I would think the rest he gets in the dugout when his team's at bat would be more than enough to regain strength.

Finally, if your coach didn't encourage you to "hustle out there", I would think he wasn't much of a coach. Winning is, indeed, an attitude.

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by Redlegs

First things first, I don't think any player is expected to sprint to their position. It would be nice to see a player jog to his position. I don't know if Adam Dunn walks to his position or not, but I don't think your statement holds water. While there may not be an emergency anywhere, it falls under the old school rule of having "respect for the game". If a player actually walked from the dugout to left field on a regular basis, or even if a player jog to the pitcher's mound or infield and began walking the rest of the way, I would have a problem with that as a fan. These guys are making millions of dollars so a 300 ft. jog to your outfield position 9 times per day isn't asking a lot.

As far as using up energy that may be needed later in the game, I have to ask if you are serious. So, without further adeau, are you serious? If a player is so out of shape that jogging to his position wears him out then perhaps he should care enough to get extensive cardio training. I would think the rest he gets in the dugout when his team's at bat would be more than enough to regain strength.

Finally, if your coach didn't encourage you to "hustle out there", I would think he wasn't much of a coach. Winning is, indeed, an attitude.

Actually, I think the whole notion of "hustling" to one's position really only dates back so far. Remember, when Pete Rose got the name "Charlie Hustle," I recall hearing that it was a derogatory comment from Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle.

I've seen a few minor league games in my time as a baseball fan and the minors are filled with "hustle," way more hustle than you see in the majors. Guys hustle to their positions and hustle back in. They hustle down to first base when they get a walk and hustle back in when they get thrown out at second. But that "hustle" doesn't necessarily win ballgames and for most of these guys, it doesn't get them to the big leagues. Scoring runs does that. Guys can hustle all they want, but they aren't going to score runs if they don't get on base, avoid making outs and get across home plate.

[vaticanplum]

I really want Adam Dunn to do tour jetes out to left field on Opening Day. Seriously.