Have Adam Dunn wear stirrups

[indy_dave00]

Adam Dunn needs to wear sturrups when he hits , he is so big a man that umpirers don't realize where his knees are. Umpirers focus in on certain areas as strikes based on their own height or that of the average size player. A knee high to a 6'1 player is mid shin on Adam. Pitches he takes are balls on him that are strikes on other hitter , so the umpire calls them strikes on Adam.

Adam is far too selective a hitter , and umpires calling the low pitches as strikes when they really aren't puts him in an even greater hole at the plate leading to a lot of called strike threes that aren't.

Yes, Dunn swings and misses too much . But umpires would call the pitches based on what Dunn's strikezone is ,and not that of Ryan Freel ,pitchers would be forced to pitch to him and both his on base percentage and his average would improve.

I know a lot will say I'm imagining things but I coached Little League , Babe Ruth and American Legion ball for years , umpirers at every level call ball below the knees strikes on taller guys because of a percieved area call. Dunn needs to quit wearing his pants like pajamas , put on sturrups and give the umps a better idea just where his knees are.

Ok enough rambling .

[Redsland]

Pete Rose has advocated this for years. I agree that it's worth a shot.

I have heard that members of the Reds occasionally mention Dunn's size and relative strike zone to umpires, FWIW. Just in passing, of course.

[KronoRed]

Adam in high socks is a funny image

[indy_dave00]

I didn't know Pete had but glad to know he agrees. Lets be honest in the baggy pj look of the players -where are their knees?

I liked it when I saw Freel and Keppinger wearing them recently , yeah I'm an old timer but thats how a uni should look. I hate the sloppy running on my pants leg look. Looks like a milk man came out of the stands to bat.

[MWM]

I think his size also creates an illusion that pitches on the outside of the plate are closer than they really are. I've never seen a player get more outside pitches get called strikes than Adam Dunn.

[remdog]

I agree on both the strikes point and also about the 'sloppy' look, Dave.

Rem

[RedFanAlways1966]

Slight tangent...

It is too bad MLB doesn't have some sort of dress code (like the NFL). Perhaps I am old-fashioned, but the pants to the shoes look is ridiculous. Ballplayers should dress like ballplayers when on the field of play. I do not care about length of hair, tattoos, facial hair, etc. But the attire should be "uniform" for all players.

[Unassisted]

Having Dunn wear stirrups for a few games sounds like a useful and harmless experiment if he's not willing to be unfashionable for an extended period. To get convincing results, it would be smart to do the experiment in a Questec-equipped ballpark with an umpire whose strike zone is shown to produce an above-average number of Ks for the big guy.

[vaticanplum]

First of all, I have never, ever, ever understood the argument that high socks are somehow not "fashionable". That is such a, forgive me, adolescent boy argument. They typically look fantastic.

Secondly, I have noticed more players reverting to high socks recently and I wonder if it isn't because they're starting to (finally) pick up on the strike zone benefits of it. A-Rod has been wearing high socks most of the year. More Reds have reverted to it since the new uniforms came out -- last year, you'd be hard-pressed to find one except a Denorfia here and there, but I've noticed Freel, Hopper and Keppinger sporting them, along with about 4 or 5 of the bullpen smorgasboard corps doing it too. I have more hope for Dunn than I used to. He's a bit trimmer than he used to be too, the socks would look great on him besides being just beneficial to his calls.

Tampa Bay briefly had a team-wide high-sock rule just for this reason; they no longer do though.

[Chip R]

People would just complain that the stirrups aren't high enough or he's showing too much white or some such nonsense.

[KronoRed]

NBA in the 70's short shorts then?

[creek14]

Maybe he could just wear one of these like his twin Will Ferrell wore.

[Always Red]

Originally Posted by vaticanplum

First of all, I have never, ever, ever understood the argument that high socks are somehow not "fashionable". That is such a, forgive me, adolescent boy argument. They typically look fantastic.

Secondly, I have noticed more players reverting to high socks recently and I wonder if it isn't because they're starting to (finally) pick up on the strike zone benefits of it. A-Rod has been wearing high socks most of the year. More Reds have reverted to it since the new uniforms came out -- last year, you'd be hard-pressed to find one except a Denorfia here and there, but I've noticed Freel, Hopper and Keppinger sporting them, along with about 4 or 5 of the bullpen smorgasboard corps doing it too. I have more hope for Dunn than I used to. He's a bit trimmer than he used to be too, the socks would look great on him besides being just beneficial to his calls.

Tampa Bay briefly had a team-wide high-sock rule just for this reason; they no longer do though.

The high red socks are quite excellent, especially now that they match the sleeves!

Of course, I am a traditionalist at heart, and would much prefer the stirrups with sanitary hose underneath to even the high red socks, but I am willing to go one step at a time.

If Adam only knew how fast it would make him look to wear those socks....

[LoganBuck]

Ugh, pseudo neg for creek

[RFS62]

Originally Posted by Always Red

The high red socks are quite excellent, especially now that they match the sleeves!

Of course, I am a traditionalist at heart, and would much prefer the stirrups with sanitary hose underneath to even the high red socks, but I am willing to go one step at a time.

If Adam only knew how fast it would make him look to wear those socks....

So true, so true.