8/21 - Reds vs. Diamondbacks

[Betterread]

I think Marty was absolutely correct in questioning Wily Mo's work ethic. Since the day he came up to the big club in 2002 he has been an awful outfielder. Here we are three years later and he hasn't improved one iota. Outfield play is something you can improve with hard work and practice and it appears Wily Mo is not willing to put that work in.

When he was on the DL earlier in the year, many questioned his desire to play because of the fact he was out of action for alot longer than most thought he should be.

If and when Wily Mo decides to dedicate himself completely to making himself the best player he can possibly be....look out. But right now, he doesn't give any indication that he wants to do that.

You and Marty are dramatically mistaken. Since Marty should be in a position to know how hard Wily Mo works at baseball, I would even say he is out of line and is close to slandering Wily Mo. Wily Mo has one of the most postive outlooks on the game that I have witnessed. He is a real throwback player, who will spend any amount of time necessary to improve his game. Which he has displayed. However, at the professional level, hard work does not always translate into success. Witness Adam Dunn's outfield play, for an immediate example.

[redsfan30]

How has Wily Mo improved in the outfield? And I don't care if it's not his natural position becuase it hasn't mattered where you put him, he flat out stinks in the outfield.

I imagine if Wily Mo was putting in consitant work with the coaching staff in the outfield, we would have heard about it by now.

Again, outfield play is something you can improve upon if you just work at it. Considering he hasn't gotten any better defensively since he came up in 2002, that leads me to believe he's not putting in enough work to get better.

[pedro]

It's time for marty to retire. Half the time when I listen to him, I wouldn't even know there was a game going on if I didn't know what I was listening to.

[CTA513]

Gonzalez hit by pitch, bases loaded.

[westofyou]

I went the more present route, but you used better examples.

The Reds had Joe Adcock in the early 50's he was a first baseman and they also had Klu. So thet slid Adcock into the LF slot and the defense suffered greatly because of it. It was a league wide joke, everyone was in on it.

Eventualy they flipped him because he couldn't learn to play OF.

[CTA513]

Clark singles, 2 runs score.

7-4 Reds.

Narron finally pulls Shackelford.

[pedro]

How has Wily Mo improved in the outfield? And I don't care if it's not his natural position becuase it hasn't mattered where you put him, he flat out stinks in the outfield.

I imagine if Wily Mo was putting in consitant work with the coaching staff in the outfield, we would have heard about it by now.

Again, outfield play is something you can improve upon if you just work at it. Considering he hasn't gotten any better defensively since he came up in 2002, that leads me to believe he's not putting in enough work to get better.

Just because someone doesn't improve at something does not mean that they aren't trying. Some players just aren't good at judging the ball off the bat.

A lot of folks have a ton of posts on RZ without any noticable improvement. I guess they're slackers too.

[CTA513]

Belisle into pitch.

[Betterread]

I'm not disagreeing that he misplayed that ball. I'm not disagreeing that WMP can improve, and improve a great deal in RF. I am taking umbrage with the "moral" nature of the criticism that Marty took. If you think about why mistakes are made (in baseball, or anywhere else) and you come up with "I/he/she just didn't try hard enough", you are usually taking the analytical easy way out and you are blaming someone's moral fibre. So it is a lazy analysis and it is offensive. So it bothers me.

[CTA513]

Glaus strikes out. 2 outs.

[CTA513]

Belisle pulled, Mercker coming into pitch.

[DoogMinAmo]

Belisle had not pitched since the 17th, I don't like pulling him for Merker, who pitched yesterday.

[redsfan30]

He is a real throwback player, who will spend any amount of time necessary to improve his game.

Offensively, I'd say that's exactly right. He's improved so much offensively that it's not funny. But defense his a whole different story.

However, at the professional level, hard work does not always translate into success.

But it does lead to improvement. Wily Mo, no matter how much he works will never be a Gold Glove outfielder. But he could turn into a servicable one.

[CTA513]

Green grounds out. 3 outs.

[westofyou]

So it is a lazy analysis

It's the same impulse that spends time hand wringing over whether the team keeps its popular vets or not.

It's Reds Purgatory.