2010 - A year of unlikely negative surprises
by meercatjohn on Dec 22, 2010 1:14 PM PST
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2010 ended up being a year full of surprises both good and bad. Over the next two non story days we will ask you what you felt were the best of these. In honor of Tripon and Humma we will first take a look at the bad surprises.
1. Manny getting traded for nothing. Basically Manny not finishing the year with the Dodgers even though he had a .915 OPS at the time we traded him.
2. Broxton unraveling to the point that your stomach got queasy when he came in.
3. Matt Kemp hitting .233/.299/.423 from July 16 till the end of the year in 281 plate appearances.
4. James Loney hitting .211/.285./331 from July 16th till the end of the year. That would be 271 plate appearances of Mark Belanger, the worst hitting SS I can think of.
5. Andre Ethier hitting .256/.348./.426 from July 16th till the end of the year after being a Triple Crown Candidate on May 14th with a line of .392 / .457 / .744.
There were more but based on the comments when I put forth the question this seemed to be the top five to me. I'll a sixth (other) but if you pick it, please tell us what you would have picked.
I didn't expect Manny to finish the season with the Dodgers so I can't vote for number one but many of you were adamant that he would so maybe that is your vote.
I was however very much on the Loney bandwagaon and after a decent 1st half I really thought he'd get it going in the 2nd half, so for me, that putrid performance of his in the 2nd half was the biggest surprise to me.
Andre has always been hot and cold so maybe the cold streak was not so surprising.
I think Kemps season would not have been such a surprise if we had not watched him hit opposite field home runs with regularity at the beginning of the year. Who knew you could realize that you had great power to RC field, then simply decide not to take advantage of it for most of the year. Many of us hoped that Kemp was going to build on 2009 and become a MVP candidate in 2011. He did after all win the Golden Glove and Silver Slugger awards. He was the guy we thought was our elite player. He was the Bison we expected to trample on his opponents not get brought down by a simple arrow down and away.
Then again after being as good as you can be, our boy Broxton was just about as bad as you can be. Given how much effort was put forth supporting Broxton, maybe his suckitude was the biggest baddest surprise in tow for us in 2010.
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I voted for “Jame” Loney. Maybe he’ll be better than James.
My belt holds up my pants and my pants have belt loops that hold up the belt. What the f*ck’s really goin' on down there? Who is the real hero?
should be Jim
"Heroes get remembered, but Legends never die."
by Tommy Blackjack on Dec 22, 2010 1:19 PM PST up reply actions
Okay, so I actually voted for Kemp. His April was so exciting, I was ready to fill out my all Star ballot then.
My belt holds up my pants and my pants have belt loops that hold up the belt. What the f*ck’s really goin' on down there? Who is the real hero?
I was ready to dance on Jay Jaffe's grave
because I’d drafted Kemp in the 1st round and it looked like he was going to carry me to victory.
You can be (incompetent and a nice guy), you can be (competent and an asshole), but if you are an (asshole and incompetent), your only future is to be Keith's boss otherwise you are unemployable
I voted Matt
I really thought he was gonna bust out last year. Still have hope though!
"Heroes get remembered, but Legends never die."
by Tommy Blackjack on Dec 22, 2010 1:19 PM PST reply actions
Where's the picture of the stormfront
Squirrel!
My belt holds up my pants and my pants have belt loops that hold up the belt. What the f*ck’s really goin' on down there? Who is the real hero?
looked more like an Alien to me
"The trouble with programmers is that you can never tell what a programmer is doing until it’s too late."
Brilliant set up
You can be (incompetent and a nice guy), you can be (competent and an asshole), but if you are an (asshole and incompetent), your only future is to be Keith's boss otherwise you are unemployable
:)
My belt holds up my pants and my pants have belt loops that hold up the belt. What the f*ck’s really goin' on down there? Who is the real hero?
what is your catchphrase from?
You can be (incompetent and a nice guy), you can be (competent and an asshole), but if you are an (asshole and incompetent), your only future is to be Keith's boss otherwise you are unemployable
I was going to repost
but looks like you’ve got it covered!
Both my dogs
do that squirrel thing. Squirrels are their mortal enemy.
Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man
I think UP hit dogs right on the nose
You can be (incompetent and a nice guy), you can be (competent and an asshole), but if you are an (asshole and incompetent), your only future is to be Keith's boss otherwise you are unemployable
I voted other
ElyMania was the biggest surprise to me.
That will be on the "good" surprise list
I don’t think Elymania was a negative.
You can be (incompetent and a nice guy), you can be (competent and an asshole), but if you are an (asshole and incompetent), your only future is to be Keith's boss otherwise you are unemployable
I voted Broxton.
I don’t think Ethier should even be on the list. Maybe the extent of his fade was a surprise, but it was not a surprise that he had a month in which he hit well, other months in which he disappeared, and ended up in the mid-800s OPS range.
Now with 33% more Kavula
I think both extremes were surprising
the level at which he hit before the pinky break
the level at which he hit after the all – star game, long after the pinky could still have been considered the problem.
The leader is Broxton and he only pitched 19 innings.
As far as damage to the team goes, I think Loney’s plunge did the most damage and was the most surprising. For two years he’s been middling but that performance really was one of the stinkeroo’s in all of baseball for the 2nd half.
You can be (incompetent and a nice guy), you can be (competent and an asshole), but if you are an (asshole and incompetent), your only future is to be Keith's boss otherwise you are unemployable
As far as Ethier goes
I think his legs were also part of the problem. I remember someone (I think it was Torre) saying that he never really recovered from an ankle injury in ST, and really towards the end of the year, he always seemed like he was wincing whenever he got on base. I agree he’s a streaky hitter though.
"Heroes get remembered, but Legends never die."
by Tommy Blackjack on Dec 22, 2010 1:39 PM PST up reply actions
Does Fangraphs offer first half/second half splits on WPA? I wonder if it would be interesting to see who the real second half culprits were. Is it possible that Broxton — yes, only 19 innings, but oh the damage — could be up among the leaders?
Now with 33% more Kavula
by Humma Kavula on Dec 22, 2010 1:40 PM PST up reply actions
You have to do it month by month, but eyeballing it says the leader is Broxton by a lot, then Blake.
@andrewngrant
by regfairfield on Dec 22, 2010 1:45 PM PST up reply actions
And John Ely despite not pitching in August is pretty close too.
@andrewngrant
by regfairfield on Dec 22, 2010 1:45 PM PST up reply actions
So basically
another stat that is full of shit
You can be (incompetent and a nice guy), you can be (competent and an asshole), but if you are an (asshole and incompetent), your only future is to be Keith's boss otherwise you are unemployable
He did have an 8.85 ERA in the second half.
@andrewngrant
by regfairfield on Dec 22, 2010 1:49 PM PST up reply actions
If a guy who made
only four starts is the biggest problem in the 2nd half compared to the guys who put up over 750 plate appearances, I declare the stat to be of the horseshit variety even though I know nothing of the stat or how it is derived. I’ll use my common sense.
You can be (incompetent and a nice guy), you can be (competent and an asshole), but if you are an (asshole and incompetent), your only future is to be Keith's boss otherwise you are unemployable
I just did July-Sept so it’s counting two starts where he combined for five innings and 12 runs.
A starter can single handedly lose a game, a hitter can’t really do that.
@andrewngrant
by regfairfield on Dec 22, 2010 1:56 PM PST up reply actions
But WPA sucks anyway, so I’m not gonna spend to much time defending it.
@andrewngrant
by regfairfield on Dec 22, 2010 1:57 PM PST up reply actions
The issue is trying to put credit for wins or losses on one guy. In that sense, WPA is full of shit, in that it doesn’t paint the complex picture that is a ballgame.
Common sense tells us that the sucky offense was the problem in the second half. There’s no disagreeing with that.
But in the games as they were played, the one fella who did the most damage was very likely Broxton. No, no one expects him to be perfect. And yes, any save he blows is a game that could have been won if the offense had scored more runs. But Broxton was so bad, and he had more than one game that he should have been expected to shut the door and could not.
Look, I don’t really disagree with you about WPA — it does not address what the problem was in any meaningful way. But I think it does throw into relief how bad Broxton was (and Ely, too).
Now with 33% more Kavula
by Humma Kavula on Dec 22, 2010 1:59 PM PST up reply actions
Bearface was not surprised
You can be (incompetent and a nice guy), you can be (competent and an asshole), but if you are an (asshole and incompetent), your only future is to be Keith's boss otherwise you are unemployable
Good times
for our core trio
They must like each other to much.
You can be (incompetent and a nice guy), you can be (competent and an asshole), but if you are an (asshole and incompetent), your only future is to be Keith's boss otherwise you are unemployable
Looks like Ethier was playing stinky pinky with Loney.
No wonder they couldn’t get it done on the field.
Manny was the big key to the line up.
It’s easy to see the difference in production of Ethier and Kemp without another big bat, and that is not Uribe.
So far, looks like the Dodgers will try the line up without another big bat again to start off 2011.
So let’s try the same action and expect a different result?
Good luck.
Podsednick was a mistake.
An addition to the 2010 team born of desperation.
by 68elcamino427 on Dec 22, 2010 1:54 PM PST up reply actions
The best trade Ned made at the deadline was the one for Scott Podsednik.
Interpret that how you will.
@andrewngrant
by regfairfield on Dec 22, 2010 1:57 PM PST up reply actions
Could work
the initial cut left them groping for support and unable to find it they collapsed to the ground. Hopefully after a winter of reflection, starting off fresh, they won’t be groping for the support from someone no longer there and be able to look within themselves to find the strength they need to overcome the adversity of playing without one of baseball’s best hitters.
or Not
You can be (incompetent and a nice guy), you can be (competent and an asshole), but if you are an (asshole and incompetent), your only future is to be Keith's boss otherwise you are unemployable
I don't want to know
and I don’t need to know
"The trouble with programmers is that you can never tell what a programmer is doing until it’s too late."
it definetely goes
in the “I don’t give a shit” pile
"Heroes get remembered, but Legends never die."
by Tommy Blackjack on Dec 22, 2010 1:53 PM PST up reply actions
that is a funny expression
"Heroes get remembered, but Legends never die."
by Tommy Blackjack on Dec 22, 2010 1:57 PM PST up reply actions
Broxton dominating the vote
it is such a huge lead we may have to leave this depressing post and head over to the positive surprise vote.
You can be (incompetent and a nice guy), you can be (competent and an asshole), but if you are an (asshole and incompetent), your only future is to be Keith's boss otherwise you are unemployable
Sure it’s a huge lead, but he could still blow it
by Michael White on Dec 22, 2010 2:01 PM PST up reply actions 15 recs
Now that is funny.
Now with 33% more Kavula
by Humma Kavula on Dec 22, 2010 2:01 PM PST up reply actions
OMG - that was great timing
You can be (incompetent and a nice guy), you can be (competent and an asshole), but if you are an (asshole and incompetent), your only future is to be Keith's boss otherwise you are unemployable
That was the most painful rec I’ve ever had to make.
You can be (incompetent and a nice guy), you can be (competent and an asshole), but if you are an (asshole and incompetent), your only future is to be Keith's boss otherwise you are unemployable
I imagine that people who have actually been in a hurricane
are offended.
"The trouble with programmers is that you can never tell what a programmer is doing until it’s too late."
debbie downer
"The trouble with programmers is that you can never tell what a programmer is doing until it’s too late."
LATimesCitydesk :Pea-sized hail reported in Glendale, Pasadena: http://lat.ms/eyo2kq
by Michael White on Dec 22, 2010 2:17 PM PST up reply actions
It's pretty intense in Downey
At lunch, sun was peeking through and I thought it might be done for the day.
Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man
Adam Dunn is said to not even like baseball and just look at how he gets rewarded for that!
by 68elcamino427 on Dec 22, 2010 2:27 PM PST up reply actions
NPUT
we don’t want this one to fester here to long. Time to close the book on the negative part of 2010 and move on to the positive things.
http://www.truebluela.com/2010/12/22/1892299/most-positive-surprise-of-2010
You can be (incompetent and a nice guy), you can be (competent and an asshole), but if you are an (asshole and incompetent), your only future is to be Keith's boss otherwise you are unemployable
typo?
>> Many of us hoped that Kemp was going to build on 2009 and become a MVP candidate in 2011.
.
I’m pretty sure you meant the last word of this sentence to be 2010 rather than 2011.
I voted other.
I think it was the three of Loney, Kemp and Ethier. I think they all had a season to (hopefully) forget.
Brox's 2nd half collapse
"Pluto’s not even a planet no more, which I’m very disturbed about. I grew up when Pluto was a planet. Now, I’m 25, I turn around and Pluto’s no longer a planet. I’m going to elbow that guy in the nose." -Ron Artest
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