the situation with E.K. is exactaly what i am talking about. he will go with his “boys” rather than a hot young player that hasnt been there for a while. he has absolutley no player development skills. every good young bat or arm the giants had during his tenure was either shipped to another team or had to wait 2-3 years too long to get his shot, i.e. rich aurilia.
as far as having 15 more wins i give baker zero crdit for that. they have 15 more because they have a healthy wood, a budding star in zambrano, and now a healthy clement and prior. not to mention the emergence of guys like patterson, as well as the various veterans they added to their roster.
on the other hand the giants have exprienced more injury this year alone than baker experienced in his entire managerial career. yet they have gone wire to wire and are challenging atl for the best record.
baker manages to make his players happy, hence the all star game in which scioscia managed to win and baker managed to get all the players in. it is such a contrast with alou these days. the only thing constant wih alou is that bonds is hitting 4th. everyone else will move or sit based on performance and performance only.
Another good example of the Dusty’s lack of player development skills from his Giants years is Pedro Feliz. Dusty hardly ever played him, even though the organization was very high on him. Alou has given him a shot this year and he’s turned into a nice utility player with some pop off the bench. I heard Karros say earlier in the year that he and Dusty had a lot in common because they had both been Dodgers. Count on Dusty continuing to throw the old farts out there, because he never thinks the young 'uns are ready.
Oh yeah and one other thing…uhhh Baker’s decision to go with Karros lately isn’t a bad managing decision. The guy has the highest average on the team! You’re tellin’ me you would sit somebody hitting well over three hundred, as opposed to a guy who hasn’t even cracked two-fifty? And who made two errors in one game in the first Padres game? Yep, it was Choi. I’m not saying Baker is a good manager, he’s done a lot of things I question (continually using Alfonsucka). But that Karros argument is just weak.
Sorry to hear that bro. All I have to say is 26 world championships in 100 years of existence. Who here doubts that the Yankees are the greatest sports franchise of all time?!
Go Stros ASTROS yeah we’ll see Cubs are a good team and will be a very interesting few weeks. But Living in Houston Growing up as a Atlanta and Astros fan (Watching in the Astro Dowm as The Braves wipe out the Astros) Sorry for the loss hehehe Astros all the way.
i have to say the cubs are playing better than i thought, however i think it is because houston and especially st louis has been decimated by injuries to their rotation. nevertheless as a giant fan i would rather face atl than chicago in the post season, simply because the braves have no starting pitching. their team era is well over 4. they have succeeded with homeruns to this point and that dont fly in october. atl is barely playing .500 ball since the break, ortiz has 19 wins because of a ton of run support, maddux is basically a 3rd or 4th starter at this point and hampton is inconsistent.
ill take schmidt and ponson against any other two in baseball in any series any day.
Not really a Cubs fan, but I was happy to see them clinch the other day. How can you dislike Sammy when he sprints onto the field pointing into the stands with the Wrigley faithful going apeshit. That’s what it’s all about.