Comments on: I Remember This Guy

By: First One Who Falls Off The Portis Pole Loses [Afternoon Blogdome] | the daily john

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 14:02:00 +0000

[...] • Conlin lauds Phils’ Ibanez acquisition: Crashburn Alley does not. [Crashburn Alley] [...]

By: Bill Conlin won’t miss Pat Burrell’s base clogging | umpbump.com

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:45:50 +0000

[...] Crashburn Alley (who you may remember has a bit of a history with Conlin) has taken the time to break Conlin’s column down Fire Joe Morgan-style. But somehow Crashburn neglected to take Conlin to task for accusing Burrell of clogging the bases. And I’m not gonna let that slide. [...]

By: Bill Baer

Bill Baer — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 03:27:06 +0000

Special_K, is there any evidence that production over a longer period of time is more valuable than within a shorter period? In other words, let’s say he hit for a .900 OPS in 25 at-bats one week and .600 in 25 at-bats the next week. Would he have been more valuable if he had put up a .750 OPS over two weeks instead?

I realize that’s probably an impossible question to prove, but my point is that the “consistency” argument against Burrell doesn’t carry enough weight.

Steve, more good points on Burrell’s lack of RBI.

By: Special_K

Special_K — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 03:13:44 +0000

Which Burrell lover here would argue that Pat the Bat didnt go thru horrific slumps at the plate. he would go from killer to tomato for weeks at a time. So if Ibanez smooths that out he would be an upgrade.

Sad fact is that we should have signed Lowe to three years not 500 yr old Moyer for 2 years.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 02:48:22 +0000

Howard’s lack of speed (and lowered overall OBP) hurt Burrell’s run production, as did Manual’s willingness to put in Bruntlett late in games (taking away Burrell ABs).

By: Bill Baer

Bill Baer — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 02:45:25 +0000

Natalys, my criticism of Ibanez is not to imply that he’s a bad player, but yes, the signing was a bad choice. He’ll be productive, about as much as Burrell, but the context just didn’t make it a logical move.

Ryan, that’s exactly right: RBI is a team-dependent statistic. If you bat behind productive hitters, especially if the hitters in front of that guy are good at reaching base, then your RBI opportunities will dwindle.

Pat’s lack of reaching the arbitrary triple-digit plateau in RBI is almost entirely due to Howard and Utley, not some inability to drive in runners. And let’s not forget he reached 95 and 97 RBI in consecutive seasons in 2006 and ‘07, so Conlin’s really cherry-picking.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:16:56 +0000

It bugs me when people use RBI in general as an argument, but to use it against Burrell is just insane. “He hasn’t driven in 100 runs since 2005″ … I’m going to safely guess that part of the reason is he always bats behind Ryan “140 RBI in my Sleep” Howard and Chase Utley.

By: Natalys

Natalys — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:55:22 +0000

Great post; it’s my new go-to article for convincing people that Ibanez was a bad choice.