Chris Dickerson is fitting in very well
Looks like Chris Dickerson has very quickly learned what Reds Baseball ™ is all about:
Chris Dickerson had no excuse.
He was picked off first base Thursday. He was walking back the bag with his head down when catcher Humberto Quintero threw to first. It was a big play. The Reds were down 2-0 in a game they ended up losing 3-2. Dickerson was only the third base-runner of the day to that point.
“I was being lazy,” he said. “I dropped my head. It was lackadaisical, lazy on my part. It’s so basic, so fundamental: Know where the ball is at all times. I lost sight of that.”
I like Chris Dickerson — he’s going to be a decent backup outfielder for someone for the next few years — and I don’t mean to pick on him. It’s just that after eight years of watching this exact same nonsense, it gets tiring.
I thought Dusty Baker was going to stress fundamentals with this team. Has anyone seen any indication of that?
August 28th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
http://www.cubby-blue.com/my_weblog/images/2007/10/16/fundamentalphonecall.jpg
didn’t know if I could post a picture in the comments section lol so…
August 28th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Dusty Baker and fundamentals don’t mix together. Never have, never will. Get used to it.
August 28th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
He won all those years in SF by letting Barroid Bonds swing for the fences, and he won in Chicago letting Sammy Sosa swing for the fences as well. Does it actually surprise anybody this team has regressed?
August 28th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Well it’s somewhat of a contradiction to “stress fundamentals” and at the same time not understand the concept of getting on base or batting Patterson in the leadoff spot.
Not getting out == a fundamental
I have no idea if Dusty stresses *anything* but EE’s and Dunn’s defense did seem to improve this season.
I was surprised to read in an article about the Dunn trade a quote from Dunn saying he “took groundballs at 1B every day” and that he “would play 1B”. While I have no idea if this is a change because of Dusty (maybe Dunn has ALWAYS taken grounders at 1B?) but that contradicts what some people have said about Dunn.
August 28th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Re: Does it actually surprise anybody this team has regressed?
How many people understand the amount at which this team has gotten worse? Not all blame goes on Dusty but also I Krivsky.
All we have to do is compare every major part of the team from this year to last and we see something very ugly
The Reds rankings in baseball
Offense (EQA): 24th in 2008, 17th in 2007. note: they have also had the worst offense in ALL of baseball since trading Dunn.
Rotation (SNLVAR): 22nd in 2008, 23rd in 2007
Bullpen (WXRL): 21st in 2008, 28th in 2007. We improved but still stink
Defense (defensive efficiency): 30th(!!) in 2008, 26th in 2007
This team is terrible in *every* way and other than a slight improvement in the bullpen (I hope so after spending all that money on a closer) they are worse this year than last.
The only hope at all is the youth on this team but now that the team has a MASSIVE hole to fill in Dunn I don’t see the team getting better than last year unless they spend a LOT of $$$$.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Pete Mackanin was the right guy and the Reds management couldn’t see it. They slipped into the Dusty Baker reality distortion field.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Actually Wayne wanted to keep Pete, but Big Bob wanted Baker.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
I Krivsky.
Boy, that’s a nightmare novel in the making, huh?
August 29th, 2008 at 3:08 am
John Fay had an interview after the firing of Krivsky where Krivsky stated that HE wanted Baker and talked with him for quite a long time.
August 29th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Regardless of whether Walt or Krivsky or Big Bob wanted Baker, it was instantly clear that fans didn’t want him and knew not to hire the joker. But fans are stupid, don’t know anything, live in their mom’s basement, and don’t understand how the business of baseball works — that’s all privileged knowledge reserved for the smartest people in the game.
Guys like Dusty Baker and Wayne Krivsky.
Yeah.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:08 am
Guys, Dusty does some stupid and stubborn things, but there’s no human on earth who could’ve managed this team to relevance. No one.
I’m not saying they’re all the same, but I just don’t think they can possibly make much difference — a handful of games, max.
August 29th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Right-o, Dan.
August 29th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
On the subject of Dickerson, here’s an excerpt from a blog item I posted in early May after seeing Louisville play in Richmond:
“Chris Dickerson got picked off first in a weird play in which the first baseman made a wild scoop of a pickoff attempt, then faked out Dickerson as if the ball had gotten by. [Rick] Sweet’s expression after that play was priceless.”