perfect article to generate debate about Ozzie Ball

[southsider2k5]

who said that?

 

I know I have said it. Alexei's baseball IQ is nil as far as I am concerned. He takes off way too many plays mentally, and makes the wrong choice all too often as well.

[ThunderBolt]

which basically has nothing to do with what I posted

Other then addressing that Ozzie doesn’t really like homers, has actively told players to stop trying to hit homeruns (Rios, Nix, and to show that one of the main tenets of Ozzieball is to shy away from hitting for power, which is what this thread is discussing … Yeah, you’re right. Nothing to do with it at all.

[witesoxfan]

Other then addressing that Ozzie doesn’t really like homers, has actively told players to stop trying to hit homeruns (Rios, Nix, and to show that one of the main tenets of Ozzieball is to shy away from hitting for power, which is what this thread is discussing … Yeah, you’re right. Nothing to do with it at all.

Trying to actively get players to not hit home runs would be detrimental and stupid.

Trying to get players to stop swinging for the fences every time they swing the bat would be very helpful for an offense that is hitting .222 as a group.

[MiddleCoastBias]

I know I have said it. Alexei's baseball IQ is nil as far as I am concerned. He takes off way too many plays mentally, and makes the wrong choice all too often as well.

It's sad to say, but it generally seems like he's the 'Randy Moss' of baseball (though he doesn't have the relative all-star capability that Moss has, if you can relate that across sports). He seems to be the guy that has the skills to really excel at his position if he can 'figure it out'. Moss seems to have settled into a solid role after a shaky start; I'm hoping Alexei is just experiencing those same growing pains and can break through that cloud. If he can, he can be something really special. I suspect Omar is here to really try to 'ground' him and keep him focused; I just hope it works.

[Kalapse]

Trying to actively get players to not hit home runs would be detrimental and stupid.

Trying to get players to stop swinging for the fences every time they swing the bat would be very helpful for an offense that is hitting .222 as a group.

The funny thing is our 1.112 OPS DH swings about as hard as he can at basically every pitch he sees.

[bmags]

It's sad to say, but it generally seems like he's the 'Randy Moss' of baseball (though he doesn't have the relative all-star capability that Moss has, if you can relate that across sports). He seems to be the guy that has the skills to really excel at his position if he can 'figure it out'. Moss seems to have settled into a solid role after a shaky start; I'm hoping Alexei is just experiencing those same growing pains and can break through that cloud. If he can, he can be something really special. I suspect Omar is here to really try to 'ground' him and keep him focused; I just hope it works.

 

randy moss was consistently awesome his first 5 years in the league.

[MiddleCoastBias]

randy moss was consistently awesome his first 5 years in the league.

True. But he had some issues with keeping his head in the game, and they were overlooked at first because of his super-stardom. My point is that Alexei has a similar issue (skill but no concentration), but he's not at the relative level of stardom to get away with it; he doesn't have the relative awesome skill that Moss possesses to compensate for his lapse in concentration. It eventually caught up with Moss, but he fought through it and overcame. The true test for Alexei is if he can learn from Vizquel or whomever to find the path necessary to overcome his brain farts, and become the player he has the ability to be.

Edited April 27, 2010 by The Baconator

[The Ginger Kid]

Other then addressing that Ozzie doesn’t really like homers, has actively told players to stop trying to hit homeruns (Rios, Nix, and to show that one of the main tenets of Ozzieball is to shy away from hitting for power, which is what this thread is discussing … Yeah, you’re right. Nothing to do with it at all.

LOL...I said he'd rather have more guys in the lineup hitting 20-25 a year than a few who hit 40. And now he's "anti-home run"??

 

you win.

[whitesoxfan101]

The biggest problem with our homeruns is that the majority are solo shots. I am not sure the stats behind this, but it sure seems like at least 60% of our homeruns have been solo ones.

 

That's what happens when your lineup is sporadic in who is hitting such as ours right now. We've got a few red hot guys hitting the home runs, but the ice cold guys are making it so that nobody or only one guy is on base. This could be a season long problem too. The hot guys will cool and the cold guys will warm up, but overall, we just don't have enough on base percentage in our lineup to make the doubles and home runs really count.

 

As for Ozzie Ball, it's a myth. Always has been, always will be. Our team is built on pitching and home runs, and it's been that way for a long time now when things are operating properly. If our front office doesn't want to be so home run reliant, it needs to build a lineup based upon consistent on base percentage throughout the lineup, because that's the only way you'll be able to pile up runs without power reliance (although mixing in some speed helps too). Also, power isn't a bad thing.

Edited April 27, 2010 by whitesoxfan101

[hogan873]

There's no doubt a good debate was created about "Ozzie Ball". And I agree with the banishment of that silly phrase. I'm not convinced that it's working (it ceratinly isn't yet), and it may never work in 2010. 2005 (I know, I know, stop talking about it) was an anomily. Everything came together perfectly. But it was more than just speed and grinders. It was pitching, good defense, and (wait for it) clutch hitting.

 

This team so far has lacked sorely in the clutch hitting department. Okay, sure, there was some clutch hitting three games in a row against Seattle. That's awesome, great, super...but they wouldn't have needed those clutch hits in the 8th and 9th if some of the "grinders" and speedy guys had gotten on base and some of the hitters and power guys had knocked them in earlier in the game.

 

If things continue with Pierre not getting on base very often and Beckham struggling (I doubt that, however), Andruw Jones may still hit 30+ HRs but have only 60 RBIs. Konerko may have a (late) career year, but his RBI total will be low, too.

 

Essentially if things don't turn around and the 8, 9, 1, and 2 hitters don't get on base for the likes of Jones, Konerko, and Quentin (hopefully), it's not going to matter how many HRs or doubles they hit.

[Balta1701]

The funny thing is our 1.112 OPS DH swings about as hard as he can at basically every pitch he sees.

Some guys it works for. Jones, thome, etc. You know as well as anyone though that Nix is really hampered by trying to kill every ball he sees. Josh Fields had it kill his career. Konerko, AJ...when they're trying to swing for the fences rather than going straight up the middle, they fall into slumps and K or pop up every time. (See: AJ right now).

[Y2HH]

Some guys it works for. Jones, thome, etc. You know as well as anyone though that Nix is really hampered by trying to kill every ball he sees. Josh Fields had it kill his career. Konerko, AJ...when they're trying to swing for the fences rather than going straight up the middle, they fall into slumps and K or pop up every time. (See: AJ right now).

 

Yes, but at least I get it when Kong tries to swing for the fences and falls into slumps.

 

Why AJ is doing it is beyond me. He's not a home run hitter.

[kitekrazy]

but he's lacking in baseball IQ

 

Powerful statement. I would say this is something the organization cares very little when it comes to drafting and evaluating players. They believe it can always be taught. Most players coming into the minors or just coming out of college have been playing the game to some degree for 10 years. I they don't have it then, what's the chance of them ever getting it?

 

 

 

 

[witesoxfan]

The funny thing is our 1.112 OPS DH swings about as hard as he can at basically every pitch he sees.

 

If you're making good contact, there's no problem with it. But when they throw a breaking ball away and the hitters continually roll over it, it becomes a problem. It's also much easier when the swing is quick through the zone and relatively short, which is part of what is plaguing Carlos Quentin.

 

I'm sure he's working on it, but it wouldn't hurt Quentin to sit down and watch some video of 2008 to see what he was doing right. Then it wouldn't hurt to watch some video of Jose Canseco, because Quentin reminds me quite a bit of Canseco with his swing.

[southsider2k5]

Powerful statement. I would say this is something the organization cares very little when it comes to drafting and evaluating players. They believe it can always be taught. Most players coming into the minors or just coming out of college have been playing the game to some degree for 10 years. I they don't have it then, what's the chance of them ever getting it?

 

So how do you scout a guy on how he plays the game of baseball when he comes from a country where you can't see him play?

[caulfield12]

The same way KW scouted Iguchi and decided to sign him before having seen him play in person, based on recommendations of other players who'd been around him in JAPAN....for Alexei and Dayan, stolen digital camera videos pirated out of Cuba and/or Cubano's blog.

 

Or a long conversation with that Peter dude with the "historic" Cuban baseball blog who was always underselling Viciedo constantly in the weeks before we signed him in any national interview about the Cuban influx of talent into MLB.

 

 

[whitesoxfan101]

The funny thing is our 1.112 OPS DH swings about as hard as he can at basically every pitch he sees.

 

Andruw is striking out about 1 in every 3 at bats right now, and is 14 for 33 on balls in play, so his OPS will be nosediving like an airplane that just blew all of its engines if such a ratio continues. However, I do agree that swinging as hard as you can at all times isn't always a bad thing.

Edited April 27, 2010 by whitesoxfan101