During World Series week we discussed the complete overhaul of the San Francisco Giants starting lineup from 2010 to 2012. I suggested that theirs was a strategy of “doing it wrong quickly” and after looking more deeply into the matter, I’m standing by that theory. Further, it seems to be a strategy that the Giants have employed for a while, and it’s worth investigating the construction of their 2010 squad as well. Let’s start with the 2010-2012 turnover first, however, honing in on the World Series starters at each position.
buster posey
San Francisco Wins with Giant Ball
The San Francisco Giants won the second game of the 2012 World Series via an old-fashioned method called “execution.” Some may describe SanFran’s strategy as “small ball” but maybe it should be called “giant ball.”
Buster Posey: What Should Change?
On Twitter, my friend JamesK from AmazinAvenue tweeted: I’d like to hear @metstoday’s opinion on the Buster Posey situation and any rule changes going forward. Since I’m a huge fan of Buster Posey, but the subject doesn’t really fit into a Mets blog, I posted my opinion over at my other blog, OnBaseball.com. It’s the … Read more
Catching: How (Not) To Frame
There was a lot of jibber-jabber from the Mets bench on Sunday afternoon as home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi was inundated with a number of borderline pitches. It’s very hard to tell from the TV screen whether Cuzzi was right or wrong, since the off-center angle of the centerfield camera can make pitches that are balls look like strikes, and vice-versa. The best angle is directly behind home plate, of course — and it is the only angle that matters.
Toward that end, it is extremely important for the catcher to be skillful at properly receiving the baseball. For years and years and years, baseball coaches at every level have huffed and puffed about “framing”: the idea of catching the ball in one place (off the plate), but “easing” it into another (the strike zone). It’s considered very savvy to do so, and it seems to be taught even to little leaguers; everyone who “knows anything about catching”, knows about framing.
Despite popular belief, it’s absolutely wrong.
The catcher’s first job is to
Mets Game 91: Loss to Giants
Giants 8 Mets 4 The good news is that the Mets finally scored. The bad news is they have lost their first series of the second half. Game Notes Hisanori Takahashi started out well, retiring the first three batters he faced. Things changed in the second inning, however, when Buster Posey led off with a … Read more