Jackie Robinson Day
Ian Kinsler said it before the game about Jackie Robinson...
"Obviously he was an incredible player," Kinsler said. "He broke the color barrier but at the same time you shouldn't overlook what kind of ballplayer he was. He was a Hall of Fame second base.
A few observations:
On-base: Robinson's on-base percentage was over .400 in six of ten seasons he played. His lowest was .367 in his second season. His highest was .440. For five straight years in 1949-54, his OPS was over .900.
Strikeouts vs. walks: He had 740 career walks and just 291 strikeouts. In 1949, he won the National League MVP award, he walked 86 times and struck out just 27 times in a career-high 593 at-bats. His career high in strikeouts was 40. That was the same year he walked 106 times. Only twice in ten years did he not walk more than twice as many times as he struck out.
Bunt: He had 28 sacrifice hits as a rookie.
Fielding: He was the Dodgers regular second baseman in 1948-52. In those five years, his range factor was higher than the league average and his fielding percentage was higher than the league average. The Dodgers then brought up Junior Gilliam in 1953 to play second base and third base became Robinson's primary infield position. Over the next four years, his fielding percentage and range factor were also above the league average for a third baseman.
Hit by pitch: He was in the top three in hit by pitches in seven of his first eight seasons in the big leagues.
Steals: Robinson does not have eye-popping stolen bases numbers. You have to remember that he was 28 when he played his first game for the Dodgers and stolen bases weren't emphasized back then. His career high was 37 in 1949. But he also stole home 19 times, which is believed to be the highest since World War 1.
When I was young I knew that Jackie Robinson was a king pin in the Dodger machine...which was awesome. As a Braves fan we loved to hate them. To show how much we cared about them I can do the lineups of only two teams of the 50's vintage...Braves and Dodgers. We didn't know what was going on with Mr. Robinson and his own team mates. It wasn't until I was adult that I read about the trials of being "first." A brave man.... Match his ways of doing things to say Milton Bradley last year. I don't know what it says but I don't think it's necessarily progress. Robinson proved playing baseball and being a man (Eleanor I mean that in the sense of being a person) has little to do with flapping your mouth at called third strikes as happened today.
My only comment on Tuesday's game. : Good Gracious, that was bad baseball. Too early in the season to get too shook up but that was bad baseball.
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omg the rangers just flat out suck. bad baserunning and the defense is atrocious. i live about 5 hours away and was looking forward to wathching a rangers game in the summer. now with the gas prices rising and how horrible the rangers are i probably wont go to a game
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I had the opportunity to go to the ballpark for the last two games using free passes received when attending meaningless games at the end of last season. Just cost me $6 to park each day. Still didn't get my money's worth, I'm afraid.
I'm not going to quit going to the ballpark as many suggest these days. I am a baseball fan, and I'll continue to go. However, it is quite disappointing to take my son to the game, and have the game turn into a series of examples of what not to do. We talked about taking a meaningless base in the ninth, and well, ... I could go on and on.
I don't mind getting beat by better teams. In fact, all of us have become conditioned to that. I do mind watching a veteran team getting beat by better teams AND watching our team give away the games they realistically should win.
It looks like this could be a big road trip for the team (and baseball man?) early in the season. I really didn't expect this team to contend (see my 72-90 prediction), but for those who did - the team needs a big turnaround quick or it risks getting buried before we get out of April.
If the road trip looks anything like the homestand do we get our first glimpse of Nolan on the job? Or is it still too soon to see? Stay tuned.....
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Baseball is a game of statistics. The statistics show that in Washingtons limited managerial experience, i am going on his 1.5 years at the helm of his minor league team and his 1 year of major league experience. The stats show his team regresses in the second season. So lets move on, get rid of the guy. THE MANAGER PRINCIPAL ROLE IS TO PREPARE HIS TEAM. I don't see guys working counts, playing defense or running the bases. All reported strengths of Washington. The main thing i have learned about baseball is WALKS KILL. In Wednesday nights game, a game we should have won, errors and walks. I also ask this, why take BOTTS out a switch hitter? A defensive replacement named Broussard committed a costly error. Sometimes i believe Washington just makes moves to be making moves. We had no right handed bats on the bench, the game wasn't over so you have to keep Botts in, in my opinion. We have too many left handed hitters and none on the bench. I don't care who we get, we need a right handed power bat either in the outfield or on the bench. Everyone knows how important it was for us to get off to a good start. Well it hasn't happened. Our starting pitching has been lights out, yet the fundamentals of the game aren't being executed, this falls on the manager, eventhough he doesn't hit field, hit or throw. A manager who refuses to accept the responsibility for these things, well just isn't a manager in my book. Has Washington ever been thrown out of a game? "You lollygag in the infield, what does that make us? A bunch of lollygaggers." For those who don't know Ranger Baseball isn't something that is easy on the eyes, nor is it for the feeble minded or those with queasy stomachs. Ha Ha. Rangers out of it by April as Nostradamus has said. Hey, it happens every year, to predict otherwise is to be uniformed and is shocking to all. Managers should lead and be leaders, i just don't see it from Wash. So fire them all Nolan, rumor has it you aren't too pleased. So lets get on with it. Set a standard, demand it and it will be met.
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