Comments on: MSTI.com’s 2008 In Review: First Base

By: grabarkewitz

grabarkewitz — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:42:43 +0000

Can’t argue, Vin. Ballgame did disappoint. With his start, I figured he would be in the running for the batting title, but I got the impression that he was hearing people saying they expected him to hit thirty bombs. When he hit the ball all over the yard, he was great, but when he got pull happy, his numbers just stunk.
In the playoffs, we saw the swing and the approach that he has to take, hit the ball where it is pitched and go to the gaps. He may never be a thirty homer guy, but I would take twenty homers and forty to fifty doubles.
Keep in mind, he is only 24, plenty of time and upside, before we consider him a flop.

By: Rob McMillin

Rob McMillin — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:34:13 +0000

Dead on. Loney is in peril of getting cut for a Pedro Feliz type, and he would be if he weren’t so cheap.

By: Rob McMillin

Rob McMillin — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:34:13 +0000

Dead on. Loney is in peril of getting cut for a Pedro Feliz type, and he would be if he weren’t so cheap.

By: Dusto

Dusto — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 03:19:03 +0000

I can’t agree more with the grade you gave James. While he had a high RBI total, his overall numbers were just so plain, mediocre, pedestrian, even his flashes of brilliance with the glove were nullified by his simple throwing errors to second. It was a dissappointing year for James and I totally expect more next year.

By: kensai

kensai — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:28:54 +0000

Works for me.

By: Harold

Harold — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:16:23 +0000

Your grade is fair, but I think there’s reason to hope for James next year.
Actually, next year is really going to be a pivotal season for so many Dodgers– Ethier, Martin, Loney and Kemp will all be expected to turn it up a notch or three.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:50:52 +0000

I think James problems this season were all in his head. He was thinking too much. I told him at the begining of August ” James, see the ball, hit the ball” and he went on a tear for weeks. Of course he fell off and regressed back to thinking again. In September it seemed like everytime he was up the bases were loaded and I was waiting for that granny. When he did finally hit it in the playoffs; to say it was sweet would be an understatement. Your grade at first seemed a little harsh but you are right on. The bar is going to be set even higher next year. I expect a monster year for James in 2009.

By: Vin Scully

Vin Scully — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:27:22 +0000

FireCross,
I was going to mention that, actually, but I left it out because it didn’t seem to correlate to his struggles at the plate this year, as some of the leaders in GIDP were guys like Tejada, Derrek Lee, Vlad, etc.
You are right when you mention how he had some hard outs, although the strange thing is, even with that, he had a BABIP of .320, which is above average.

By: Vin Scully

Vin Scully — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:27:22 +0000

By: Vin Scully

Vin Scully — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:24:40 +0000

You’re right, Schmol. Fixed. That’s what happens when you finish up articles at 1 A.M.
I have to say, the term sophomore jinx came into my head, too. I hope it’s something that simple.
But I do totally understand why some feel that I was a tad harsh on him and, as I said in the article, I’m a little leary on the grade myself… I’m sort of inbetween D+/C-, but after looking at the numbers and seeing just where he ranked amongst his peers, then seeing how far the numbers dropped from 2007, and then comparing that to our expectations… that’s why it came out the way it did.