Baseball thread No. VII

John Gibbons once was considered the Mets catcher of the future but got injured, played in only 18 major league games over two seasons, and the Mets went out and acquired Gary Carter to catch. He took over as manager of the Blue Jays during the 2004 season.

As for Hillenbrand, he has been bitching all year that Gibbons was using him almost exclsively as a DH -- and not even the everyday DH -- in his contract year when he felt he should have been playing third or first base t market himself. He apparently has been in a season-long pissing contest with Gibbons and it finally came to a head tonight.

 

Well that's the problem with using raw numbers, they don't take into consideration a player's experience and knowledge and how that affects the players around them. Delgado can't hit a softball right now, but his presence forces teams to pitch to Beltran and we see what kind of season he's having. I like Mike Jacobs, but he's not going to command that sort of respect from a pitcher, he isn't going to protect Beltran or Wright. Same with Lo Duca, the numbers don't show how well he can work an at-bat, how he can draw walks at crucial times or do the proper thing to advance Reyes for Beltran to get the RBIs. The things that Castro really can't do.

 

Shea Hillenbrand is a classic injustice collector. His entire life has been a series of slights. This can get tiresome for others-like his employers. Too bad. He is a good hitter.

 

2004? Jeezum. I really haven't paid attention to the Jays for a long time. Probably since they won the World Series. I used to watch them all the time on TV when the Angels went to Exhibition Stadium.

 

While it sounds like this is true (I don't really understand no one congratulating him on the adoption as a major injustice. Shitty, perhaps, but not a major to-do, I think. ...), I also don't buy this from Gibbons:

If all Hillenbrand's been playing is DH, why the fuck would he need to take infield to be in the lineup? I didn't get that at all.

 

Quick comparison:

Many people thought the Pirates got the better end of the Sean Casey-Dave Williams deal, and based just on those two players, you'd be correct. But here's a comparison between Casey's numbers and his replacement's -- Scott Hatteberg.

C: .305, .813 OPS, 3HR, 26 RBI in 187 AB

H: .317, .901 OPS, 8 HR, 29 RBI in 262 AB

The stats are comparable, but favoring Hatteberg. Hatteberg has had the advantage of playing about 30 more games due to Casey's injury. Casey, meanwhile, has had the advantage of hitting higher in the lineup.

But here's the big difference -- Salary:

C: $8.5 million

H: $750,000

 

If you don't know who John Gibbons is, it's your misfortune. He's a nice person and has done a superb job as a manager. Spnited is right, Gibbons was as good a catching prospect in the spring of 1985 as Dwight Gooden was a pitching prospect (in the words of Joe McIlvaine) but he suffered a terrible injury in a collision at home plate and was never the same. After a brief playing career, he became a coach/manager in the Mets' minor-league system (when Valentine was ML manager). With no chance to get called up to the majors as a coach, he moved on to the Toronto organization. They are happy he did.

I have no idea what the situation with Hillenbrand was but I'd take Gibbons' word for it and support him.

 

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't John Gibbons the catcher in the George Plimpton story about Sidd Finch?

 

Former Mets backup catcher Ronn(cq) Reynolds caught Sidd Finch

 

spnited --
Is it time we make a wager regarding Mauer's final BA.

I'll say he finishes above .375. What say you?

 

Less than .350 and fewer than 75 RBI