You already know Berroa is probably the worst every day player in baseball.
He has a plan he takes to the plate every single time – this guy will purposely swing and miss at a curveball in spring training just so he can get that same curveball during a more important game in August.
Unnamed scout on Manny Ramirez:QuoteHe has a plan he takes to the plate every single time – this guy will purposely swing and miss at a curveball in spring training just so he can get that same curveball during a more important game in August.
For those of you who don't know about Baseball Reference PI, I would strongly recommend that you avoid it at all costs because it will drain away every free hour of your life. It is a search engine that essentially allows you to answer any baseball question you can imagine. I'm not kidding.
-- John Mayberry tells a great story about Frank Tanana. They both grew up in Detroit, but I suspect that Big John may have grown up in a slightly different part of Detroit. In August 1974, Big John had 19 home runs (he was among the league leaders) when he faced Tanana in a game. Tanana came inside and hit Mayberry on the wrist. Big John missed three weeks, and was not quite right the rest of the season. He was not happy.So early the next year (the date, sadly, is lost to history) the Royals were playing the Angels again, and Big John saw Tanana jogging in the outfield before the game. He ran after Tanana, grabbed him, shoved him against the fence and shouted, "Do you know how much money you cost me? Don't you EVER come inside on me again, you hear me? If you hit me again, I will kill you, do you understand? I will KILL you.""After that," Big John said, "my homeboy Frank served it up on a plate for me. Nice and easy and over the middle of the plate, just how I like it."Well, I looked it up. The whole thing is true. In 1973 and 1974, Mayberry faced Tanana 16 times, struck out six and hit .250. In 1975, he hit .462 against Tanana with zero strikeouts in 13-at bats. In fact from 1975 on, Mayberry hit .367 against Tanana and struck out just once in 30 at-bats (the strikeout came five years after the "I will kill you" incident -- and it was a very different Frank Tanana too).
Thursday, March 22, 2007Movie Scouting Report 2Crash Davis, Durham Bulls.Strengths: Switch hitter with power, especially from the left side. ... Generates good bat speed ... Has hit 227 home runs in the minor leagues. ... Outstanding mistake hitter. Feasts on hanging breaking balls and fastballs out and over the plate ... ... Aggressive hitter ... Hard worker who constantly tinkers with his swing ... Outstanding feel for the game. Will probably go into coaching when his career is over ... Works well with young pitchers ... Above average receiving skills. Blocks the plate. ... Calls a solid game.Weaknesses: Cannot catch up to a good fastball, especially from right side ... Swings and misses a lot. Has never hit for a good average ... Below average arm ... Will go into prolonged slumps and then he starts to think too much. ... Has become a guess hitter in his later years. ... Won't take a walk. ... Well below average runner ... Gets down on himself.Overall: Davis has bounced all over the place in his 12-year career ... Shows his age but he can hit the occasional home run, and he works well with young pitchers ... Still wants to play every day, and he's in good shape for a 35-year-old catcher. ... Can no longer hit upper level fastballs or good breaking pitches. ... Looks just like the guy from "The Untouchables." Eerie ... This will probably be his last year as a player. Could manage in the big leagues someday.
10:45 a.m.: Just got out to Kauffman Stadium -- there's a guy mowing the infield right now. He appears to be using some sort of manual mower ... I realize the Royals are a small market club, but come on.Had an inspirational moment on the drive over. I was driving on I-435 and a car went blurring by in the left lane -- I mean this guy was flying. I looked over, and there was a blue Royals flag flapping out of the driver's window. Here was a Royals' fan really ready to get the season started. It's the magic of Opening Day.
6 p.m.: Well, we're going to wrap it up here -- this looks like the Royals most successful opener since an 11-2 stomping of Toronto in 1979. Wow. Gil Meche throws a beautiful 7-plus innings, the Royals get more than solid relief pitching, Tony Pena Jr. hits two triples and makes a dazzling play, John Buck earns his cheers with a monster homer, Mike Sweeney doesn't get hurt, the Royals beat the Red Sox 7-1 -- seriously how much better can you get than that?What does it mean? Well, there are all sorts of good feelings in Kansas City for a couple of days, anyway. And we know one thing for sure -- the Royals will most definitely not go winless this year. They can't take that away.
