In the spring training dispatch '
Riggleman juggles batting order' we are treated to the following:
"Werth proved in a 5-2 victory against the Tigers on Thursday that hitting second is a good idea. He went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs."
I don't have a fully formed opinion on Werth hitting second, but it distresses me that Ladson believes that a single spring training game constitutes proof. On the scales of justice, the closest equivalent to 'one spring training game' is shown below:
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| Identical weight. |
Although the passage is minor, I think it provides insight into how Ladson is capable of churning out such intricately flawed conclusions on the regular.
That is an epically dumb statement by Ladson, but as studies have shown that lineup order has little impact on outcome, at least it's in support of pointless thesis.
ReplyDeleteShouldn't Elijah Dukes be hitting second?
I'd be curious to see standing predictions from you, if only so I could leave my own in the comments.
Thanks for your comment. My favorite goofy lineup topic of all time was when LaRussa was regularly batting his pitcher eighth in an attempt to get an extra man on base for Pujols. The Hardball Times had a decent article on it back in 2007:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/is-larussa-right-to-bat-his-pitcher-in-the-eight-slot/
The main virtue of that article, though, is that it provides a link to baseballmusings.com's lineup analysis. It's fun to play around with and I'll do so in a post. I'll also do a post on standings in honor of Opening Day.
Finally, nice try on tempting me to make a tasteless Elijah Dukes joke but I was able to hold off (barely).
I hate Tony LaRussa. I think I remember him doing that last year, but it could be that my hatred for him clouded my memory. I do remember the Brewers started doing it for a while. Speaking of Brewers, one good thing about Nyjer Morgan in Milwaukee is that he'll have plenty of opportunity to upset LaRussa. That could be fun.
ReplyDeleteRemind me not to get you 'Three Nights in August' then.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Three-Nights-August-Strategy-Heartbreak/dp/0618710531/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301947106&sr=8-1
LaRussa did it on numerous occasions last year, I think, but it was back a few years ago that he was consistent with it.