07 May 2008

Best of the Outfield?


Blake DeWitt and his charging Dodgers are deflating some Dbackers, but nothing brings down Phoenix faithful inside the park lately quite like these dozen words:



Ah yes. Here it comes. The onset of outs, the precursor of pop ups and eradicator of rallies. Four times a night, sometimes five, these recorded strains herald each approach of Eric Byrnes to his personal "outbox", located directly west of home plate.

The song, by a deservedly defunct band called "The Outfield ", is probably worth hating on it's own, without Eric's help, but his non hitting and non stealing have relegated this tune down there with Run Joey Run and Toni Basil's Mickey on the bottom of my playlist.

If I had a playlist or knew what one was.

Josie's on a vacation far away?

What the hell is that? Anyone who's watched Byrnes play lately knows Josie's not the one on vacation. Bring back Disco Inferno. Burn, baby, burn. Or better yet, get some hits.

I also find it a bit creepy that Byrnes, who wed earlier this year, struts to a ditty so warmly nostalgic for brazen infidelity... and creepier still, of course, that I give a damn one way or another.

14 comments:

Michael Norton said...

and creepier still, of course, that I give a damn one way or another.

You are right. That is pretty creepy.

But no creepier than Cadillac using Led Zeppelin tunes. Or banks using "She Works Hard for the Money" in their commercials.

Michael Norton
Some Clubhouse

Anonymous said...

My theory with Eric is that he is similar to a golfer like Seve Ballesteros. Seve's swing was never technically correct but his hand/eye co-ordination meant that he could get away with it, but once that co-ordination went he had nothing to fall back on.Byrne's injuries or even his general ageing mean that he seems to be in the same position.
Thanks to you I now can't get Toni Basil's "Mickey" out of my head (which sounds like a euphemism but isn't).

Anonymous said...

Give the one hit wonders a break. I remember that song when I was a kid and the Mets were on their way to the championship. It was '86 if I'm not mistaken. Speaking of self-aggrandizement, all together now:
You were right Paul;
the Padres are crap Paul;
you're a brilliant baseball mind Paul;
if anything, you gave them too much credit Paul;
nothing gets past you Paul, etc. etc. etc.
(And not one word re: the Pygmalion Theorem defense of their frugality.)

Anonymous said...

Thanks to you I now can't get Toni Basil's "Mickey" out of my head...

Oh Russell what a pity,
Now I understand.
You took it really hard
When I named that flaky band

You were right Paul;
the Padres are crap Paul


Huh ???

Since when were we arguing whether the Padres are playing like crap?

You said McAnulty & Huber were representative of the FO's stinginess(yes) and the team's offensive woes(no) and suggested the staff was carrying the team (half right at best).

The pitching has been a little better than the hitting so far ( I never suggested otherwise), but just not by the margin your remarks suggest - only the Pirates have yielded more road runs to date.

Anonymous said...

I think what Paul was saying was that you think you've got it right but he thinks you've got it wrong.

Anonymous said...

Oh, was that all? I thought he called me a dillweed.

Apologies

Anonymous said...

That was actually your cellphone calling you a dillweed because you were in some basement dive when the opportunity arose for Outfield tickets and you had no bars.
And they're not playing like crap; they ARE crap. There's a difference. (The Padres, not the Oufield.)

Anonymous said...

The Outfield is crap too, actually. (The Padres and the band.)

Anonymous said...

This has been my introduction to the Outfield. I am still confused as to what my opinion is.

Anonymous said...

And they're not playing like crap; they ARE crap. There's a difference

So, you dont think they're going to get better? Do you feel they'll wind up playing .323 baseball? Do you think they'll have three established starters each slugging in the two hundreds in Spetember? I dont.

Look, we're really not that far apart. Compared to previous Padres teams, this team has obviously been worse so far in all three respects: hitting, pitching and defense. Going forward, I've declared their pitching and defense will be worse than last yr and I actually think it's reasonable to assume the hitting will be worse as well.

But I disagree with your wholesale implication that San Diego's offense is so structurally inept as to drag down this plucky, deserving staff of your imagination.

The related implication, that Towers et al dont understand how to put together a respectable offense, is also erroneous - as evidenced by the fact he's fielded above average NL offenses (OPS+) in each of the last six years - on a tight budget I might add. Your dismissal of acquisitions like Branyan or Ensberg, or McAnulty for that matter, isnt an indictment of Towers or DePodesta - it's an indictment of your inability (or unwillingness) to incorporate what are now almost universally accepted internal measures of player value and context (ie park effects) into your analysis.

Sincerely,
Dillweed

[pick up background mic]

The Aay-ce of Spaades!

Anonymous said...

'...it's an indictment of your inability (or unwillingness) to incorporate what are now almost universally accepted internal measures of player value and context (ie park effects) into your analysis.'

I'm old school and it's worked pretty well so far.

Anonymous said...

And screw this stuff anyway. Where are the girls?

Bri said...

Interesting you should say that...I was just talking about the same issue on my page. Eric has some issues.

http://ibackdbacks.mlblogs.com/

Anonymous said...

Eric hit a semi liner to left as part of today's 0-4, with only two strikeouts and a batter's interference double play - so things are really looking up for him.

Hopefully Sally wont have to "ride" the pine much longer.