15 September 2010

Clowns

Time to get back in the swing, after digital and biological viruses slowed me to a crawl recently.

-- Speaking of swing, Gibby's insistent hackers are poised to whiz by the all time seasonal K mark, perhaps as early as this weekend. Contrary to widespread speculation, only the Braves (27.2%) swing at fewer pitches out of the strike zone in the National League. The Dbacks are actually very disciplined, as further evidenced by their excellent walk total. When they do swing however, they make less contact - far less - than any team in the majors. This applies for pitches both in and out of the strike zone. In short, the problem isnt swinging - it's missing.

-- We all knew AJ Hinch was a Josh Byrnes "guy". Diamondhacks doubted the promise of that relationship the day the hire went down. But it's only now we can better appreciate what a control freak Josh must've been - and the price the organization paid for not reigning him in. It's not enough to say AJ was extending JB's philosophies to the dugout. Due to almost catatonic front office deference, Josh Byrnes became the manager of this team, in absentia. It's clear now AJ was just kinda "there". A formality, for appearances. A uniform to complete the charade that anyone in the dugout was leading anything at all.

-- Pete Rose was one of the few people last week to attend a game in Cincinnati. Bud Selig apparently gave the now contrite hit king "the okay" to step on the field and stomp on first base, much the way Selig and Rose have stomped on the game's virtues. Rose shouldnt be honored with a Cooperstown ceremony. Not unless MLB formally declares that dugout personnel betting on games isnt an issue. That hasnt happened. Not yet anyway.

-- In Arizona, now that immigrants are barely visible, the bogeyman terrorizing our state this week is a supernaturally nimble biathlete tweaking girls' tits - from his bicycle. This latest, wanton crime spree has raged across America's most populous college campus for ten months - in broad daylight - with no suspect in sight. For that alone, you have to believe he's not Hispanic. Perhaps if we had more federal troops, we could be absolutely certain.

-- In other news, Brandon Webb feels good.

2 comments:

Gary said...

There is more silicon in the co-eds at ASU than there are in the wafers i work at at my semiconductor plant.

Nobody's ever come up and pinched my titties while i am on campus. I feel left out.

The best move this FO has made this year was showing Josh the front door. Do you have any favorites of the current crop of possible replacements? If not, who would be your favorite?
I'm leaning towards Towers cause he comes from a team that is very similar busget wise and market wise. I've heard he is known for emptying the farm system, but I haven't had time to look into that statement. Not a fan of the dodger people: their world is completely different than ours, how would they adapt?

Diamondhacks said...

Gary,

Totally agree with your market insights. I'm not normally beholden to experience for its own sake, but this org's been compromised by too many highly placed careerists, more focused on driving perceptions than results. They're Moorad people essentially -and SD's ephemeral little run notwithstanding, that's not a good thing.

Towers may not "fit in" with Derrick and Ken style-wise, but I think he'd inject some much needed practical wisdom within this plastic outfit - and earn instant credibility outside it, across "Silicon Valley" and beyond.