I don't want to sound like a Sammy fan. I'm not at all. I do have two issues with your post jubu:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by jobu
- Will not give himself up at the plate
- Not a clutch hitter (he could have been if he ever wanted to)
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First of all, what exactly do you mean by giving himself up at the plate. Are you talking about the sac fly or the bunt? We can debate the overall futility of bunting if you want in a seperate thread but I'm pretty sure you don't mean that you'd like to see Sammy lay down a bunt every now and then because that's just silly. As far as sac flys go, it's a worthless statistic where a player is rewarded with failure. The sample size over the course of one year is meaningless. If it fits the situation, great give up a run for an out but it isn't a common occurance (example: Sosa had only 19AB in 2004 with a man on 3rd, less than two out).
As to him not being a clutch player, there is no such thing as a "clutch player". It's a myth perpetuated by those who want to prop up less talented players. There's all sorts of split stats people use to evaulate the 'clutchness' of a player and they are all crap. The sample sizes are small and you need several years of data in order to get the equivalent of a full season of AB's in those situations. By that time, most players' numbers in those situations converge to career averages. There are outliers of course, but they are not common.