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alec · 04-21-2005, 12:52 PM

No, Ted Williams was great, but he was an asshole. He barely showed respect for his opponents or even his own teammates. Michael Jordan was still Michael Jordan but a constant loser until he learned to play with a developed Scottie Pippen. Before than his bulls were nothing but perennial second round teams. Barry Bonds is much the same, he's an egocentric, self-centered guy who also is an amazing hitter. But being an amazing hitter doesn't make up for the fact that his ways have isolated him and pushed away the once decent hitters that helped pad him (cough cough i guess we don't need Jeff Kent, do we barry).

Why can't you blame players for being on bad teams during their careers? Things go far beyond box scores. If you're on a star on a bad team, things are usually wrong with you then with your team. IE. Frank Thomas, Late 90's Portland Trail Blazers, Nomar, Thome, Belle, Alomar.

I agree with your view on statistics, but you spoke of small samples. Jackson was on 10 playoff teams in 12 years. That's a pretty large sample and you'd think that his statistics would mirror his regular season stats with that size, but they don't. Fair enough, you will have outliers like Todd Walker becoming hot or Manny (before last year) being horrible.

In the same token, you can't quantify everything. How do you explain the Sox trading (what I thought was down) Nomar for Cabrera, and then rattling off a 40-18 record? Spare me the defensive bull shit, Nomar was/is a great hitter but a clubhouse detrement and the Sox became exponentially better when they lost his attitude.

Further, in a team game, individual statistics are wonderful, but still take second to those who actually win. Back to the original argument, A-Rod is a great player, but he has no dedication to winning and has shown no desire like other players. The Rangers are to blame too, but what can you expect from a mid-market team when you sign to the largest contract in history? He knew what he was getting himself into, the burden of winning was on him, and he couldn't produce.

04-21-2005, 12:52 PM	#38 (permalink)
alec Insane Location: Washington DC	No, Ted Williams was great, but he was an asshole. He barely showed respect for his opponents or even his own teammates. Michael Jordan was still Michael Jordan but a constant loser until he learned to play with a developed Scottie Pippen. Before than his bulls were nothing but perennial second round teams. Barry Bonds is much the same, he's an egocentric, self-centered guy who also is an amazing hitter. But being an amazing hitter doesn't make up for the fact that his ways have isolated him and pushed away the once decent hitters that helped pad him (cough cough i guess we don't need Jeff Kent, do we barry). Why can't you blame players for being on bad teams during their careers? Things go far beyond box scores. If you're on a star on a bad team, things are usually wrong with you then with your team. IE. Frank Thomas, Late 90's Portland Trail Blazers, Nomar, Thome, Belle, Alomar. I agree with your view on statistics, but you spoke of small samples. Jackson was on 10 playoff teams in 12 years. That's a pretty large sample and you'd think that his statistics would mirror his regular season stats with that size, but they don't. Fair enough, you will have outliers like Todd Walker becoming hot or Manny (before last year) being horrible. In the same token, you can't quantify everything. How do you explain the Sox trading (what I thought was down) Nomar for Cabrera, and then rattling off a 40-18 record? Spare me the defensive bull shit, Nomar was/is a great hitter but a clubhouse detrement and the Sox became exponentially better when they lost his attitude. Further, in a team game, individual statistics are wonderful, but still take second to those who actually win. Back to the original argument, A-Rod is a great player, but he has no dedication to winning and has shown no desire like other players. The Rangers are to blame too, but what can you expect from a mid-market team when you sign to the largest contract in history? He knew what he was getting himself into, the burden of winning was on him, and he couldn't produce.