Griffey's Corner

Yes a couple of singles can & will make a difference. Go look at the 3 game series against the yankees.... we lost 2 of the 3 games by a run. Without even looking I am sure Calhoun did nothing. If going out and getting a few singles makes a difference and wins 1-2 extra games for us. Than yes I am all for it. 
 
And the bigger picture is Calhoun has been hitting the ball hard right into the shift......This will get rid of the shift. calhoun has probably lost 8 hits already this year because of the shift.... instead of hitting .170 he would be hitting .250..... That is a big difference.
 
Pujols also hits into the shift.... Do you think Pujols forgot how to hit? No. Every week he loses 1-2 singles because of the shift. You extrapolate that over a full season it's the difference between hitting .240 vs. hitting .300.
 
I don't blame  Mike for a whole lot. But in this case if I was the manager I would grow a pair and tell these players to do it.... or they can sit there butts on the bench and collect their $10 million or $30 million with a good view of the game.

You are cracking me up. Kudos to you my friend. honestly I am so new to the site that some times I cannot tell when people are joking or are serious. 

Yes a couple of singles can & will make a difference. Go look at the 3 game series against the yankees.... we lost 2 of the 3 games by a run. Without even looking I am sure Calhoun did nothing. If going out and getting a few singles makes a difference and wins 1-2 extra games for us. Than yes I am all for it. 
 
And the bigger picture is Calhoun has been hitting the ball hard right into the shift......This will get rid of the shift. calhoun has probably lost 8 hits already this year because of the shift.... instead of hitting .170 he would be hitting .250..... That is a big difference.
 
Pujols also hits into the shift.... Do you think Pujols forgot how to hit? No. Every week he loses 1-2 singles because of the shift. You extrapolate that over a full season it's the difference between hitting .240 vs. hitting .300.
 
I don't blame  Mike for a whole lot. But in this case if I was the manager I would grow a pair and tell these players to do it.... or they can sit there butts on the bench and collect their $10 million or $30 million with a good view of the game.

Without getting into screwy statistics that do not sound accurate. i will only say this if you suck at something than you better start practicing it. Mike Trout did not get to be the best by being lazy. I am sure kole can find time to take 20 minutes a day and work on dropping the ball down the 3b line..... or even on the left side of the infield....lol.

I totally agree with you Blarg. 
 
If you watch Calhoun's body language he has little man syndrome. He struts. He has this desire to be mr. tough buff guy. He is trying to play beyond his abilities. I can appreciate that. A few years ago there was a negative post about him diving for fly balls and not getting them. But I like that. He does show grit. But when your ego gets in the way of the team and gets in the way of you performing at a high ability than it is time to have a sit down talk with the manager. Team should always come first. You build a team with 9 guys who are all on the same page & just want to win than great things will happen..... but if you build a team around guys who care more about their ego or personal stats.... or milestones.... cough, cough.... Than your team is in trouble.

You make some great points. For point #1 I would have to defer to you. I really do not follow any other team other than the Angels.... & ex Angel players.... such as CJ Cron & Peter Bourjos, etc. For point #2 I think some of Simmons greatest plays have been his unbelievable range running into the OF and taking away a bloop single. So to me whether hitters want to hit 5% more in the air than they ever did does not take away from Simmons being a stud and helping the team. 
 
One thing I would like to mention that I do not see brought up is Simmons is such a relentless warrior. He wants to win.... badly. He is always trying to throw behind runners. he is always thinking one step ahead of everybody else. He is the consummate team player. While it is true that I do not follow these other players and there HR's. I am willing to bet they are more into their personal stats than Simmons. It's not like Simmons cannot hit HR's.... I think he hit 17 not so long ago. And again I would have to defer but are these other SS's that good defensively? Because to me an average MLB SS is supposed to be good with the glove so the average bar is set extremely high.
 
In a nutshell most people think of Ozzie Smith as one of the greatest SS of all time. And other than Simmons does not do backflips and he plays more under the radar playing for the Angels I would just as soon have Simmons out there as Ozzie Smith on defense. And on offense Ozzie Smith was not that good. He did not hit for any power.... only 28 HR's in his career. And a lifetime .262 BA.

but maybe it is not so much a slump but this is the new Kole Calhoun? Ever since teams have shifted on him he just keeps getting worse. A slump to me is a couple of weeks maybe a month or two. He has been going on a downward trajectory for a few years now.
 
Like Jordan said he really just needs to start producing to help the team and not hurt the team. I don't care if he wants to bunt for singles or jump in front of a 95 mile an hour fastball and take a bean for the team. The biggest thing with the bunting is it would remove the shift and than he would not be losing those 2-3 times a week where he has a nice shot right into the shift.

but maybe it is not so much a slump but this is the new Kole Calhoun? Ever since teams have shifted on him he just keeps getting worse. A slump to me is a couple of weeks maybe a month or two. He has been going on a downward trajectory for a few years now.
 
Like Jordan said he really just needs to start producing to help the team and not hurt the team. I don't care if he wants to bunt for singles or jump in front of a 95 mile an hour fastball and take a bean for the team. The biggest thing with the bunting is it would remove the shift and than he would not be losing those 2-3 times a week where he has a nice shot right into the shift.

You make some great points. For point #1 I would have to defer to you. I really do not follow any other team other than the Angels.... & ex Angel players.... such as CJ Cron & Peter Bourjos, etc. For point #2 I think some of Simmons greatest plays have been his unbelievable range running into the OF and taking away a bloop single. So to me whether hitters want to hit 5% more in the air than they ever did does not take away from Simmons being a stud and helping the team. 
 
One thing I would like to mention that I do not see brought up is Simmons is such a relentless warrior. He wants to win.... badly. He is always trying to throw behind runners. he is always thinking one step ahead of everybody else. He is the consummate team player. While it is true that I do not follow these other players and there HR's. I am willing to bet they are more into their personal stats than Simmons. It's not like Simmons cannot hit HR's.... I think he hit 17 not so long ago. And again I would have to defer but are these other SS's that good defensively? Because to me an average MLB SS is supposed to be good with the glove so the average bar is set extremely high.
 
In a nutshell most people think of Ozzie Smith as one of the greatest SS of all time. And other than Simmons does not do backflips and he plays more under the radar playing for the Angels I would just as soon have Simmons out there as Ozzie Smith on defense. And on offense Ozzie Smith was not that good. He did not hit for any power.... only 28 HR's in his career. And a lifetime .262 BA.

LOL. Thank you for all the kind reponses. To be honest this makes me sound kind of bad but I do enjoy reading when people are really going at it and the attacks get a little personal. Lately there was some this weekend that were pretty funny to read. But when I am feeling more mature I do like to read Fletcher. He seems like a real nice guy, he keeps his cool, and does not take things personally. He knows a lot about baseball & he is great inside source for information.... in a way he is kind of a celebrity. He also rises above a lot and keeps his professionalism intact.

Just wanted to say I am very happy to be a part of angelswin.com. I think Eppler has done an amazing job. Trout is having a great year & the Angels are in 1st place. In the baseball world what more could you ask for? I look forward to having great conversations with all the members. Since 2005 I have been reading angelswin.com & the members on here know a lot about baseball & seem to have great sense of humors.
 
Thank you for letting me be part of the team! Go Angels!!!!

Yeah I don't get why professional ballplayers cannot hustle for 90 feet. There is at least one person watching who will never see you play again..... and that's the impression you want to leave them. What if Bedrosian had blown that lead in the 9th. If you do not want to hustle for yourself or your pride, or for the obscene amount of money you are being paid.... than hustle for your team.

Just wanted to say I am very happy to be a part of angelswin.com. I think Eppler has done an amazing job. Trout is having a great year & the Angels are in 1st place. In the baseball world what more could you ask for? I look forward to having great conversations with all the members. Since 2005 I have been reading angelswin.com & the members on here know a lot about baseball & seem to have great sense of humors.
 
Thank you for letting me be part of the team! Go Angels!!!!

We have all seen Simmons play on a daily basis. If we can all agree that defensively Simmons at shortstop vs. a average fielding SS is the difference between negating a couple of singles every week. If you extrapolate that back into offensive numbers than the difference between Simmons and most shortstops is an extra 2 hits a week which over the course of a whole season would make his .285 batting average = a .385 batting average. So if Simmons was just average defensively but hitting at a .385 clip than the national media would be proclaiming what we already know and that is he is one of the best players in the game. The fact that he is hitting .350 so far this year is just a bonus. It is why Eppler was so high on him in the first place.
And this really does not factor it helps pitchers get out of tight jams, lessens there pitch counts and gives them more confidence to attack the strike zone with an all world SS behind you. We cannot even quantify all of that.

LOL. Thank you for all the kind reponses. To be honest this makes me sound kind of bad but I do enjoy reading when people are really going at it and the attacks get a little personal. Lately there was some this weekend that were pretty funny to read. But when I am feeling more mature I do like to read Fletcher. He seems like a real nice guy, he keeps his cool, and does not take things personally. He knows a lot about baseball & he is great inside source for information.... in a way he is kind of a celebrity. He also rises above a lot and keeps his professionalism intact.

Yeah I don't get why professional ballplayers cannot hustle for 90 feet. There is at least one person watching who will never see you play again..... and that's the impression you want to leave them. What if Bedrosian had blown that lead in the 9th. If you do not want to hustle for yourself or your pride, or for the obscene amount of money you are being paid.... than hustle for your team.

Just wanted to say I am very happy to be a part of angelswin.com. I think Eppler has done an amazing job. Trout is having a great year & the Angels are in 1st place. In the baseball world what more could you ask for? I look forward to having great conversations with all the members. Since 2005 I have been reading angelswin.com & the members on here know a lot about baseball & seem to have great sense of humors.
 
Thank you for letting me be part of the team! Go Angels!!!!

Just wanted to say I am very happy to be a part of angelswin.com. I think Eppler has done an amazing job. Trout is having a great year & the Angels are in 1st place. In the baseball world what more could you ask for? I look forward to having great conversations with all the members. Since 2005 I have been reading angelswin.com & the members on here know a lot about baseball & seem to have great sense of humors.
 
Thank you for letting me be part of the team! Go Angels!!!!

That sounds like a lot of fun. I appreciate the invite. I look forward to it.

Just wanted to say I am very happy to be a part of angelswin.com. I think Eppler has done an amazing job. Trout is having a great year & the Angels are in 1st place. In the baseball world what more could you ask for? I look forward to having great conversations with all the members. Since 2005 I have been reading angelswin.com & the members on here know a lot about baseball & seem to have great sense of humors.
 
Thank you for letting me be part of the team! Go Angels!!!!

Just wanted to say I am very happy to be a part of angelswin.com. I think Eppler has done an amazing job. Trout is having a great year & the Angels are in 1st place. In the baseball world what more could you ask for? I look forward to having great conversations with all the members. Since 2005 I have been reading angelswin.com & the members on here know a lot about baseball & seem to have great sense of humors.
 
Thank you for letting me be part of the team! Go Angels!!!!

If Trout keeps heating up and puts up a season of .340 BA & 50 HR's I cannot help think that makes us the favorite in the AL West & a real shot at the WS.

Yeah I don't get why professional ballplayers cannot hustle for 90 feet. There is at least one person watching who will never see you play again..... and that's the impression you want to leave them. What if Bedrosian had blown that lead in the 9th. If you do not want to hustle for yourself or your pride, or for the obscene amount of money you are being paid.... than hustle for your team.

Just wanted to say I am very happy to be a part of angelswin.com. I think Eppler has done an amazing job. Trout is having a great year & the Angels are in 1st place. In the baseball world what more could you ask for? I look forward to having great conversations with all the members. Since 2005 I have been reading angelswin.com & the members on here know a lot about baseball & seem to have great sense of humors.
 
Thank you for letting me be part of the team! Go Angels!!!!

Yeah I don't get why professional ballplayers cannot hustle for 90 feet. There is at least one person watching who will never see you play again..... and that's the impression you want to leave them. What if Bedrosian had blown that lead in the 9th. If you do not want to hustle for yourself or your pride, or for the obscene amount of money you are being paid.... than hustle for your team.