Apropos of some writing I’m doing for another Web site, I have been skating through last year’s statistics. While it’s always best to look forward, the past is unavoidable when you’re preparing for the new season. Re-hashing the previous season’s numbers is always a re-learning experience for me; it’s astonishing how much I forget from October to February.
Some notable failed recollections:
Derek Lowe
The numbers: 5.42 ERA (90 ERA+), .299 BA against, 1.48 K/BB ratio, 1.61(!) WHIP. And for this he gets $36 million over four years? What a country! What must Jason Johnson, for example, think? He had similar, if slightly better, numbers: 5.13 ERA (88 ERA+), .284 BA against, 2.06 K/BB ratio, 1.43 WHIP. Oh, here’s one key difference: Johnson will earn about $6 million less than Lowe in 2005. (And, yes, I’m aware that Lowe has been successful in the past, blah blah blah.)
Aaron Rowand
The numbers: .310/.361/.544, 126 OPS+, 24 home runs, 17 steals. Not bad for a guy who backed into a job. Was he an Age-27 fluke? Perhaps. But he’s also one of those hard-nosed players who refuses to listen when people tell him, “You’re too short, your bat speed is too slow, you don’t walk enough, you wear Izod shirts,” etc. (OK, so maybe he should dump the Izods.) Does that mean anything when projecting what Rowand will do this year? Probably not. But I’m not betting against him.
Mark Teixeira
The numbers: .281/.370/.560, 128 OPS+, 38 HRs, 112 RBI. And one more: 25, as in his age. I wonder how much the Yankees will pay for Teixeira in 2009.
OK, I can’t resist.
Player A: .307/.349/.387, 93 OPS+, 5 HRs, 26 SBs, five CS.
Player B: .287/.327/.401, 90 OPS+, 10 HRs, 17 SBs, 11 CS.
Hint: they both played in St. Louis in 2004. One more hint: this off-season, one signed with the Red Sox, one signed with the Yankees. All right, enough. Player A is Tony Womack, Player B is Edgar Renteria, who had a year that I had forgotten—maybe because it was so thoroughly forgettable. Certainly it was forgettable compared to his brilliant 2003 season—.330/.394/.480, 131 OPS+, 13 HRs, 34 steals (against seven CS).
No, I’m not suggesting Tony Womack is a better player than Edgar Renteria; I'd rather have Renteria, obviously. But with Renteria hauling in $10 million in 2005, regardless of Boston’s fat check-book, Womack doesn’t look so bad. It is generally assumed the Sox overpaid for EG, but it didn't occur to me just how much they overpaid until I saw the numbers (the same was the case for Lowe's LA contract).
There are other individual seasons I had forgotten about (Mark Loretta? Mark Loretta??), but I'll give just one more. And I’ll close not with a bang, but with a BB gun:
The numbers: .362/.609/.812, 260 OPS+, 45 HRs, 232(!) walks, 41 strikeouts. How does one forget something as sublime as those stats? Maybe my memory was blinded by my dislike for Barry Bonds as a person. Maybe I can't get past the steroid issue. Maybe it's because he doesn't look like he's having any fun. Maybe I simply can't comprehend his extraordinary ability. Maybe it’s because . . .
Ah, never mind. I’m just senile. It’s hard to believe I’m only . . . years-old.
Some notable failed recollections:
Derek Lowe
The numbers: 5.42 ERA (90 ERA+), .299 BA against, 1.48 K/BB ratio, 1.61(!) WHIP. And for this he gets $36 million over four years? What a country! What must Jason Johnson, for example, think? He had similar, if slightly better, numbers: 5.13 ERA (88 ERA+), .284 BA against, 2.06 K/BB ratio, 1.43 WHIP. Oh, here’s one key difference: Johnson will earn about $6 million less than Lowe in 2005. (And, yes, I’m aware that Lowe has been successful in the past, blah blah blah.)
Aaron Rowand
The numbers: .310/.361/.544, 126 OPS+, 24 home runs, 17 steals. Not bad for a guy who backed into a job. Was he an Age-27 fluke? Perhaps. But he’s also one of those hard-nosed players who refuses to listen when people tell him, “You’re too short, your bat speed is too slow, you don’t walk enough, you wear Izod shirts,” etc. (OK, so maybe he should dump the Izods.) Does that mean anything when projecting what Rowand will do this year? Probably not. But I’m not betting against him.
Mark Teixeira
The numbers: .281/.370/.560, 128 OPS+, 38 HRs, 112 RBI. And one more: 25, as in his age. I wonder how much the Yankees will pay for Teixeira in 2009.
OK, I can’t resist.
Player A: .307/.349/.387, 93 OPS+, 5 HRs, 26 SBs, five CS.
Player B: .287/.327/.401, 90 OPS+, 10 HRs, 17 SBs, 11 CS.
Hint: they both played in St. Louis in 2004. One more hint: this off-season, one signed with the Red Sox, one signed with the Yankees. All right, enough. Player A is Tony Womack, Player B is Edgar Renteria, who had a year that I had forgotten—maybe because it was so thoroughly forgettable. Certainly it was forgettable compared to his brilliant 2003 season—.330/.394/.480, 131 OPS+, 13 HRs, 34 steals (against seven CS).
No, I’m not suggesting Tony Womack is a better player than Edgar Renteria; I'd rather have Renteria, obviously. But with Renteria hauling in $10 million in 2005, regardless of Boston’s fat check-book, Womack doesn’t look so bad. It is generally assumed the Sox overpaid for EG, but it didn't occur to me just how much they overpaid until I saw the numbers (the same was the case for Lowe's LA contract).
There are other individual seasons I had forgotten about (Mark Loretta? Mark Loretta??), but I'll give just one more. And I’ll close not with a bang, but with a BB gun:
The numbers: .362/.609/.812, 260 OPS+, 45 HRs, 232(!) walks, 41 strikeouts. How does one forget something as sublime as those stats? Maybe my memory was blinded by my dislike for Barry Bonds as a person. Maybe I can't get past the steroid issue. Maybe it's because he doesn't look like he's having any fun. Maybe I simply can't comprehend his extraordinary ability. Maybe it’s because . . .
Ah, never mind. I’m just senile. It’s hard to believe I’m only . . . years-old.
