http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/07/12/midseason-report-its-coco-in-a-landslide/ Media, Baseball, Boston, the Red Sox, Music, Literature, and Mnookins Fri, 16 May 2008 22:35:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.2 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/07/12/midseason-report-its-coco-in-a-landslide/#comment-280903 Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:59:19 +0000 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/07/12/midseason-report-its-coco-in-a-landslide/#comment-280903 [...] In the frenzy of planning, I also haven’t had a chance to congratulate the Gold Glove voters on getting at least one position right this year (Youk at first) or castigated them on ridiculously blowing what should have been a no-brainer (Coco in center). (Another aside: if, indeed, Coco ends up patrolling center for some other team next year, which wouldn’t surprise me, I will, as most of you likely know, be disappointed. I really love watching that little dude patrol the outfield…and I still think he made a huge difference this year. And I’m not just saying that because the wife had lunch with Jacoby yesterday and came away cooing about how “nice” and “smart” he is.) I also haven’t had a chance to voice my respect for the deal Curt took to stay in Boston. I know - anyone making $8 mil a year isn’t exactly roughing it - but Schill clearly could have made more on the open market. It’s rare these days that an athlete says “it’s not about the money” and means it; here was a situation in which one actually did. And despite my efforts to be clear-eyed about this whole business of baseball thing, I’m glad #38 will be retiring in Boston uni…and I hope when he gets elected into the Hall (and as far as I’m concerned, there’s no longer any real question as to whether he should make it) he’ll be wearing a Sox cap. [...] […] In the frenzy of planning, I also haven’t had a chance to congratulate the Gold Glove voters on getting at least one position right this year (Youk at first) or castigated them on ridiculously blowing what should have been a no-brainer (Coco in center). (Another aside: if, indeed, Coco ends up patrolling center for some other team next year, which wouldn’t surprise me, I will, as most of you likely know, be disappointed. I really love watching that little dude patrol the outfield…and I still think he made a huge difference this year. And I’m not just saying that because the wife had lunch with Jacoby yesterday and came away cooing about how “nice” and “smart” he is.) I also haven’t had a chance to voice my respect for the deal Curt took to stay in Boston. I know - anyone making $8 mil a year isn’t exactly roughing it - but Schill clearly could have made more on the open market. It’s rare these days that an athlete says “it’s not about the money” and means it; here was a situation in which one actually did. And despite my efforts to be clear-eyed about this whole business of baseball thing, I’m glad #38 will be retiring in Boston uni…and I hope when he gets elected into the Hall (and as far as I’m concerned, there’s no longer any real question as to whether he should make it) he’ll be wearing a Sox cap. […]

]]> http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/07/12/midseason-report-its-coco-in-a-landslide/#comment-217611 Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:19:56 +0000 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/07/12/midseason-report-its-coco-in-a-landslide/#comment-217611 [...] Center field: Johnny Jesus v. Coocoo for Coco Crisp: My crush on Coco is well-documented; the rest of the world’s crush on Damon is just as well documented, if not more so. I’m tempted to mark this one a draw, but I’ll give JD the nod, even though I still believe Coco’s defense was one of the two or three most important components of the ‘07 team. 2007, 4, 2004, 3. [...] […] Center field: Johnny Jesus v. Coocoo for Coco Crisp: My crush on Coco is well-documented; the rest of the world’s crush on Damon is just as well documented, if not more so. I’m tempted to mark this one a draw, but I’ll give JD the nod, even though I still believe Coco’s defense was one of the two or three most important components of the ‘07 team. 2007, 4, 2004, 3. […]

]]> http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/07/12/midseason-report-its-coco-in-a-landslide/#comment-155051 Wed, 22 Aug 2007 13:50:22 +0000 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/07/12/midseason-report-its-coco-in-a-landslide/#comment-155051 [...] It’s been a curious season…to say the least. While I know I remain in the minority in claiming that thus far this season, Coco has been the team’s MVP — and as far as I’m concerned, it’s really not even that close — there are likely a much higher number of folks who share my sentiment that Hideki “Darkman” Okajima and Mike “Don’t Call it a Comeback” Lowell are the next two most valuable members of the Crimson Hose. (Why Okie and not Paps? Well, Papelbon was expected to dominate; Okie has saved the bullpen time and time again, and more than a few times has enabled JP to be in a position to get that save in the ninth. As for Lowell, well, he’s picked up an oddly anemic offense.) [...] […] It’s been a curious season…to say the least. While I know I remain in the minority in claiming that thus far this season, Coco has been the team’s MVP — and as far as I’m concerned, it’s really not even that close — there are likely a much higher number of folks who share my sentiment that Hideki “Darkman” Okajima and Mike “Don’t Call it a Comeback” Lowell are the next two most valuable members of the Crimson Hose. (Why Okie and not Paps? Well, Papelbon was expected to dominate; Okie has saved the bullpen time and time again, and more than a few times has enabled JP to be in a position to get that save in the ninth. As for Lowell, well, he’s picked up an oddly anemic offense.) […]

]]> http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/07/12/midseason-report-its-coco-in-a-landslide/#comment-146951 Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:20:01 +0000 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/07/12/midseason-report-its-coco-in-a-landslide/#comment-146951 [...] 5. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love Coco. [...] […] 5. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love Coco. […]

]]> http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/07/12/midseason-report-its-coco-in-a-landslide/#comment-110204 Mon, 23 Jul 2007 15:39:56 +0000 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/07/12/midseason-report-its-coco-in-a-landslide/#comment-110204 [...] Yup: that’s a lame headline. And it’s not accurate. That’s fine; it’s Monday, and, as you can tell from the absence of recent posts, I’ve been a bit fried. But given my perennial love of the underdog, I need to give shout outs to Julio and CC. Lugo, bless his speedy little heart, has gone from a hitting something approximating .00004 in June to coming in damn near .500 in July. (Seriously, how many of you just knew he was gonna smack that grand salami off Contreras? And how awesome was his man-love hug with Manny when he got back to the dugout?) Coco’s also been lighting it up at the plate; more importantly, he’s still playing some truly awe inspiring defense. (I can’t remember which game it was, but sometime in the early going of a game against the Chi Sox he ran down a long fly that looked like a sure run-scoring double…and as I’ve said before, saving a run is as good as scoring one.) [...] […] Yup: that’s a lame headline. And it’s not accurate. That’s fine; it’s Monday, and, as you can tell from the absence of recent posts, I’ve been a bit fried. But given my perennial love of the underdog, I need to give shout outs to Julio and CC. Lugo, bless his speedy little heart, has gone from a hitting something approximating .00004 in June to coming in damn near .500 in July. (Seriously, how many of you just knew he was gonna smack that grand salami off Contreras? And how awesome was his man-love hug with Manny when he got back to the dugout?) Coco’s also been lighting it up at the plate; more importantly, he’s still playing some truly awe inspiring defense. (I can’t remember which game it was, but sometime in the early going of a game against the Chi Sox he ran down a long fly that looked like a sure run-scoring double…and as I’ve said before, saving a run is as good as scoring one.) […]

]]> http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/07/12/midseason-report-its-coco-in-a-landslide/#comment-103838 Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:18:29 +0000 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/07/12/midseason-report-its-coco-in-a-landslide/#comment-103838 [...] This year, the highlight reel catches have continued, but he seems to be improving in center field. A lot. Apparently, Bill James has been raving about his defense, and Seth Mnookin has officially named him the Red Sox first-half MVP. Baseball Musings has done an analysis on Crisp’s defense, and has quantitatively determined that he is significantly better this year than last year. [...] […] This year, the highlight reel catches have continued, but he seems to be improving in center field. A lot. Apparently, Bill James has been raving about his defense, and Seth Mnookin has officially named him the Red Sox first-half MVP. Baseball Musings has done an analysis on Crisp’s defense, and has quantitatively determined that he is significantly better this year than last year. […]

]]> http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/07/12/midseason-report-its-coco-in-a-landslide/#comment-97807 Fri, 13 Jul 2007 16:19:08 +0000 http://www.sethmnookin.com/blog/2007/07/12/midseason-report-its-coco-in-a-landslide/#comment-97807 It’s hard to imagine Theo Epstein and his philosophy allowing for the $30-million-per-year contract that A-Rod is likely to command after this year. They’ve been trying to move Manny’s contract for years, and they seem to have established a salary ceiling of about $13-15 million annually for their everyday players. Are they really going to pay A-Rod twice as much? Wouldn’t that open the floodgates? And that’s before we even get into the considerable problems of hiring a player that many Boston fans endearingly know as Slappy McBluelips, Gay-Rod, Stray-Rod, A-Fraud, etc. The Yankees have many reasons to lock him up for the rest of his career––build a younger team around him, bring the career home-run title back to New York, etc.––whereas if he came to Boston he’d be signing up for years of abuse from jilted Yankee fans and years of ambivalence from Sox fans who simply prefer to hate him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he headed to Chicago or the west coast, putting the AL East experience behind him. He’d be under less scrutiny in Anaheim or L.A., and there’s plenty of strip clubs out there. Close to Vegas, too. It’s hard to imagine Theo Epstein and his philosophy allowing for the $30-million-per-year contract that A-Rod is likely to command after this year. They’ve been trying to move Manny’s contract for years, and they seem to have established a salary ceiling of about $13-15 million annually for their everyday players. Are they really going to pay A-Rod twice as much? Wouldn’t that open the floodgates? And that’s before we even get into the considerable problems of hiring a player that many Boston fans endearingly know as Slappy McBluelips, Gay-Rod, Stray-Rod, A-Fraud, etc. The Yankees have many reasons to lock him up for the rest of his career––build a younger team around him, bring the career home-run title back to New York, etc.––whereas if he came to Boston he’d be signing up for years of abuse from jilted Yankee fans and years of ambivalence from Sox fans who simply prefer to hate him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he headed to Chicago or the west coast, putting the AL East experience behind him. He’d be under less scrutiny in Anaheim or L.A., and there’s plenty of strip clubs out there. Close to Vegas, too.

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