You're funny! Calling Scott Podsednik a terrible baseball player is a joke. He may not be a perennial all-star, but he's a Major Leaguer. He had a career year in 2005 and was part of a Championship team. And that's what it takes to win a World Series, my friend. A team. A team with players who contribute more than may be expected of them.
The Sox won with great pitching, sure, but they also won with a consistant offense that was well balanced and played hard.
Is any of this getting through? Calling your way of thinking "logic" doesn't amout to a hill of beans on the field.
There are a lot of terrible baseball players who are Major Leaguers...comparatively speaking.
He had a pretty damn good year in '03, kind of like Pierre had that career year with Florida when they won the WS. Does one year a player make? Granted, Posednik then had a decent year (at best) in 05, but he still managed to drastically underperform (let's use him as an example again) Juan Pierre last year.
And that's saying a lot.
Career-wise...I'd say his stat line lies somewhere a bit below average...272/.338/.377/.715...not something that makes me cry out "terrible baseball player" like jbruin, but it is far from spectacular.
Last year, however, he was ****ing awful at baseball. Just awful.
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- The magnificent journey of Los Angeles pitcher Clayton Kershaw nearly hit a snag on Thursday afternoon, but the prized prospect worked his way out of trouble.
Kershaw, making a longshot bid to make the 25-man Opening Day roster, worked a pair of scoreless innings in the Dodgers' 7-6 loss to Houston at Osceola County Stadium.
The fifth inning looked like trouble from the start. Shortstop Miguel Tejada drilled a double to left-center. After getting a popout by Geoff Blum and walking Mark Loretta, Kershaw induced a grounder to second baseman Luis Maza, who appeared positioned for a double play before the ball bounced off his glove for the club's fourth error.
With the bases full, catcher Humberto Quintero hit a liner that was snagged by third baseman Blake DeWitt, who tagged out Loretta for an unassisted double play.
"He's coming out and showing us what he's got," said Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt of Kershaw. "He felt like he was rushing a little bit that first inning. He came in and said, 'I'm just rushing.' He settled down and got a lot smoother."
Kershaw got a flyout and come-backer to open the sixth, then walked pinch-hitter Reggie Abercrombie after embarrassing the former Florida Marlin with a curveball in the dirt that had the outfielder flailing.
"His curveball wasn't as sharp as it has been and where it needed to be," said Honeycutt. "He couldn't put away [Abercrombie] when he needed to."
Abercrombie was then tossed out on an attempted steal of second base after Kershaw threw to first base on a pickoff.
"He threw over on his own and made the pickoff. He has a nice feel of the game," Honeycutt added.
Kershaw made his first Major League appearance in a split-squad game on March 4 against Washington. The Dodgers told Kershaw the day before that he would be appearing in the game versus the Nationals -- a big jump for a pitcher who finished his 2007 campaign with Double-A Jacksonsville after spending most of the season with Class A Great Lakes.
He allowed a homer to Washington's Luis Antonio Jimenez in his one inning of work in that initial appearance but struck out the side, saying the butterflies finally subsided. He hit 97 mph on one scout's radar gun eight times.
Honeycutt said calming his young pitcher -- Kershaw turns 20 next Wednesday -- is a task that he expects to do. "He's got great talent and great stuff. Obviously, just being in this environment, his nerves might not always be settled," the pitching coach said.
Kershaw followed the Washington outing with a perfect inning of work on Sunday against the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox. Honeycutt said that even though the southpaw can run into trouble, he has the ability with a good fastball and a sharp breaking ball to get out of a jam.
"Some days just aren't always going to be smooth, like the first outing, and then boom, he's got the kind of talent to where he gets tougher and makes big pitches," Honeycutt said.
Kershaw is pitching on a five-day schedule and will continue to follow Hiroki Kuroda in the pitching order. He has currently pitched four innings in the Grapefruit League, allowing just one run -- a 2.25 ERA. He has allowed four hits, struck out four and walked two.
I still say let him spend most of 08 in the minors.
I still say let him spend most of 08 in the minors.
Everything I've read/heard indicates that Kershaw is going back to the minors. I believe they just promoted him to major league camp just to get an extended look at him and to give him the experience of being around the pros.
The guy has only started 5 games in AA, I'm pretty sure he'll be back there by the time the season starts.
Personally I hope we don't see Kershaw at all this year, it'll mean that we didn't have any injuries and Loaiza/Schmidt pitched well.
More great news, too. You all can watch the China games in Los Angeles this weekend. Our partners at KCAL and FSN have stepped up to help get this done, so Friday night at 10:05 p.m., turn on KCAL and Saturday night at the same time, tune into FSN Prime Ticket. As it currently stands, Friday will be the audio live from Rick Monday and Charley Steiner, while Saturday will be Steve Lyons and Kevin Kennedy from the studio in LA.
Sounds like we have Dodger baseball tonight on TV!
Calling your way of thinking "logic" doesn't amout to a hill of beans on the field.
Kubrick
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