Seven Questions - Seven Answers
Q1: One thing that drives you crazy about 2021 baseball?
Rob: I have to say the checking of the pitchers after every inning bothered me at first. I thought it was degrading the hard work that the pitchers are putting into their preparation and play. But the more I think about it the more I appreciate the umpires taking cheating seriously. When we think about the Steroid Era I can't help but wonder if more guys would have been deterred if they knew that they would have been tested. Of course, testing for steroids wasn't a thing back then. If it was.......
Mike: The extra inning format is bad. The other thing is having Daren Sutton as the Angels announcer.
Jon: The thing that drives me crazy is when people who rarely watch or follow baseball say that, "MLB needs to shorten their games or make them more interesting because they are losing fans." Why change a product that has historically been successful? Did you know: Baseball attendance remained at near historic highs in 2019. The average attendance per team was more than double what it had been 50 years earlier. Tampa Bay finished last in the AL in attendance in 2019 with 1,178,735; in 1969 that would have been fourth-best in the AL, a little ahead of the Yankees.
Jackson: Runner on 2nd in extra innings, some rec league softball vibes like they are playing to end it before a certain time
Scott: Runner on 2nd in the extra innings…crazy
Viliami: Dusty Baker thinking that people need to lay off on the hate for the Astros.
Yogi: 1) The Dodgers – Boooooo 2) The Angels record this season. 3) Ohtani – Hits hard. Pitches hard. However, a baseball team is not (or should not) be built around one player.
Q2: Will analytics playing (Moneyball) ever go away?
Rob: In the digital age that we live in I don't see that going away any time soon. I see pros and cons to analytics in baseball. On one hand I think it helps to understand situations and matchups and allows teams to be strategic in their approach to the game. On the other hand, it also takes away from the natural progression of the game in my mind. You didn't see analytics in baseball until the early 2000s. Think of all the great players through the history of time that didn't concern themselves with analytics. Their history turned out pretty good!
Mike: Who knows.
Jon: Analytics are here to stay. Unfortunately, they have proven to give a statistical edge to both defense and offense, although this year you see more teams bunting and stealing bases than the last couple years so maybe there is a happy medium.
Jackson: Probably not because owners are cheap and always want that bargain pickup
Scott: No. But something else will eventually come along and trump money ball…
Viliami: I think analytics will always be a thing, I strongly believe that some teams rely on analytics and will always rely on it. (Rays)
Yogi: No, proven to work, but brings a lot of problems and it does not bring fans to the stadium. Unfortunately, the 'big business" of baseball outweighs and diminishes what is most important in baseball…The love of the game. It was best said in the movie Money Ball…."How can you not be romantic about baseball?" "Big Market" teams like the Dodgers and Yankees destroy the romance in baseball.
Q3: Does being a former player really make a difference when being a manager?
Rob: I think being a former player can make a big difference as a manager because you can relate to the guys in your clubhouse. That said, I do not think it is the key factor to being a successful manager (or a successful leader for that matter). Management (leadership) is about leading people. Not all players make great managers. I think of Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg. He was an incredible player. But that didn't really resonate during his stint with the Phillies. I don't know if he really was able to connect with the players on that level. Being a manager takes a combination of understanding the analytics of your team, optimizing situational leadership, and connecting with players.
Mike: yes
Jon: I think yes in terms of respect. If a team doesn't respect its manager, then rarely is the team successful; however, not every former player makes a good manager in understanding how to actually manage during the game.
Jackson: It does a little. However, I think but what matters most is leadership and trust between players and manager
Scott: No. It’s all about the mind and understanding the game. Some players are great managers, some are not.
Viliami: I think being a former player makes a difference because you are immersed in the game, you live,breath, and sleep baseball. I feel like they know the ins and outs a little better because they see how the other players operate and have first hand experience with the other players.
Yogi: YES! This is true for any business or profession. Being familiar with the player mentality and what goes on in the locker room, only helps a manager, manage better.
Q4: Who is your current active favorite player and why?
Rob: Outside of my Cubbies, right now I would have to say Shohei Ohtani and Fernando Tatis Jr. I will talk about Ohtani in the next question. Tatis is such a fun player to watch. He's athletic. He hits for power. He's quick on his feet defensively. He is having so much fun out there that it's hard not to root for him. And I absolutely love it how interactive he is with the fans. He's the face of MLB right now for very good reason. He's an MVP caliber player.
Mike: Mike Trout, his talent is overwhelming.
Jon: Shohei Ohtani. Doing things never been done before. First All Star as a pitcher and a hitter. I tune in to every Angel game just to see what Shohei will do next. He is a pleasure to watch and should be the face of baseball.
Jackson: Freddie Freeman all the way a fantastic all around player who plays with heart
Scott: Joe Kelly… he’s a wild card!!
Viliami: Shane Bieber is my current favorite player because we grew up playing baseball together and played on the same baseball team. All around a great guy.
Yogi: Anthony Rendon, among a few others. But wish he would shave. Don’t know why it bothers me
Q5: Ohtani...the real deal or just a quick fix to hide how bad the Angels really are?
Rob: Who is more exciting right now than Shohei Ohtani? Never in the history of Major League Baseball... let me say that again with a little more emphasis... NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL has an individual player been named to the All Star team as both a pitcher and a hitter. Not even the great Babe Ruth (although he no doubt would have if they had the All Star game before the end of his career). This is pretty phenomenal if you think about it. It's hard to say whether he is the real deal or not. If you take away last year's shortened 60 game season where every player’s stats suffered, Ohtani has some very respectful career numbers up until this point. I think he is the real deal but only time will tell his true greatness. I am pulling for this young kid to be the next Ichiro who was adored by American and Japanese fans alike. He's on a career pace right now in the first half of 2021. Exciting to watch!
Mike: Looks like he may be the real deal.
Jon: Ohtani is the real deal and then some. If you haven't watched him play you are missing a generational talent. The Angels are 5.5 games back on the wild card with Mike Trout being out for the past five weeks. People that claim, "The Angels are bad" aren't watching them on a nightly basis. They have had major injuries (Trout, Rendon, Upton, etc.), but Ohtani, Trout, and Jared Walsh are all stars and even though their pitching is horrible, they are still a game above .500. Yep, Jared Walsh. Most people don't even know who that is and yet he was named to the team over Jose Abreu (last year's MVP). Don't sleep on the Angels especially for the next 5-6 years.
Jackson: He is the real deal unfortunately for the Angels, he can't fix their crappy pitching alone
Scott: Too early to tell. Let’s see how he goes after a year’s worth of film to study…
Viliami: Ohtani is the real deal and people need to get that through their heads. People will see when he wins the MVP this year.
Yogi: Loaded question, but will play along. A baseball phenom, but has not brought much value to the Angels. It always seems to me that during the time he has been with the Angels, he has been injured (boring). One of the primary reasons a franchise will bring a baseball phenom onboard is to bring fans to the stadium. Now that he is doing well (Post Covid), how many fans will buy tickets just to see him.
Q6: deGrom...can he last the whole year?
Rob: deGrom is simply lights out. There is no other pitcher that is as dominant as he has been over the past few years. The Mets bats need to give him the run support he needs when he pitches. If they do, he will last.
Mike: Probably not, he is a Met after all.
Jon: Hard to keep up his current pace but deGrom is a bonafide stud. I wouldn't bet against him.
Jackson: I don't think his sub one ERA is sustainable, but I think he will still have a historic year
Scott: I hope so!!!
Viliami: I strongly believe that deGrom will not only last the whole year but he will win the MVP for the national league and it won’t even be close. His stuff is nasty, no one can hit his stuff, when his team isn’t giving him run support so he does it himself, he is batting .400+
Yogi: Possible but not sure
Q7: Most unique play(s) in 2021?
Rob: Javy Baez, May 27, vs Pittsburgh Pirates. El Mago has had so many magical moments in his career for the Cubs. But this will go down as one of the best heads up plays we have ever witnessed. It has never happened before and it will never happen again (I'm sure every major league manager will be sure of that). To turn a routine inning ending ground out to third into a run scored for the Cubs while ending up on second base in scoring position is beyond me. One of the things I loved about this play was the reaction of the Cubs dugout, specifically Anthony Rizzo. It was that look as if to say, "Only El Mago could pull off something like that!" What a play!
Mike: Not sure.
Jon: Shohei Ohtani hitting balls over 450 feet on the same day he shuts down an opposing offense. The other day he hit two mammoth homeruns so the opposing team walked him in the 9th. He stole 2nd base but Rendon was called for catcher's interference. A few pitches later, he stole 2nd base again. Jared Walsh then hit a laser to right field but Ohtani slid into home right before the tag for the winning run. In a week, he will win the homerun derby and pitch the next day in the All Star game while hitting in the lineup as well. Every time he steps on the field, he is the "most unique" not only 2021 but for the past 100 years.
Jackson: The rundown between first with Javy Baez was the most mind boggling baseball play I've ever seen.
Scott: All the Yankee triple plays??? What’s up with that. Oh, and Pujols pulling a plow down the first base line.
Viliami: Yankees having more Triple plays than the Diamondbacks wins in span of triple plays.
Yogi: Yankees relief pitcher Cortez pitching to Ontani.
A throw back from July of 2021.