Compare and Contrast Part 2
Let’s look at another pair of players, shall we?
Player A: .272 BA / .309 OBP / .413 SLG / .722 OPS / 62 R / 12 HR / 46 RBI
Player B: .266 BA / .320 OBP / .452 SLG / .772 OPS / 91 R / 24 HR / 72 RBI
Player A is the redoubtable Corey Patterson, the guy Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo referred to as “our Rickey Henderson” not too long ago.
Player B is…well, I cheated a little bit, because Player B is also Corey Patterson. But this time, he’s Bad Corey, the guy with the Cubs in 2004 who was an abject failure and, even worse, “soft” (according to Dr. Phil).
Conventional Wisdom considers 2004 the year that Patterson started sliding into the Pit of Abject Failure™ that finally consumed him in 2005. Oddly enough, that season compares favorably to Patterson’s 2006 – and yet this is the year the media is comparing Patterson to Henderson. Hmmm…I wonder what other differences there are between 2004 Corey and 2006 Corey?
I peeked into Patterson’s stat lines because it had been several months since I’d seen any snarky comments in the Tribune about what a chump Jim Hendry was for trading this prodigy away and what a bunch of losers Dusty Baker and his coaches must be for not being able to teach him. The snark was at its loudest in May, when Patterson put up a .292 BA / .357 OBP / .506 SLG for the month. Since then:
June: .280 / .313 / .364
July: .275 / .290 / .352
August: .220 / .270 / .407
Unsurprisingly, the pundits had succumbed to the siren song of a small sample size. Patterson had 97 good plate appearances in May, and Dr. Phil couldn’t stop falling all over himself to announce the second coming of Lou Brock.
But anyone with a brain and a dash of sense could have seen that Patterson hadn’t made any real progress. His main problem has been a complete lack of patience at the plate. Nothing has changed this year: 8 walks in May, 5 in June, 1(!) in July (in 91 AB), and 4 August to date. Rickey himself will tell you Rickey don’t put up such lousy numbers.
I’m still a Patterson fan, and take no pleasure in his continuing offensive woes. He’s a good guy who deserved better than the bum’s rush the media (yes, the same media that sang his praises in May) and the fans gave him. Here’s hoping he can get his act together and build a nice career for himself; he may never be the Rickey Henderson or Lou Brock people predicted, but there’s no shame in that.
Player A: .272 BA / .309 OBP / .413 SLG / .722 OPS / 62 R / 12 HR / 46 RBI
Player B: .266 BA / .320 OBP / .452 SLG / .772 OPS / 91 R / 24 HR / 72 RBI
Player A is the redoubtable Corey Patterson, the guy Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo referred to as “our Rickey Henderson” not too long ago.
Player B is…well, I cheated a little bit, because Player B is also Corey Patterson. But this time, he’s Bad Corey, the guy with the Cubs in 2004 who was an abject failure and, even worse, “soft” (according to Dr. Phil).
Conventional Wisdom considers 2004 the year that Patterson started sliding into the Pit of Abject Failure™ that finally consumed him in 2005. Oddly enough, that season compares favorably to Patterson’s 2006 – and yet this is the year the media is comparing Patterson to Henderson. Hmmm…I wonder what other differences there are between 2004 Corey and 2006 Corey?
I peeked into Patterson’s stat lines because it had been several months since I’d seen any snarky comments in the Tribune about what a chump Jim Hendry was for trading this prodigy away and what a bunch of losers Dusty Baker and his coaches must be for not being able to teach him. The snark was at its loudest in May, when Patterson put up a .292 BA / .357 OBP / .506 SLG for the month. Since then:
June: .280 / .313 / .364
July: .275 / .290 / .352
August: .220 / .270 / .407
Unsurprisingly, the pundits had succumbed to the siren song of a small sample size. Patterson had 97 good plate appearances in May, and Dr. Phil couldn’t stop falling all over himself to announce the second coming of Lou Brock.
But anyone with a brain and a dash of sense could have seen that Patterson hadn’t made any real progress. His main problem has been a complete lack of patience at the plate. Nothing has changed this year: 8 walks in May, 5 in June, 1(!) in July (in 91 AB), and 4 August to date. Rickey himself will tell you Rickey don’t put up such lousy numbers.
I’m still a Patterson fan, and take no pleasure in his continuing offensive woes. He’s a good guy who deserved better than the bum’s rush the media (yes, the same media that sang his praises in May) and the fans gave him. Here’s hoping he can get his act together and build a nice career for himself; he may never be the Rickey Henderson or Lou Brock people predicted, but there’s no shame in that.
posted by Bob at
9:53 PM
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