Sunday, July 1, 2007

Narron Fired!

Keep Adam Dunn is elated to report the following: Jerry Narron has finally been fired! Advance scout Pete Mackanin was chosen interim manager. The Reds are currently 31-51. Even if a Bobby Cox-Jim Leyland-Jack McKeon amalgam was coaching this squad, they still wouldn't be anywhere near .500. However, it will be nice to get a guy in there who (hopefully) won't do the following:
  • Bat Adam Dunn 6th and sometimes even 7th in the lineup. [And people wonder why he has fewer RBI than other sluggers.]
  • Bat 78 year old Jeff Conine clean-up.
  • Pinch hit for Josh Hamilton in a crucial 9th inning situation with .195 OBP machine Juan Castro, citing Castro's 1 for 1 history* against the pitcher as reason for doing so. [The hit was a double that occured in 2000, a mere SEVEN FUCKING YEARS AGO]
  • Wear out his bullpen by riding his "hot arm of the week" for 5 appearances in 5 days. Pretty sure David Weathers' arm is about ready to fall off.
  • Hit Brandon Phillips 3rd EVER.
  • Make an example of young Edwin Encarnacion by benching him after failing to run out a routine pop-up. [Come on, Jerry. It's Major League Baseball, not Junior Varsity for the Adena Warriors**]

*KAD small sample size alert. Our first of many.

**My high school. A reference no one will get.

3 comments:

Mevs said...

He hit Phillips clean up more often than 3rd--which is even worse.

I'm just waiting for your rant about Dunn not making the All-Star team in favor of that Boner Aaron Rowand.

The Last Unitard said...

The Donkey gets fewer RBI's than other sluggers because his career average with RISP is .220.

Trade the Donkey.

Anonymous said...

If Dunn seemed to give an ounce of shit for winning baseball it would be different. He is a homerun/walk collector who statnerds love because they never use their eyes to judge a player. OPS is a great stat when used as one tool among multiple tools to judge a player. If a guy looks like a lazy, stat collector - the stats dont show it, but watching him everyday, it shows up. This is why he drives the Reds announcers nuts. They watch his lazy ass act everyday - during the games, during warm ups, during BP. Dunn is satisfied with his stat line. If you struck out 200 times and had a chance to hold each of the top 10 strikeout seasons of all time by the time your career was over, at some point wouldn't you try something different? Not if you are lazy and getting paid 10+ million a year.

Everyone dismisses the 20 - 30 runs Dunn gives up by letting singles become doubles, doubles become triples and outs become basehits. He is lazy, slow and shows no interest in getting better. Dunn just got Narron fired. If he would work on his game instead of being the exact same player he was five years ago, he would get more leeway. He still is a dead pull, high K, high walk, defensive nightmare - the exact same thing he was in 2002. His stat line is too consistent. Great players get more productive in their late twenties. OPS, HRs, RBIs increase while negatives like Ks decrease. Dunn is a 40 HR 90 - 100 RBI player with no chance on increasing to a 50-55 HR, 120+ RBI guy. ManRam is bad in the outfield, but he drives in 130+. I would rather see Jay Bruce take his lumps and work his way into a great player than watch Dunn continue to be an ok hitter/walk machine who never improves, even in what should be his prime. Good job Adam, you got Jerry Narron fired.