Who can blame him? This is actually a positive post (about Keith) for a few chat answers he had on today’s ESPN chat. Keith is usually to the point, but I thought these were worth sharing with all 2 readers of this site.
Andy (Houston): Biggio is not getting any press because he is one of the most stand up players in all of sports. maybe he he bad mouthed his teamates (Owens), demanded trades (Kobe), or whined non stop (Owens again) he would be on sports center more often. It's sad that a future HOF isn't getting any press for this great milestone.
Keith Law: Seriously, you're making me want to write an article on how one player's selfish pursuit of a rather meaningless milestone is helping to sink his team's playoff hopes. Isn't that a story? If his initials were B.B., don't you think this would be a regular rant in sports sections everywhere? What if Biggio was African-American, or Latino? He's getting a free pass. Just be happy with that.
A fair point to pretty much beat down the Biggio fans. Biggio came up a few times in the chat, as to why he’s not getting as much attention for approaching 3,000 hits as some past players have received. It’s because he sucks, and it seems to be to the detriment of his team. Rather simple. He’s lucky he’s not getting negative attention, as Keith points out.
Also, how ludicrous is this guy's point, that Biggio doesn't get comparable attention because he's a "stand up player"? Like the most recent inductees into the 3,000 hit club were a bunch of hated guys (Gwynn, Ripken, Boggs, etc.). Well I hated Boggs but that's beside the point.
Bill "Sports Guy" Simmons (ESPN Studios) : Can't we talk Celtics basketball in your baseball chat?
Keith Law: Go away. And stop talking about Ronald Jenkees. Every time you mention him I think of Leroy Jenkins, and hear him shouting his own name over and over...
I would not have expected him to take this question, since they get thousands in these chats and given that they are employed by the same company, but then he also seems to let out some animosity towards Simmons. Simmons and Law would be exact opposites really. Simmons likes to talk about MTV crap and the NBA; Law is MLB with a focus on scouting, and literature. For the record I find them both somewhat entertaining, but for different reasons.
Fran (Helsinki, Finland): I hate this whole trend of glorifying scrappers. I like the workingman's hero as much as the next guy, but enough is enough. Biggio isn't good enough to play everyday anymore and he is sinking his team by chasing a milestone that does nothing for himself or the sport.
Keith Law: Couldn't agree more. The David Eckstein Fetish still baffles me. That's great that he plays hard. It's nice that he's succeeded against all odds. Why he gets more love than, say, Jimmy Rollins (or this year JJ Hardy) is beyond me.
Firejoemorgan does a good job of beating the hell out of the Eckstein/Erstad love thrown around, but you can't disagree with Keith here as well.
Dusty Baker (Egoville, Wisconsin_: Why won't the Orioles consider me for their coaching vacancy?
Keith Law: Maybe they're familiar with your work.
Just good, honest, accurate, short answers. The Dusty answer is outstanding when you consider they share an employer.
*Update*
As a couple of readers pointed out, there is also this gem:
Richie (Seattle): What's your take on the new ESPN player ratings? I haven't heard you or Neyer mention them.
Keith Law: Just a toy. No analytical value.
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9 comments:
I think it's amazing that he knows who Leroy Jenkins is.
6/19 @LAA W 9-5 6 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 2
6/18 @LAA L 9-10 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
6/16 Sea W 9-4 5 2 1 0 0 1 3 0 1
6/15 Sea W 5-1 5 0 3 1 0 0 1 0 0
6/14 Oak L 5-6 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
6/13 Oak L 3-7 5 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 2
6/12 Oak W 5-4 5 1 3 2 0 0 0 0 0
Let's look at some of Biggio's stat lines from recent games and see just how bad he sucks. Oh what's that? he recently hit safely in 6 straight games. While the only thing you seem to hit is the bottle, this guy (at times, at least) can still get it done.
There was also this:
"Richie (Seattle): What's your take on the new ESPN player ratings? I haven't heard you or Neyer mention them.
Keith Law: Just a toy. No analytical value. "
I'm pretty sure the Simmons comment was a joke - from reading previous chats they seem to be friendly with each other.
The best comment was the 'No analytical value' comment about the ESPN player ratings.
Kurt - I think you're right on Law/Simmons - I forgot about that. The ESPN analytical tool thing was great as well.
DaveIndy - I hit the bottle sparingly, but I still hit it more than Biggio hits the ball this year. A handful of games is meaningless - small sample size. It's not like he has no history, we'll see if he turns it around a bit this year. Still possible.
I love Keith; he's one of the few over there who is honest, but backs it up with facts. He doesn't get caught in the superfluous writing style that everyone at the WWL has. He tells it as it is, though it does piss people off (Cardinals fans).
He rips into another Astro a lot more than Biggio (Ausmus). He doesn't get caught up in the whole "he's a smart guy; he's going to be a future manager" stuff that others do. Ausmus can't hit, and makes for another sure out for a NL team that has another sure out every time through the lineup. Biggio makes three. You're not going to win many games with three sure outs in a lineup.
Of course, you have to admit he's right with basically everything he says there, except maybe the Bill Simmons one. Simmons seems to come up like every week in the Law chats, for some reason.
(Plus he answers like five times as many questions in an hour as everybody else does. That's gotta be worth something, right?)
DaveIndy,
Why did you leave these stats out?
6/20 @LAA L 4-8 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1
6/11 @ChC L 1-2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
6/10 @CWS L 3-6 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
It's almost like you did it on
purpose to fool us, you big fooler.
Biggs is hitting .233, with a .273 OBP. You have a low bar for "getting it done". Back to my bottle...
I'm sorry that I'm late to the party, but yes, Bill and I are friendly, and my comment about him was just a joke.
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