Author: Mike Fields

Categories
General Sports

Baseball Success is a Choice

Strike one, fastball outside corner. Strike two, swinging strike on pitch in his eyes. Strike three, curveball in the dirt…Who’s batting? Cory Patterson of course. Is it a matter of talent or is the problem 100% mental? Everyone keeps talking about how gifted of a player Cory is and how he’s going to be an All Star for a decade when he “grows up”. So what the point in having talent if your mental difficulties just block it and how long do you wait for a player to develop? Is it possibly for a whole team to mentally kill themselves time after time even though they have enough talent to win? By all means, just ask the Cubs.

Continue reading “Baseball Success is a Choice”
Categories
MLB General

Beane Machine Vs. Turner’s Tribe

When you pick up the newspaper, you won’t see the Oakland A’s anywhere near the top of their division, let alone the American League. This leaves many people stunned. How could the “Moneyball” approach not be working this year? Has icon Billy Beane lost the magic, or is there more going on then meets the eye? Obviously Beane’s squad is in the midst of a rebuilding year, but why haven’t the Braves had to have a rebuilding year in over a decade?

Bill Shanks book Scout’s Honor has been proclaimed the “Anti-Moneyball” book. In reading both, there are obviously many differences. Emphasis is placed on stats over appearance for the A’s, and “makeup” over numbers for the Braves. However, the two franchises don’t have as much as contradicting ideas as either side would like to admit. The importance might be placed different, but both teams take the others main points into consideration.

Continue reading “Beane Machine Vs. Turner’s Tribe”