Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Robbed
I'm going to do it again. I'm going to defend Pedro Feliz. Lock up your children, chain down your pets, 'cause this is going to get ugly. I know, I know, I should be ashamed of myself, but I believe in justice, even if it means I have to go to the mat for one of the most abominable players in all of baseball.
Yesterday the Gold Gloves winners were announced in each league, with the usual spate of horrid picks mixed in with some deserving winners. Rob Neyer breaks it down succinctly here. Truthfully, I stopped giving a crap about this award several years ago. Nobody knows who to vote for, and if the voters on these things don't care enough to do even a cursory bit of research (at least enough to realize that Derek Jeter isn't anywhere near the top fielding shortstop), then why should we care who wins?
Generally, the coaches and managers just give the awards to star players or players who have won several times before. No-hit/all glove types on bad teams rarely get any love, even though they're often the most deserving. The past few years, Houston's Adam Everett has been the best fielding shortstop in the majors, and it hasn't even been close, and yet he hasn't even gotten a sniff from the voters, who decided that since Omar Vizquel had won it a bunch of times he must still be the best (sorry, Omar). Kansas City's Tony Pena could make a great case for the best fielding AL shortstop this year, but nobody's ever heard of him and he can't hit, so TS, Tony.
That brings us to Feliz, a horrible hitter on a bad Giants team, but yet who in 2007 was a fantastic fielder. As I noted here a few months ago, Feliz ranks as the very best third baseman by any metric. Usually all of the fielding numbers, both old school and newfangled, tend to disagree, but when they all point conclusively to one outcome, that Feliz is the man, chances are the stats aren't playing tricks with you. Sadly, he lost out to David Wright, who I'm sure can pick it, but the numbers say it all. Hell, even my eyes could see it. Feliz looked stellar this year.
So a big giant whiff for the Gold Glove voters, but it's nothing new. Again, I stopped caring about this a while ago, but it really would be nice to see a guy who is so clearly head and shoulders above everybody else at least get some recognition from the people who are supposedly watching him day in, day out..
Feliz takes a lot of shit on this blog, and deservedly so, but I also believe in a sense of fairness, and this is just not right. Some people still do take the Gold Gloves seriously, so let history show that poor Pedro got snubbed.
--I should point out that, no, Mr. Sabean, I am not campaigning for Feliz to be brought back, and this talk I hear of a 2 year/$8 million deal gives me the urge to run and bow before the porcelain god. I appreciate Feliz's glove, really I do, but it's not enough to make up for his hideous bat. Nothing is.
See, I ended this post on a Feliz-bashing note. I'm not getting soft after all.
Yesterday the Gold Gloves winners were announced in each league, with the usual spate of horrid picks mixed in with some deserving winners. Rob Neyer breaks it down succinctly here. Truthfully, I stopped giving a crap about this award several years ago. Nobody knows who to vote for, and if the voters on these things don't care enough to do even a cursory bit of research (at least enough to realize that Derek Jeter isn't anywhere near the top fielding shortstop), then why should we care who wins?
Generally, the coaches and managers just give the awards to star players or players who have won several times before. No-hit/all glove types on bad teams rarely get any love, even though they're often the most deserving. The past few years, Houston's Adam Everett has been the best fielding shortstop in the majors, and it hasn't even been close, and yet he hasn't even gotten a sniff from the voters, who decided that since Omar Vizquel had won it a bunch of times he must still be the best (sorry, Omar). Kansas City's Tony Pena could make a great case for the best fielding AL shortstop this year, but nobody's ever heard of him and he can't hit, so TS, Tony.
That brings us to Feliz, a horrible hitter on a bad Giants team, but yet who in 2007 was a fantastic fielder. As I noted here a few months ago, Feliz ranks as the very best third baseman by any metric. Usually all of the fielding numbers, both old school and newfangled, tend to disagree, but when they all point conclusively to one outcome, that Feliz is the man, chances are the stats aren't playing tricks with you. Sadly, he lost out to David Wright, who I'm sure can pick it, but the numbers say it all. Hell, even my eyes could see it. Feliz looked stellar this year.
So a big giant whiff for the Gold Glove voters, but it's nothing new. Again, I stopped caring about this a while ago, but it really would be nice to see a guy who is so clearly head and shoulders above everybody else at least get some recognition from the people who are supposedly watching him day in, day out..
Feliz takes a lot of shit on this blog, and deservedly so, but I also believe in a sense of fairness, and this is just not right. Some people still do take the Gold Gloves seriously, so let history show that poor Pedro got snubbed.
--I should point out that, no, Mr. Sabean, I am not campaigning for Feliz to be brought back, and this talk I hear of a 2 year/$8 million deal gives me the urge to run and bow before the porcelain god. I appreciate Feliz's glove, really I do, but it's not enough to make up for his hideous bat. Nothing is.
See, I ended this post on a Feliz-bashing note. I'm not getting soft after all.
Labels: happy pete, stupid award voting
