No better way to get yourself on FJM than to utter the magic phrase "clogs up the basepaths." I don't think I'll ever get tired of making fun of those four wonderful words. As a bonus, in this edition, the person accusing the clogger is someone intimately involved in actual baseball decisions: one of "20 general managers, assistant GMs, and assorted scouts and personnel people," according to
Jerry Crasnick.
The question on the table is Alfonso Soriano or Carlos Lee? Sir, your argument?
"Even if he doesn't hit a homer, he can find a way to get in scoring position," a Soriano booster said. "He can score from first on a double. Carlos Lee is a great hitter, but he's a liability defensively and he clogs up the bases."Yes, Soriano is a vastly superior baserunner, so at first, it seems like this "clog" use isn't that egregious. But here's the thing: Carlos Lee isn't even that slow. He's certainly not Frank Thomas. Last year, Lee stole 19 bases and only got caught twice. He's 96 for 128 for his career, for a 75% clip. Not terrible. I mean, two years ago in Texas, Soriano only stole 18 bases. Basically, what this guy is saying is, "Sure, Carlos Lee is a great hitter, but he only stole three fewer bases than Grady Sizemore and one more than Carlos Beltran last year! That is unacceptable!"
Some scouts are paying attention to reality, I guess, because this was also in the article:
"He has surprising speed for a big, fat guy," an NL scout said. Labels: clogging up the basepaths