Baseball Toaster: Dodger Thoughts : Bonds in the Order

Bonds in the Order

2006-01-20 10:40

by Jon Weisman

Batting Barry Bonds' of the rival Giants in the No. 2 slot of the batting order was the subject of a long discussion between Giants manager Felipe Alou and Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. (Thanks to Baseball Think Factory for pointing the article out.)

Alou is worried about what happens to the Giants lineup when Bonds is removed for a defensive replacement. He'd rather have a weaker hitter batting second and Moises Alou batting fourth in those situations. I think batting Bonds second might be a good idea for the Giants even without that rationale - just to get him more at-bats and put more pressure on the opponent sooner. How often does a cleanup hitter get up there with the bases loaded, anyway?

All in all, it doesn't matter much, but it interests me from a Strat-o-Matic perspective.

Comments

2006-01-20 11:11:11

1. Bob Timmermann

But the pitcher's spot preceded Bonds,
and so did Randy Winn.
The former was iffy,
And the latter was no Tony Gwynn.

2006-01-20 11:20:45

2. Bob Timmermann

But Bonds will be asked to do the little things: bunt, hit and run, take pitches. He's a team player.

2006-01-20 11:25:13

3. Sam DC

I think it's just you, me, and Jon today Bob.

2006-01-20 11:27:27

4. Curtis Lowe

<----- Lurking.

2006-01-20 11:28:18

5. Curtis Lowe

But where where in the order I ask I plead will Steve Finley bat?

2006-01-20 11:28:20

6. capdodger

I wonder if batting second will change his IBB rate.

2006-01-20 11:29:42

7. capdodger

5 - From the article, it seems Finley will be BB's DDR (designated defensive replacement).

2006-01-20 11:30:26

8. Bob Timmermann

If Bonds were batting third, the poem would have sounded batter. Although I don't know what would have rhymed with Vizquel.

2006-01-20 11:31:08

9. Sushirabbit

It's nice to have the Giants around so the Dodger's don't look so old.

2006-01-20 11:32:49

10. Curtis Lowe

8-David Bell? Stank Smell? Sea shell?

2006-01-20 11:36:17

11. Bob Timmermann

I always wonder why if Burrows and Jimmy Blake were such bad hitters for Mudville, why did they bat right before Casey? Woudln't the Mudville manager want to maximize Casey's RBI opportunities?

Having Blake bat before Casey is as ludicrous as having Oscar Robles bat third.

2006-01-20 11:40:23

12. Sushirabbit

Pitchers B/T Ht Wt DOB
49 Armando Benitez R/R 6-4 245 11/03/72
14 Jeff Fassero L/L 6-1 200 01/05/63
34 Steve Kline R/L 6-1 240 08/22/72
35 Matt Morris R/R 6-5 220 08/09/74
29 Jason Schmidt R/R 6-5 215 01/29/73
47 Tyler Walker R/R 6-3 240 05/15/76
45 Tim Worrell R/R 6-4 240 07/05/67

Catchers B/T Ht Wt DOB
22 Mike Matheny R/R 6-3 220 09/22/70

Infielders B/T Ht Wt DOB
5 Ray Durham S/R 5-8 195 11/30/71
7 Pedro Feliz R/R 6-1 210 04/27/75
9 Mark Sweeney L/L 6-1 215 10/26/69
20 Jose Vizcaino S/R 6-1 190 03/26/68
13 Omar Vizquel S/R 5-9 185 04/24/67

Outfielders B/T Ht Wt DOB
18 Moises Alou R/R 6-3 220 07/03/66
25 Barry Bonds L/L 6-2 230 07/24/64
12 Steve Finley L/L 6-2 195 03/12/65
2 Randy Winn S/R 6-2 195 06/09/74

2006-01-20 11:42:25

13. Jon Weisman

11 - Thayer might have been the Simers or Plaschke of his time, bringing his own biases into his analysis. Maybe Blake was like Choi - he does deliver a key double.

2006-01-20 11:43:16

14. Jon Weisman

12 - Looking forward to the all-40something outfield on July 3.

2006-01-20 11:44:52

15. Bob Timmermann

In Garrison Keillor's alternative version of "Casey at the Bat", told from the perspective of the opponents, the Dustberg Nine, Blake's hit is a bloop double down the line.

2006-01-20 11:44:59

16. Curtis Lowe

12- So what would the AVG HT,WT + age be of the Giants?

2006-01-20 11:45:35

17. Sushirabbit

Dodgers less age in infield and pitching

Pitchers B/T Ht Wt DOB
-- Lance Carter R/R 6-1 190 12/18/74
38 Eric Gagne R/R 6-2 235 01/07/76
-- Tim Hamulack L/L 6-4 220 11/14/76
23 Derek Lowe R/R 6-6 210 06/01/73
50 Brett Tomko R/R 6-4 225 04/07/73

Catchers B/T Ht Wt DOB
-- Sandy Alomar R/R 6-5 235 06/18/66

Infielders B/T Ht Wt DOB

-- Nomar Garciaparra R/R 6-0 190 07/23/73
12 Jeff Kent R/R 6-1 210 03/07/68
-- Bill Mueller S/R 5-10 180 03/17/71
13 Oscar Robles L/R 5-11 155 04/09/76
8 Olmedo Saenz R/R 5-11 220 10/08/70

Outfielders B/T Ht Wt DOB
22 Jose Cruz S/R 6-0 210 04/19/74
7 J.D. Drew L/R 6-1 200 11/20/75
33 Ricky Ledee L/L 6-1 215 11/22/73
6 Kenny Lofton L/L 6-0 190 05/31/67

2006-01-20 11:50:21

18. Sushirabbit

Sorry, for that, it was kinda long and ugly, but it does seem like a lot of age on both teams.

Seems like we're short a lefty in the pen, and I'd like another starter. I guess that's wishful thinking, eh?

2006-01-20 11:57:41

19. Curtis Lowe

18- I'm not to sure the Dodgers are short a lefty in the pen considering Wunsch,Hamaluk and Kuo are all lefty's. Also Little indicated in his chat yesterday that the whole lefty righty split means very Little to his pitcher managing style.

2006-01-20 12:01:08

20. Curtis Lowe

19- I assume that Arm Angle splits are also inconsequencial in his decision making process.

2006-01-20 12:15:36

21. Curtis Lowe

From Jason Starks article on ESPN.com/mlb

"So the Phillies also are attempting to move outfielder Jason Michaels for an eighth-inning setup man."

He seems like a younger Lofton and the Dodgers would'nt really need him but he is available.

2006-01-20 12:26:57

22. GoBears

Garrison Keillor's alternative version of "Casey at the Bat", told from the perspective of the opponents, the Dustberg Nine

I've never seen the Keillor version. Do you have a link to the poem, Bob? Many thanks.

2006-01-20 12:44:06

24. Bob Timmermann

Keillor's version hasn't been published as far as I know. I think he recited it first during a "Prairie Home Companion" and it appeared on some baseball music compilation I bought.

2006-01-20 12:47:07

25. Steve

I don't have any middle relievers, but I have an old moldy ham sandwich I'd trade for Michaels. Might be able to get Michaels for less though. Maybe I should hold out.

2006-01-20 12:50:33

26. Bob Timmermann

23 and 24 are the Goofus and Gallant of Intellectual Property Law.

2006-01-20 12:56:08

27. Blu2

If that was a slap at my posting it, I'm too ignorant to realize I did anything wrong. I found it POSTED on the INTERNET. Credit was given to the author there. Seems to me anything posted on the INTERNET is public property, in actuality if not in Blackwell...

2006-01-20 13:01:29

28. Bob Timmermann

27
Sorry, no offense intended. We had a Goofus and Gallant thing going recently.

But I think it would have been easier to just post the link. I would hate to have those Minnesota Public Radio goons get after Jon.

2006-01-20 13:36:24

29. JJoeScott

I have generally hit Bonds second on my Strat NL teams -- seems to confound opponents more because you end up with Bonds on 1B less than two outs. The key though is to have a big bat somewhere behind him, because Bonds is going to be IBB'ed anyway no matter where he bats in the Strat lineup.

2006-01-20 13:48:41

30. Jon Weisman

Yes, nothing personal, but generally anything over a few paragraphs you should link to, so that my site doesn't steal their traffic. It is far from true that anything posted on the Internet is public property, in actuality or Blackwell.

2006-01-20 14:06:42

31. Steve

Blackstone?

2006-01-20 14:09:28

32. Blu2

Errors (both) noted.

2006-01-20 14:11:36

33. Jon Weisman

I thought we were talking about Mr. Blackwell's approval of my look.

2006-01-20 15:28:34

34. Bob Timmermann

I also apologize for forgetting that "Goofus" can be construed as "fighting words" in certain localities. Maybe even grounds for a duel!

2006-01-20 15:41:41

35. Blu2

34 Creampuffs at arm's length...

2006-01-20 16:37:22

36. Bob Timmermann

Goofus duels with bullets and takes tips from Aaron Burr
Gallant duels with creampuffs and takes tips from Andrew Hamilton.

2006-01-20 17:18:04

37. Curtis Lowe

All work and no dodger news make lowe a dull boy.
All work and no dodger news make lowe a dull boy.
All work and no dodger news make lowe a dull boy.
All work and no dodger news make lowe a dull boy.
All work and no dodger news make lowe a dull boy.
All work and no dodger news make lowe a dull boy.
All work and no dodger news make lowe a dull boy.
All work and no dodger news make lowe a dull boy.
All work and no dodger news make lowe a dull boy.

2006-01-20 17:21:28

38. Bob Timmermann

Redrum! Redrum!

2006-01-20 17:24:52

39. Marty

RIP Tony Fransciosa

2006-01-20 17:36:14

40. Bob Timmermann

The Curse of Shelly Winters