2008 MLB predictions

You're still wrong. Hitting is more about having a quick swing, fluid mechanics, and great hand-eye coordination than it is about mental preparation. Again, the mental side definitely matters, but it only matters if you already have the physical stuff. If you don't, no amount of mental preparation will compensate.

Then that explains your mindset. Look, I wouldn't expect a 15 year old to be familiar with statistical concepts, much less to understand the mathematical rationale behind them. But at the same time, you should remember that you're only 15 and thus not possessed of a fully formed adult intellect yet. The same was true of me at that age. So instead of simply being obstinate and saying that Carmona will be great because you want him to be, a better approach would be to ask someone like me to explain the things you don't understand about his statistical profile.

Everything I say comes from having an idea about the subject. My judgments are almost always evidentiary, which is why I'm usually correct.

 

first of all, i only agreed with you that carmona is not great. Second, I did give you too much credit. I think you are sad colon, I really do. It must suck to be that guy that is only right in his own mind. You are not respected, and that is the reason that you have to argue. Your mind is that of a 5 year old child who throws temper tantrums and refuses to admit that he is wrong. You remind me of the waterboy, when colonel sanders tells him that aligators are not ornery b/c they don't have a toothbrush. "Nuh-uh colonel sanders, you're wrong."

By the way, since the playing part was brought up, what is the highest level of baseball that you achieved? I play baseball in the NCAA and yes, you are right that physical skill is required to play the game. But, we are talking about major leaguers here. ALL of them have the physical ability. When comparing people at the same level, it is mostly mental.

Your name is fitting, colon. B/c every time you respond, any time anything comes out of your mouth, it's shit.

 

For about the 5th time i'm not saying Carmona is gonna be great, but he has the potential to be. And don't act like you're so much fucking smarter than everyone else because you study baseball statistics. The only thing that'll help you with in life is arguing with 15 year olds on a blog site. And why the fuck would i ask you anything, i don't even know you, nor do i consider you a viable source for the baseball information i'm seeking. And i'll be obstinate as long as you keep responding like a pompous douchebag, who seems extremely proud of himself for spending too much time on this site, which is evident by the fact that you've posted over 14,000 times. All i know is that when i'm 29, i'll be spending my time doing much more important things than jawing with a teenager over the ability of a pitcher.

 

The Mucking Fets getting Santana changes everything in the NL East. Despite the choke of 2007, they have to be the team to beat.



Muck the Fets!!!

 

Which is what I'm still saying, you colossal dumbass. You've only changed your opinion because you dislike me, which is emblematic of your infantile mindset. You don't choose sides based on anything so inconvenient as facts or statistics. Jesus, you act like you're still in middle school.

For one, you really don't want to be insulting my intellect given that I kick your ass in one thread after another. If I have the mind of a 5 year old, then by extension you'd have the mind of a half-aborted fetus. Seriously man, used rubbers have more brain cells than you do.

I was two-time all-Conference in high school and could have played at a smaller school, but I knew I was never going to get any farther and chose to go to UVA where I had absolutely no chance of making the team. But because you probably don't grasp this point, it wouldn't matter if I'd never played above tee ball. Whether or not you're right depends on your intellect and your evidentiary justification, which is why you can never win any arguments about anything, regardless of personal experience.

When you say things like this, you just look hopelessly stupid to anyone who isn't braindead. Yes, Alex Rodriguez and David Eckstein both have physical ability, but they don't have anything close to the same physical ability. You could even make the argument that Eckstein has the superior mental approach, but Rodriguez dwarfs him as a player because his physical talents are far beyond anything Eckstein is or ever will be capable of.

Yes, you are. You want to pretend like what you're saying is reasonable but you just got through saying it's possible for Carmona to do something guys like Greg Maddux and Pedro Martinez couldn't. That's absurd. You need to realize that you're 15, and thus of limited intellect, and that your allegiance to your team is coloring your opinion with bias. Both are understandable, but you need to be able to recognize those influences.

That's not why I'm so much smarter. I'm so much smarter partly because I was born that way (I qualified for MENSA in third grade), and partly because I've always pushed myself to learn more. I took AP Calculus when I was 15. What are you taking?

Now you're just showing your age by being petulant. When someone like me knows about concepts you've never heard of, your reaction should be wanting to learn those concepts regardless of whether or not my condescending tone irritates you. If you care more about your hurt feelings than learning something you don't know about, you're not going to become any more educated.

You mean like being a nationally published fantasy baseball and football columnist (while getting a Masters degree, holding a regular full-time job, and yes, posting on a message board)? Look, I don't particularly care if you want to try to make yourself feel better by insulting me, but I'm encouraging you to set aside your hurt feelings and instead focus on expanding your knowledge.

 

collin, i'm not saying that physical talent does not matter. I'm saying that the mental approach to the game is a big deal. You tell me what the difference between Roger Clemens and say, well you pick. Take a hard throwing right hander and compare him to clemens. Now, the difference between those two players is mostly their approach to the game. When it comes to ARod, his mental approach has been so good for so long, that yes, that has caused his physical ability to be better than most any other infielder. He works so hard for so long....and why does he do that? he trains harder and longer than most baseball players have ever thought about....same goes for clemens. And why did they do that? because their physical ability is better? no. It's because their mental approach to the game was work, work, work. That work is what has made their physical ability better. So, without the mental approach they never get physically better because they would be sitting on their ass instead of working their ass off to be better than everyone else.

 

Of course it is, and I never said otherwise. But tribefan was obviously wrong when he said "if you played baseball, which i'm not sure if you do, you'd know that most of the game is mental." That was obviously ridiculous.

Roger's dedication is clearly a big factor in sustaining his success, but it's not why he was dominant to begin with. It's why he's had a longer and more productive career than someone like Doc Gooden who was all talent and didn't take care of it. But Roger Clemens is Roger Clemens because he has more physical pitching talent than all but a handful of guys. Even Greg Maddux was graded as an 80 on movement, so it's a mistake to think that these guys weren't much more physically talented than their peers. They were.

You are completely wrong yet again, which isn't at all surprising. Makeup is a factor, yes, but teams don't draft makeup over tools. The difference between any two players is primarily their physical talent.

Good grief, that's completely ridiculous. A-Rod and Clemens get their incredible physical ability from their genetics. They were born that way. Both guys were identified as incredibly talented prospects in high school, well before they developed their current work habits. The suggestion that they simply used effort to make themselves more physically talented is just idiotic. If you could actually do that, lots of people would, but you can't. Effort helps you make the most out of your talent, but it won't make you better than your innate capacity.

 

I had no idea i was talking to a fucking math genious, someone could have told me so i didn't get completely shot down. But you can be a genious and still be a douchebag. Do notice, that you aren't making any friends with the way you talk, like you're the all knowing god of baseball. Trust me my feelings aren't hurt because i got out blogged by a 29 year old who's a professional baseball analyst. But seriously I'm not saying he's going to be great, i'm saying that he could be great. He has strong potential. You can't deny that...though i'm sure you will. And what concepts do you know that i haven't heard of?