Where do they find these guys?
Does anyone else find Tim Kurkjian's commentary lacking? I was going to let his stats on Albert Pujols slide until I heard him talking about the White Sox - Cubs incident today. But, let's start with the Pujols piece. Kurkjian tries to validate Pujols' greatness by stating that his achievements in six categories are unprecedented (I think it was six, although it might be seven). The problem is, four of the categories are batting average, hits, extra base hits and total bases. I think the other two (or three) are runs scored, RBI's and home runs (maybe not home runs). If you get a lot of AB's and hit for a high average, you are going to get a lot of hits. And, power hitters who hit for a high average are going to get a lot of extra base hits, between the HR's and the doubles, but that one isn't tied as closely to other categories. However, if you get a lot of hits and extra base hits, you are going to have a lot of total bases. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Runs batted in and runs scored are linked, at least to some extent, to the performance of your teammates. Pujols isn't exceptionally fast and doesn't steal a ton of bases. He's been aided by a star-studded lineup. Now, I agree that Pujols is a really good young player. If he continues to improve and stay healthy, he'll probably challenge Hank Aaron or Barry Bonds (or A-Rod) for the all-time HR mark down the road and might win as many MVP's as the aforementioned Bonds. He's either 1A or 1B (the other being Rodriguez) in the game today. No one needs a list of obscure, highly-related stats as evidence of Pujol's productivity. What about on-base percentage, on-base + slugging percentage, average with runners in scoring position, etc?
Moving on to Michael Barrett clocking A.J. Pierzynski, Kurkjian said Barrett was 99.9% at fault (and deserved a suspension of 5-10 games), but that Pierzynski was culpable as well because he was moving toward Barrett. Originally, I didn't know why Pierzynski was headed toward the Cubs' dugout. It turns out that he was going to retrieve his helmet. In the replay, you can see that he is going to get his helmet, and trying to avoid Barrett without taking an absurdly indirect route. Pierzynski has every right to go get his helmet. Barrett isn't the king of the field and he's 100% at fault. He started the brawl. He grabbed Pierzynski around the waist, he yelled at him, and he took a swing at him. Kurkjian thinks 5-10 games? Are you kidding me? Russ Springer got 4 for throwing at Barry Bonds. Barrett deserves at least 20 games, if not 30, 40, or 50. A player once got 30 games for hitting his own manager (according to an ESPN list I saw) and another player got 30 games for pushing an umpire. I know umpires are sacred in the eyes of MLB brass, but punching a player on the other team without provocation should not be tolerated. Kurkjian's suggested suspension length amounts to nothing more than a slap on the wrist, and insinuating that Pierzynski was at fault at all is equally as egregious ... and, no, I'm not the president of the A.J. Pierzynski fan club or anything like that.
Does anyone out there actually enjoy Kurkjian's commentary? I'd be interested to hear.

3 Comments:
Apparently, Eddie doesn't appreciate Kirkjian either (j/k).
Tim Kirkjian isn't terrible per se, but the constant fawning by him and the rest of the Baseball Tonight crew of Poo-Holes and Bonds is wearing on me.
I'm a White Sox fan, so I certainly think Barrett should get a heftier suspension than 5 to 10 games. What I think has been lost in all of this is that Barrett has pretty much been the best hitter on the Cubs since Derrek Lee got injured. The Cubs already have an anemic offense, so it's not going to be pretty to see Henry Blanco and his .051 batting average take Barrett's place for two weeks or more. That was a moronic punch on so many levels.
Wow. I didn't realize the Cubs were as anemic as they are. They are last in the NL in runs (160, 25 behind 15th place Pittsburgh and 82 behind 1st place ... the LA Dodgers!). They are last in batting average (and hits), doubles and home runs. They are also last in BB. So, it's not surprising that they are last in OBP, total bases, slugging and OPS. Now, I understand why they are one of the worst teams in the NL. However, even if Barrett (yes, definitely a moronic action on Saturday, although it was kind of fun to see) is removed from the lineup, there is no place for this team to go but up. Juan Pierre and Aramis Ramirez have been horrible so far this year, hitting .240 and .238 respectively. Jacque Jones and Matt Murton are solid contributors, Barrett is one of the top offensive catchers in the NL, and they are competent at 2B and SS with Todd Walker, Ronny Cedeno, Neifi Perez, etc. Losing Derrek Lee was a huge blow (he's hitting .318 this year) because the other big guns, Pierre and Ramirez have been so awful this year. I'm ashamed to admit that I am in two fantasy leagues and I have Ramirez in one and Pierre in the other!
The Cubs have dug a big hole, but the good thing is they have a lot of the season to recover. They are 18-26, with the current wild card leader being at 26-19 (Cincinnati). They are 7.5 games back of that mark. Obviously, they have a lot of teams to jump over, but they still have 118 games to play. I wouldn't worry about Barrett, they need to keep Kerry Wood healthy, get Mark Prior back in the rotation and Lee back in the lineup and find a way to get Pierre and Ramirez (who had 4 hits over the weekend) straightened out. I'd be really surprised if the Reds keep going on their same pace, although someone else will probably stay in the same winning percentage ballpark to capture the wild card; Houston, Los Angeles and Colorado are all a game behind Cincinnati.
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