Keeping Score – When Good Prospects Go Bad – NYTimes.com
Posted by Neil Paine on September 24, 2010
In this week's New York Times column, Sean spotlights Chris Carter (A's version) -- specifically, the unfortunate 0-for-32 streak he went on to start his major-league career.
September 24th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Yeah, everybody else starting out their career like this was a pitcher (Casey Cox, Ted Power, Manny Sarmiento, Daryl Patterson, Wes Stock, Billy McCool, Brian Moehler, Bo McLaughlin, Tony McKnight, Randy Tate)
September 24th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
I am sure poor Ron Wright was just trying to get through another week under the radar. But no.
September 24th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
I love the first comment (by Adam) on the actual NY Times article. I realize it's not a baseball site, but it's just too outrageous to not comment on. He made the mistake of thinking he understands WAR and ends up saying an incorrect analogy and completely screws up the definition of WAR. I can't believe no one has attacked him yet.
September 24th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
That's really funny, I always think of Billy McCool as being an awesome hitter because he went like 2 for 3 in an APBA league that I subsequently used to generate a fantasy season.
Wait a second, that's not funny at all ...
September 24th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Sean, keep pumpin' the value of statistics, including WAR, to correct baseball mis-conceptions in the public domain. Who could ask for a better forum than the NYT?
Don't overplay your hand as a stat-head, but assume that your readers have enough intelligence to appreciate your research.
Way outside your market, but how does one get a gig in the freakin' NYT?
September 24th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
@5 Neil L
Way outside your market, but how does one get a gig in the freakin' NYT?
All sports-related gigs at the Times run through Murray Chass. You don't want to know what Sean had to do.
September 24th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
@6
Fireworks, are you saying that Sean has the Chass "seal of approval"? (lol) I thought he (Murray) was a dinosaur!
September 25th, 2010 at 10:53 am
I saw Joey Hamilton get his first hit, and I would have been willing to bet he would go another 57 at-bats without a hit. Even by the standards of pitchers at the plate, he looked awful. He was big dude and got lucky and literally stuck his bat out and met a belt-high fast ball that went for a double. As I recall it hit off the wall in center field at the Murph. The Padres fans were practically rolling in the aisles.
It must of sparked some confidence for Joey. He finished his career with 48 hits and seven doubles.
September 25th, 2010 at 7:26 pm
@8 "I saw Joey Hamilton get his first hit, and I would have been willing to bet he would go another 57 at-bats without a hit."
I believe he *DID* have another 57-AB hitless streak (9/6/98 through 7/5/01)
September 25th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Man I should have gotten a co-author credit on that NYT column...did you read my previous blog post here on Carter when you wrote that? Heh.