Shared Experiences - or - Who Watches the Watchmen?

Alan Moore's Watchmen is one of the best comic series ever written. There's really no way around it; if you read comics, you have to read Watchmen. Aside from the fact that the story is excellent and the art is well-done, Watchmen's greatest accomplishment is a complete reimagining of a world with superheroes, and how such a world would function.

The results should sound familiar. Everyone pays attention, because everyone is affected. Like it or not, we're tugged back and forth by people we've never met, have no control over, and who wear funny, socially embarassing outfits.

Right now, we're doing alright, 'cause the superheroes are keeping us safe and sound, beating up on low level crooks and battling evil for the good of the game. What happens when they face the big guys, the guys who want to teleport a killer alien into the middle of New York, I dunno. But we might as well all enjoy it.

I Walk the Line

Thus, to coincide with his triumphant return, a little bit on our most underappreciated player.

Truth be told, Mark Bellhorn was the offseason pickup I was least excited about. We had just lost Todd Walker to the Cubs, and it seemed that they felt kinda bad about that, and so sent us his clone. Bellhorn's lone selling point was a monstrous 2002 season, where he hit 27 home runs in his first semi-full season. That was followed by an abysmal 2003, where he hit just about his weight. I couldn't see where he belonged, especially now that we had Pokey.

Jump to a few weeks into the season. The Bellhorn/Pokey debate becomes moot, as both are playing with regularity after Nomar goes down. Pokey is startlingly good in the field, and anemic at the plate. Really, that's not surprising, but what is surprising is that Mark Bellhorn is suddenly tied for the league lead in walks with...Barry Bonds. He's also leading the league in strikeouts, but we'll get back to that later. Besides, he's knocking in runs, scoring them in bunches, and always seems to get on base, whether by a walk or a hit, at least once a game.

What just happened there? How does Todd Walker Lite become such an offensive force?

Simple. Mark Christian Bellhorn has one of the smartest approaches to hitting in the game of baseball.

Bear with me, because I'm dead serious about this.

First off, Bellhorn's high number of strikeouts. There's a gigantic misconception about strikeouts in general; they're seen as the ultimate domination of pitcher over batter, and as such, are to be avoided like Albert Belle's front bumper on Halloween. Bellhorn strikes out a lot, ergo, he must be an awful hitter. Right?

Not so much, no. I'll let Eric Van from The Sons of Sam Horn
explain, because quite frankly, he knows a wee bit more about stats than I do:

As has been explained elsewhere countless times, Bellhorn's K's are completely meaningless. Stating with the obvious point, that the better a hitter you are when not striking out, the more you do strike out. Which is something most of us learn in second grade (that you can avoid striking out by swinging less hard). Second, "productive outs" are incrediblty overrated (you can hit .160 without any productive outs and do more good that someone who always makes the productive out). And finally and most egregiously, in the one situtation where K's actually matter, runner on 3rd with less than 2 out, the guy has one K all year.

Not only that, but a quick look at his stats show that he's batting .474 in that situation. Overall, with runners in scoring position, he's got an OBP of .421. He makes very few outs in situations that would net him an RBI, and it shows. Despite missing the past 16 games, he's still fifth on the team in RBI's, with 56.

The fundamental misconception about strikeouts is that they're somehow "worse" than balls put in play, which is only true, really, in one situation (that which Van outlines). Put it this way: would you rather have a guy who makes so-called "productive" outs, or one that doesn't make outs in general, like Bellhorn? I guarantee the second guy is more valuable.

What his strikeouts do mean, in fact, is something very encouraging. Bellhorn doesn't swing at pitches he can't hit. When he does put the ball in play (and if anyone can help me find this stat, I'd be grateful), he's hitting about .400.

What this means is that Bellhorn squeezes every last bit of performance out of his talent by playing the game in a rational, intelligent way. That his contributions are obscured by noise over his strikeouts is a travesty. Red Sox Nation should be glad that Theo & Co. snatched him from obscurity in the dregs of the National League.

"It's my life. Baseball is my life".

Call me a pessimist (you'd be right, by the way), but I'm more excited for the next few years than for this one. Visions of Hanley to Pokey to Minky keep distracting me from awkward losses to the Devil Rays, and Jason Varitek keeps morphing into Kelly Shoppach. The homegrown talent is already starting to make itself known; look at Kevin Youklis and his line:

OBP SLG OPS
.382 .460 .842

...and that's in 51 games. Those are better than most major leaguers can eke out. Give the guy a season, teach him to play third, and he'll be one of your best players.

Speaking of Hanley, I think he's rapidly outgrowing the "punk" reputation he earned in the lower-A leagues. I never held much stock in those rumors--heck the guy's only 20 years old. I'm 20 years old, which means I know a lot of 20 year-olds, and none of us are bastions of maturity. After reading a recent interview with him, a few things stood out.

First, Hanley's approach to hitting:

RSN: What is your approach at the plate?

HR: I like to stay through the middle and hit the ball at the pitcher's head. I like to see what they throw and then react to their pitches. I like to hit fastballs but can stay back and hit curves, too.

Gotta love quotes like that. It also indicates that he's willing to take pitches; something that always got on my nerves about Nomar. Watching him field, he also seems to set his feet before throwing, as opposed to Nomar's fluid, all-in-one-motion approach.

Also, this:

RSN: What's important to Hanley Ramirez on the field?

HR: Winning makes me happy.

RSN: What if the team loses, but you have a great game?

HR: Sometimes you play hard but don't have the luck. If you play hard and run the bases hard, that's all you can do. So it's okay, but I'd rather win.

Winning makes me happy.

Heck, Hanley, it makes us happy too. All through the interview, Ramirez comes off as a consummate team player-he loves to win, gets along well with his teammates (and future teammates as well-he's friends with Manny. But then again, who isn't?), and doesn't care where he plays. Still, he does give a little hint as to his arrogance:

RSN: Did your father teach you how to play?

HR: I was born with talent -- no one person taught me. It's like I was meant to play baseball.

...but then again, shortstops are like fighter pilots. Without a little bit of cockiness, they're dead in the air.

I'm rooting for Hanley hardcore. If he makes it, he'll be the first player that I'll have grown up with-a guy who's my peer, age-wise, and one who I can look at without as much of the hero-worship I have for other, older players. The title of this post/article/whatever is a direct quote from Hanley's interview. I'm using it because I've heard it so many times before, from so many different players, and only a few of them have meant it. With Hanley, I'll get to see firsthand whether he's one of those few.

New Faces, Other Minds

So, the Nomar thing.

I'm not gonna take the time to go over my feelings about it, considering I already did a few weeks ago, when I thought he and Randy "Souless Gangly Mercenary" Johnson would change places. Suffice it to say that I'm over it. Pretty much.

Meanwhile, holy crap! We've got new guys, and we're using them! Trade deadline pickups are always fun--if they work out.

My impressions of the new guys so far:

Dave Roberts: The easiest to spell out of the bunch. The guy's only 32, but he's got that "old man" look to him-sleepy eyes, beard and hair tinged with a little bit of gray. I didn't like his 0-fer, but I did like that he made the pitcher work for every out, most notably in the first inning when he led off with a seven pitch at-bat. His defense is solid so far-he was positioned so well on a Carl Crawford single that, had it been someone slower than the speedy Crawford, might have turned into a first base putout from right field. As soon as he starts hitting, we might even see him steal a base or thirty.

Orlando Cabrera: Ever since that home run in his first at bat, he's only managed a walk. However, he's been all over the infield, getting to balls that the current incarnation of you-know-who wouldn't even think about fielding. His throws to first are low, but they're consistently low, which just means whoever's playing first makes a small adjustment, and there's no problem. I wish he'd stop popping up twice a game, but it's a small sample size, and he hasn't played in Fenway yet. I'm not worried.

Doug Mienkianahudjfh: Yeah, I could look up how to spell his name, but this is much easier, and, frankly, a lot funnier. He's been nothing but excellent so far, playing great defense and hitting the ball all over the place. It's out of the question to expect too many home runs from him, but Fenway could give him some much needed Green Monster love, and when Dio comes back, our home run power is more than covered.

So far, more or less good. Let's hope it holds up.

As an aside, I finally saw Mark Bellhorn change his facial expression--yes, he can smile, and I believe I saw a chuckle in there as well. I get the impression that, when he's actually playing, his deadpan look (although I would argue that there's some fierceness in it. He always looks pleasantly pissed off.) is a result of his absolute concentration, especially at the plate. His approach to hitting seems based on an almost scientific understanding of his limitations, and how he can overcome them by recognizing the pitches he can successfully put in play and ignoring most everything else. He strikes out a lot because of this, but really, is a strikeout worth more than a popup? A double play? This is the reason why he's second on this team in RS, and tied for third in RBIs. It's a blow to this team that he's hurt, but I'm glad he gets to relax a little bit.