Protecting the Shields -- The Nick Cafardo Thread

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geoflin

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Including Yaz and Musial in the list of utility players because they played 1B and OF is senseless. Nobody considers players who play those 2 positions as utility players, and if everybody who did that was included in the list it would be a very long list. And where is Tony Phillips who was one of the original true utility players of the current era?
 

E5 Yaz

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Bert Campaneris was not a super utility player. He was not a utility player of any sort. He played some not--SS at the end of his career when he was too old to play SS. Between 1969 and 1980, he only played SS. he played just over 19000 innings; almost 18000 of them were at SS.
Nick probably remembers Campaneris playing all 9 positions in a stunt and went from there. If he wanted to name one of those guys, he should have said Cesar Tovar, who really was a super-utility type
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Nick probably remembers Campaneris playing all 9 positions in a stunt and went from there. If he wanted to name one of those guys, he should have said Cesar Tovar, who really was a super-utility type
Jose Oquendo, the aforementioned Tony Phillips and a handful of other guys would be better examples than Yaz or Musial.
 

joe dokes

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Andrew Benintendi hit a first-pitch homer against lefthander Brian Johnson to start his live batting practice. Benintendi squared the ball beautifully against Johnson, who threw fairly well otherwise. Johnson is trying come back from anxiety issues that cut short his 2016 season
Is it too much semantic policing to suggest that missing 7 weeks in the middle, but coming back and pitching until the end is not a season "cut short"?

The players should be on the field Monday by 9:30 a.m. The big news will be whether Steven Wright and Drew Pomeranz get on the mound for the first time. Wright hasn’t been on a mound since last August after he hurt his shoulder in a base-running accident,
He did pitch after he got hurt. But not after August.
 
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joe dokes

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Cafardo, October 5, 2014:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/10/05/sunball/9juQaprOADR37zqsvmABdI/story.html
LET’S MOVE THINGS ALONG
Arizona League offers change of pace delivery
We’ll be watching the Arizona Fall League intently in October and November because it will be the testing ground for new rules regarding the pace of games.
There are easy ones, such as the no-pitch intentional walk, in which the manager holds up four fingers and the umpire awards the batter first base. That will save a couple of minutes. Of course, this takes away the potential of an errant pitch, etc., but those are few and far between.
Cafardo, today:

They try to come up with gimmicks like clocks for pitchers, keeping hitters in the batter’s box, reducing the number of mound visits, reducing the number of relievers you can use in a game, issuing an intentional pass without throwing the four pitches . . .
Pretty soon they’ll propose robots calling balls and strikes. How horrible can this get?

There’s no sport quite like it. Trying to artificially tweak it to make it last a shorter period of time is disrupting the natural flow.

Baseball is one of the few games where you can sit down and watch and let things unfold in a natural way. If it takes a while, who cares? You watch because you love the game. So love the game.
 

CoffeeNerdness

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Wtf? Maybe the Globe started paying him hourly. Cafardo has been the head prickly pear in charge of constantly harping the pace of play and length of game and now he just wants to chill and watch some baseball. Demanding people to love the game? What a douche. He must have linked analytics with the pace of play changes ideas being floated by Manfred. Trying to speed up the game is now just another example of nerds dismantling baseball's heart and history.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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Basketball didn't have a shot clock for years. One was finally instituted to make the game watchable. Similarly, basketball instituted the 3 point line to open up the game and prevent centers from dominating. The game was made better each time.

Keeping batters in the batter's box and making pitchers actually throw the goddamn ball would serve to make baseball better, because the increased pace of the game would mean that the dramatic tension would not ebb out in the interminable delay between pitches. Naturally Nick doesn't see that.
 

joe dokes

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That would make for a great band name. They'll play nothing but unimaginative covers of Mustang Sally.
And Tutti Frutti. But only the Pat Boone version because he had more grit and got more out of his talent than Little Richard, who rarely played the piano the right way.
 

joe dokes

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One. Like every other artist in his collection, Nick just buys the Greatest Hits compilation
That's perfect.


John Marzano Olympic Hero said:
How many Springsteen CDs do you think Cafardo has?
Fewer than Peter King.
For all the grief he (deservedly) gets, compared to Nick, King is Seymour Hersh. King actually did sit down with Brady for a few hours, he does talk to all those players on Sunday night, he is in charge of MMQB, which often, IMO, has stuff worth reading. His presentation and lack of self-awareness is often mock-worthy, but King puts in the effort most of the time.

Cafardo has sunk to a whole new subterranean level of suck.
 
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Humphrey

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This is the same guy that was whining about all the ground ball singles that would happen if they drew lines on the diamond that infielders couldn't cross until the ball was thrown?
 

Van Everyman

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And remember: the Boston Baseball Writers actually gave this guy an award this year. Followed by one of the worst speeches of all time.

Worth noting that I was speaking before the ceremony to another longtime Boston baseball writer about the current state of sports media in Boston. We agreed that the Globe generally does a good job on baseball with Abraham and, now, Speier. But when I said, "Yeah now if only we could get rid of Cafardo," the guy just kind of looked at me and smiled. Little did I know that an hour later he would be on the stage while Nick rambled on about hot dogs, dental surgery and cock fights as he received his "major award."
 

Mueller's Twin Grannies

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I get the sense that Cafardo is to the Boston media like that guy who was never quite as bright as the rest of the group but was very enthusiastic and a good sort, so everyone has a soft spot for him and doesn't see the harm in giving him his due whenever the opportunity comes up. What is there to gain by backstabbing him and burying him? He's the kindly old codger that everyone smiles when they see and no one wants to see made sport of or anything that might make Nicky sad. They all know he's doing no harm where he is and that he'll never be Peter Gammons, so his columns are just fluff reading.
 

MyDaughterLovesTomGordon

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What's so infuriating is that we have a pitch clock in the minors. Just come to a Sea Dogs game, Nick. Watch how the game moves. It's fucking awesome.

Sure, it's not the same thing. Different stakes. But, Jesus, the game is so crisp and enjoyable and then, when someone does get on base in a big moment, the game slows down to emphasize the moment.

If you're trying to get kids interested in watching baseball, I can tell you for sure that a Sea Dogs game is going to make it happen a lot faster than a Sox game. That's partly just because you always have an awesome seat and, hey, they can hi-five slugger, but it's also because the game is so much quicker and easier to follow.
 

joe dokes

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What's so infuriating is that we have a pitch clock in the minors. Just come to a Sea Dogs game, Nick. Watch how the game moves. It's fucking awesome.

Sure, it's not the same thing. Different stakes. But, Jesus, the game is so crisp and enjoyable and then, when someone does get on base in a big moment, the game slows down to emphasize the moment.

If you're trying to get kids interested in watching baseball, I can tell you for sure that a Sea Dogs game is going to make it happen a lot faster than a Sox game. That's partly just because you always have an awesome seat and, hey, they can hi-five slugger, but it's also because the game is so much quicker and easier to follow.
Yes all the way around.

(But The "trash monster" scared my kids away from Hadlock for several years.)
 

MyDaughterLovesTomGordon

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Glad the NY beat writer could drop by for the weekend.

Did Nick Fucking Cafardo really just dismissively refer to the "steroid police"? And count himself perplexed as to why A-Rod would use steroids when he was already so good?

And even Little Leaguers don't come up with that unfunny bullshit.
 

geoflin

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I was interested to learn that Mike Rizzo "is savvy enough to know that framing isn't the only attribute you're looking for in a catcher." This explains what separates him from all of those other pedestrian general managers.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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I like that Cafardo thinks players can turn it on any time they want. Ellsbury just has to do that, gang and he'll be great.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Quite possibly the single worst Sunday Baseball Notes in Globe history.
Any time you can devote three quarters of a broadsheet to a team that will probably go .500 this year, you do it.

I suspect that Nick will have future Notes dedicated to the Pirates, Rockies and Twins in coming weeks.
 

joe dokes

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It's Showalterpalooza Week!
"Britton? . . . . Nahhh , not yet. . . ."


"Showalter won't abuse anyone."

"If you push the envelope in April, may and June, you're going to pay the piper.

Thanks Nick. Enjoy the globe Santa beat.
 
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Granite Sox

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Adam Jones cares. He plays for Buck "5-7 wins and they pick us last every year" Showalter.

Nobody even realizes how much Jacoby Ellsbury cares [now that he plays for the ZOMG!1!!1 Yankees].
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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"Five to seven wins"? You have a source for that, Nick?

"I need Ellsbury to score 100 runs," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi.
"But what if he leads the league in caring," answers Nick Cafardo.

And he's so mealy mouthed, even on text. "Chris, you lost 19 games last year -- many of which were totally not your fault." Christ.
 

joe dokes

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If a player Nick didn't like choked in the playoffs like uncle Buck did, Nick would be questioning the player's "toughness" until 20 years after the player retired, no matter the player's accomplishments.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Is Buck Showalter a good manager? Yes. He's good. Not great. He's been managing pretty regularly since the early 90s and has never been to the World Series much less win one.

What has Buck done, other than fill Nick's notebook, to be worth five to seven extra wins a year?

I'm not sure why Cafardo has such a man crush on him. It's, to borrow a Peter King-ism, "weird".
 

joe dokes

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Is Buck Showalter a good manager? Yes. He's good. Not great. He's been managing pretty regularly since the early 90s and has never been to the World Series much less win one.
But it was his preparation that allowed the Yankees and Diamondbacks to win the world series the year after he left.
 

joe dokes

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The takeaway: Chris Sale was hittable, but the best thing about his first outing is that he was ticked off that he was hittable.
Yeah, that's the best thing. He's mad. Maybe he'll throw St. Nick into a trash can.

Even in spring training, he’s a bulldog. He put guys on base, true, but he minimized the damage. That’s his toughness shining through. You would think that toughness is going to rub off on the rest of the rotation.
Say it, Nick....."Price is as about as tough as Ellsbury..." Say it. You know you want to.
And while you're at it, explain how "toughness" can "rub off."
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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This is the shit that bugs me about reporters (not just Cafardo, though he is a huge problem). It's that they have to believe that there's some sort of magic or extra oomph that is sprinkled on certain (usually white) players.

"This guy is gritty. This player is a dirt dog. This dude is tough and hard-working and had to fight for every at bat in his life."

No. That's not true. It's something that writers make up in order to start some sort of bullshit narrative. We all know that David Eckstein is the patron saint of this kind of writing. But do you think that the people from Sanford, FL and who saw Eckstein play thought that he sucked? Of course not, he was probably always the best kid on his baseball (and probably other sports) team. The guy played in the major leagues for almost ten seasons!

Even someone like Daniel Nava, who had a strange, circuitous route to the major leagues, people from Mountain View, CA probably talk about him like a god.

The point is, Chris Sale is so much better than Nava or Eckstein, that he doesn't need some made up backstory about how he spits nails and rips the heads off chickens after poor outings. Just report on the fucking game. Jesus. You're not Grantland Rice. It's this kind of purple prose that makes me dislike certain players -- and it's not even their fault! Because when they succeed, that makes assholes like Nick Cafardo look correct.

"See I told you! Mike Trout is fantastic because he's a gamer! He slides during spring training games and he hustles in batting practice and I once saw him chew out Carlos Perez because he didn't respect the game the 'right way'."*

* All of this is false, of course. But you can substitute any athlete for Trout.
 

TheoShmeo

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This is the shit that bugs me about reporters (not just Cafardo, though he is a huge problem). It's that they have to believe that there's some sort of magic or extra oomph that is sprinkled on certain (usually white) players.

"This guy is gritty. This player is a dirt dog. This dude is tough and hard-working and had to fight for every at bat in his life."

No. That's not true. It's something that writers make up in order to start some sort of bullshit narrative. We all know that David Eckstein is the patron saint of this kind of writing. But do you think that the people from Sanford, FL and who saw Eckstein play thought that he sucked? Of course not, he was probably always the best kid on his baseball (and probably other sports) team. The guy played in the major leagues for almost ten seasons!

Even someone like Daniel Nava, who had a strange, circuitous route to the major leagues, people from Mountain View, CA probably talk about him like a god.

The point is, Chris Sale is so much better than Nava or Eckstein, that he doesn't need some made up backstory about how he spits nails and rips the heads off chickens after poor outings. Just report on the fucking game. Jesus. You're not Grantland Rice. It's this kind of purple prose that makes me dislike certain players -- and it's not even their fault! Because when they succeed, that makes assholes like Nick Cafardo look correct.

"See I told you! Mike Trout is fantastic because he's a gamer! He slides during spring training games and he hustles in batting practice and I once saw him chew out Carlos Perez because he didn't respect the game the 'right way'."*

* All of this is false, of course. But you can substitute any athlete for Trout.
I truly hate to even remotely defend the likes of Nick Cafardo. And my reply here is not that.

But I do think part of what likely makes Sale so effective is his "no nonsense" approach. I loved that he said that contrary to what most players players say, that spring training results actually do matter to him. He's such a competitor that every at bat, no matter when, matters. And when Sale was on the ChiSox, he struck as a tough SOB. In interviews this spring I've gotten that similar no nonsense vibe, which I already really like.

I agree that such a narrative usually follows white players. But Pedro to me is the ultimate tough, all business on the mound kind of pitcher.

Either way, stories about Sale's no BS approach seem like fair game to me in that I think they fairly capture him. Or at least a part of him.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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I get that. And honestly, I appreciate the no BS attitude too (though when it gets into Trot Nixon/Paul O'Neil territory it gets to be a bit much) but Cafardo is kind of burying the lead here. Sale didn't have a great day (which is fine, it's Spring Training) but because he's such a "bulldog" and "tough" it didn't matter because of attitude or something.

I think that if Price or Porcello or Buchholz (when he was here) had a day like Sale (which, again, was fine -- honestly, I'm not criticizing him), I don't think that Cafardo would be doing all sorts of gymnastics to hand wave it all away due to grit or whatever. It's just dumb and lazy, and I don't think that Sale needs they mythology.

Sale is going to be really good for the Boston Red Sox because he's a really good pitcher. Not because he's a dirt dog.
 

InstantKarmma

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A crumb from today's napkin:
Francona used the tall lefthander as early as the fifth inning during the Indians’ World Series run last October, and (Andrew) Miller’s success certainly made people in baseball rethink how high-caliber relievers are used, and how a team’s best reliever shouldn’t necessarily be its closer.
Ummm... didn't Bill James first question the wisdom of traditional bullpen usage in 1985, or so?
 

joe dokes

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Didn't Nick, just last week, endorse St. Buck of Showalter's analysis that you can't use your pen like that all season?

Nick thinks checkers while everyone else is playing Risk.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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I was reading this piece this morning and I'm thinking to myself, "He's not really advocating using relievers the way that Francona and Maddon used their bullpens during last year's post season, is he?" And guess what? He was!

This was after:

- Miller and Francona told him that there would be no way that any bullpen should be used like that.
- Last week he spilled an entire bottle of ink telling us that Showalter was right in the way that he used his bullpen (i.e. the exact fucking opposite way that Francona and Maddon did) in the Orioles playoff game.

There are times I think that Nick Cafardo is the main character from "Memento", he's got the memory of a goldfish.
 
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