Protecting the Shields -- The Nick Cafardo Thread

John Marzano Olympic Hero · May 7, 2018

RHF, you're missing a big thing about Severino that you can't find in your "statistics".

Severino pitches for the Yankees. That makes him awesomer than anyone who ever lived (except other Yankees).

The Gray Eagle · May 7, 2018

Severino has 27 career major league wins. I guess it doesn't take long to be The Ace Of All Aces.
He only needs 485 more wins to pass Cy Young.

When the casual fan thinks of The Ace Of All Aces, you know he thinks of Severino, with his one all-star appearance and his glittering postseason record of 1-1 with a 5.63 ERA. And even the statheads know he is the best in the universe. With his 9 career WAR, he ranks 4th on the Yankees, which proves that they have The Staff Of All Staffs. Severino is only 29.5 WAR behind Chris Sale. In your face, Sale!

Severino can't just be a very good young pitcher with a lot of potential and promise with great stuff who is off to great start. No, that is not enough, for he plays for the Team Of All Teams! So he must be declared The Ace Of All Aces before he has thrown 400 innings in the majors.

E5 Yaz · May 7, 2018

The Gray Eagle said:
Severino has 27 career major league wins. I guess it doesn't take long to be The Ace Of All Aces.
He only needs 485 more wins to pass Cy Young.

When the casual fan thinks of The Ace Of All Aces, you know he thinks of Severino, with his zero all-star appearances ...

And you were going so well until that point ...

The Gray Eagle · May 7, 2018

You're right, my bad he made it last year. This is what happens when I read Nick Cafardo, I get dumber. Edited above.

joyofsox · May 7, 2018

The headline on Nick's column:
"Time for Red Sox to keep an eye on the scoreboard"

E5 Yaz · May 12, 2018

Nick is on a mission:

3. Here’s a good first duty for former pitcher Chris Young, the Princeton grad who joined Major League Baseball as vice president of on-field operations, initiatives, and strategy: Take a look at the rule on batting out of order, and rewrite it. It’s so hard to follow. It needs some serious simplification.

10. Making out the lineup card isn’t as simple as it looks. Mets manager Mickey Callaway learned a valuable lesson last week: Check it twice or three times. If you make out more than one card, rip up the ones you’re not going to use and throw them away. Nowadays, the bench coach usually makes out the lineup card. They’re inputted on a laptop and printed out. One ex-AL manager told me, “The first thing I did was make sure the lineup that we brought out to home plate before the game matched with the one we hung in the dugout. It’s the first thing we did. You always had to make sure you have the DH in the right spot and then you took it from there.”

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2018/05/12/how-orioles-became-most-dysfunctional-organization-baseball/gZx5qyDTYFmhCb53KDQ3dI/story.html

TheoShmeo · May 13, 2018

And Nicky's War on those newfangled Advanced Stats continues:

1. With all the new analytical stats available today, I found it fascinating that among 70 players polled by MLB.com columnist Anthony Castrovince, the majority valued traditional statistics more. Castrovince polled 35 pitchers and 35 position players on which stat they gravitate toward the most. Among position players, 10 selected OPS, six OBP, five RBIs, four runs scored, three batting average, three games played, with four single votes for other stats. Among pitchers, 10 chose innings and/or appearances, seven ERA, seven WHIP, three strikeout-to-walk ratio, two inherited runners scored percentage, two holds, with four single votes for other stats. So despite the overload of analytics, players still value traditional numbers.

Dummy Hoy · May 13, 2018

There’s so much stupid with Cafardo here, but I absolutely heart him citing OPS as a ‘traditional’ stat. Luddites (a group of which Nicky is a proud member) were howling about that 5 years ago.

Byrdbrain · May 13, 2018

Even OBP which obviously has been around a long time but it certainly wasn't considered more important than BA by most people until recently.
In addition the fact that pitcher wins doesn't even appear on the list while multiple people cited WHIP is a huge step forward. The two that cited holds as the most important statistic, well I have no idea what to say about that.

Regarding the earlier post, there are almost 5000 lineup cards filled out every season. I haven't done an exhaustive study on this but you hear about a player batting out of order maybe once every couple of years.
It doesn't seem like it's that hard.

Mueller's Twin Grannies · May 13, 2018

Byrdbrain said:
Regarding the earlier post, there are almost 5000 lineup cards filled out every season. I haven't done an exhaustive study on this but you hear about a player batting out of order maybe once every couple of years.
It doesn't seem like it's that hard.

Especially since they show the name and picture of the next guy due up on the big screen/tron thing as soon as the previous batter finishes his PA.

joe dokes · May 13, 2018

Eliminate lineup card snafus forever with an old school solution.
Nick is probably looking for a buyer for that stack of carbon paper at home that he stole from the Globe.

Reverend · May 13, 2018

Why are we supposed to believe players have any particular insight into which is the best stat?

Van Everyman · May 13, 2018

Who asked the help for their opinion, amirite?

Reverend · May 13, 2018

Van Everyman said:
Who asked the help for their opinion, amirite?

Hey, I wish the help would ask more questions!

I mean, the poster boy of baseball's scientific revolution, JDM--whom I love, by the way, and love especially for this reason--is a guy who was frustrated that he wasn't producing, asked to see the numbers, saw that one number was bigger than the other (wOBA on LD v FB, I believe, but I could be mistaken,) and said, fuck what my coaches tell me, and decided to learn to hit the ball "up."

He made himself seven figures of money for taking the numbers in his own hands, reading them, and making an adjustment, and then made a ground breaking change in the coverage of profanity in at least one major national newspaper because there was no way to actually express JDM accurately in explaining what happened without swearing.

He's basically my hero. But he's not splitting the atom.

Van Everyman · May 14, 2018

I don’t know, did you see how hard he got that ball to right center in Toronto today?

Just saw this piece from a few months ago in the Globe by Speier. Didn’t know most of this:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2018/02/20/how-martinez-transformed-terrible-swing-into-elite-one/MyfGmz20dkCKF4CDDgUTeO/story.html

E5 Yaz · May 14, 2018

Chances this shows up in next week's column?

Van Everyman · May 15, 2018

Since this is a dedicated thread for talking about how Nick Cafardo is barely qualified for his job, I thought I'd say a few nice things about his column this past Sunday which I just read now:

I mostly agreed with everything he said about the Orioles organization. It may be the first time that I found his hotline to Duquette (and probably Showalter) produce something substantive.
His note that Bobby V was the realtor who sold Lee Mazilli his home in CT was the first time I actually thought his Bobby love produced something worthwhile and/or amusing.
Also his LaRussa story wasn't bad.

All things considered, this was one of Nick's better Notes columns.

Reverend · May 17, 2018

Van Everyman said:
I don’t know, did you see how hard he got that ball to right center in Toronto today?

Just saw this piece from a few months ago in the Globe by Speier. Didn’t know most of this:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2018/02/20/how-martinez-transformed-terrible-swing-into-elite-one/MyfGmz20dkCKF4CDDgUTeO/story.html

Now that you mention it, he has been sciencing the hell out of the ball.

I hadn't seen the piece--thanks, it's a good read on the work he's put in. Have you seen the FanGraphs piece on him? Read against one another, they make a really great story of a guy frustrated as to why he wasn't hitting like he thought he should, took the info into his own hands, swore a lot, and then reworked his swing for fortune and glory.

I'd watch that movie!

Heck, I guess I am...

Van Everyman · May 17, 2018

In other news, today Nick takes on Carson City, which has fallen into disrepair amidst a cycle of violence:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2018/05/16/one-way-another-carson-smith-tired-remark-poor-form/zF6LRkpiwhfEn02wb1Q2QI/story.html

I did like this bit:

Smith was supposed to be huge in Boston’s bullpen plans, but at least the deal is turning out lousy for both teams. The Red Sox gave up Wade Miley and Jonathan Aro, and they also acquired Roenis Elias, who hasn’t been able to break out of Triple A and has had some injury issues.

Seems pretty clear that Nick does not realize that Elias isn’t on the team anymore.

Reverend · May 17, 2018

Van Everyman said:
In other news, today Nick takes on Carson City, which has fallen into disrepair amidst a cycle of violence:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2018/05/16/one-way-another-carson-smith-tired-remark-poor-form/zF6LRkpiwhfEn02wb1Q2QI/story.html

I did like this bit:

Seems pretty clear that Nick does not realize that Elias isn’t on the team anymore.

But wouldn't that support his contention of the deal not working out...

Cesar Crespo · May 17, 2018

Van Everyman said:
In other news, today Nick takes on Carson City, which has fallen into disrepair amidst a cycle of violence:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2018/05/16/one-way-another-carson-smith-tired-remark-poor-form/zF6LRkpiwhfEn02wb1Q2QI/story.html

I did like this bit:

Seems pretty clear that Nick does not realize that Elias isn’t on the team anymore.

Well, he hasn't been able to break out of AAA, so Cafardo isn't technically wrong.

joe dokes · May 27, 2018

Pomeranz was a 17-game winner last season, so normally he should get every benefit of the doubt, but the team can’t rest on past laurels in such a competitive atmosphere.

yet his gravy-stanied sources are confused about releasing Hanley.

John Marzano Olympic Hero · May 27, 2018

joe dokes said:
yet his gravy-stanied sources are confused about releasing Hanley.

Like anything else by Cafardo, I wish that he went further. Especially when he said that Ramirez wasn't Cora's cup of tea. What does that mean? I had no idea that Cora didn't like Ramirez. From all accounts, Ramirez was a leader in the clubhouse. Was that untrue? Did Cora feel threatened by that? What's the real story here?

Of course, Cafardo felt like devoting 200 words to the transcript of the summarized findings of whether the baseball is juiced and then his reflection is literally, "Durrrr, I don't get it!" The lack of intellectual curiosity on the part of Cafardo, the willful fucking ignorance, is what makes me so angry about him. Listen Wilbur, you want to stay dumb, be my guest. But your only job is to educate your readers; make another phone call and find someone to dumb it down for you. Make two calls if you have to. Cafardo is such a stupid fuck, he makes my teeth hurt. And I can't believe that the Boston Globe keeps sending him checks every two weeks.

He is so objectively bad at his high-profile job that it makes me really wonder about the Globe sports upper management.

Reverend · May 27, 2018

John Marzano Olympic Hero said:
Like anything else by Cafardo, I wish that he went further. Especially when he said that Ramirez wasn't Cora's cup of tea. What does that mean? I had no idea that Cora didn't like Ramirez. From all accounts, Ramirez was a leader in the clubhouse. Was that untrue? Did Cora feel threatened by that? What's the real story here?

Of course, Cafardo felt like devoting 200 words to the transcript of the summarized findings of whether the baseball is juiced and then his reflection is literally, "Durrrr, I don't get it!" The lack of intellectual curiosity on the part of Cafardo, the willful fucking ignorance, is what makes me so angry about him. Listen Wilbur, you want to stay dumb, be my guest. But your only job is to educate your readers; make another phone call and find someone to dumb it down for you. Make two calls if you have to. Cafardo is such a stupid fuck, he makes my teeth hurt. And I can't believe that the Boston Globe keeps sending him checks every two weeks.

He is so objectively bad at his high-profile job that it makes me really wonder about the Globe sports upper management.

Cross posting from Cora thread on the main board:

Reverend said:
What do we expect to see Cora do with the team now that Hanley has been DFA'd?

Hanley wasn't hitting, but he appeared to be a big, BIG part of the clubhouse. Not Big Papi big--who could be?--but he was the guy that Ortiz had been grooming to be "the clubhouse guy" after he was gone.

And we saw how the team just deflated with Papi gone [Note: It occurs to me that my uncle used to tell me how the old Minnesota team "deflated" after they DFA'd Ortiz--I think that was even the word he used.]. I've been of the mind that Cora has been going to JoKe to be one of the clubhouse guys, and that seems to have been going well on all fronts--heck, maybe that's part of what's been helping his performance too?

Pedroia back, Hanley gone. Cora seems to be a master of spirit management--what do we think we might see going forward?

AB in DC said:
If Boston had any decent sports journalists, this is exactly what they'd be trying to find out.

Like clockwork.

Van Everyman · Jun 4, 2018

A familiar theme is back!

One scout said while Swihart will never be mistaken for Pudge Rodriguez or Yadier Molina, he is intriguing, “He’s so athletic that he gives you a completely different look back there,” the scout said.

The Gray Eagle · Jun 4, 2018

My favorite sentence from this week's pile of crap:
"Until all the facts are known, it’s appropriate to think about Pedroia’s short- and long-term future."

He makes a good point, it is appropriate to think without the facts.

E5 Yaz · Jun 4, 2018

The Gray Eagle said:
My favorite sentence from this week's pile of crap:
"Until all the facts are known, it’s appropriate to think about Pedroia’s short- and long-term future."

He makes a good point, it is appropriate to think without the facts.

Wow, he has to wait until he knows the facts to determine that Pedroia's short?

shaggydog2000 · Jun 5, 2018

The Gray Eagle said:
My favorite sentence from this week's pile of crap:
"Until all the facts are known, it’s appropriate to think about Pedroia’s short- and long-term future."

He makes a good point, it is appropriate to think without the facts.

Isn't that what scouts are for? What does the eyeball test tell us about Pedroia's knee pain symptoms?

joe dokes · Jun 5, 2018

The Gray Eagle said:
My favorite sentence from this week's pile of crap:
"Until all the facts are known, it’s appropriate to think about Pedroia’s short- and long-term future."

He makes a good point, it is appropriate to think without the facts.

Good point? It's going to be Nick's epitaph.

The Gray Eagle · Jun 5, 2018

IMO, this thread title should be changed to "Nick Cafardo: Trying to Think Without Facts".
The Sanchez title is old and played out and confusing since there is an actual Gary Sanchez thread in the Yankee forum.

John Marzano Olympic Hero · Jun 5, 2018

The Gray Eagle said:
IMO, this thread title should be changed to "Nick Cafardo: Trying to Think Without Facts".
The Sanchez title is old and played out and confusing since there is an actual Gary Sanchez thread in the Yankee forum.

You’re probably right. I’ll read his Notes column this weekend and come up with something.

Bunt Single · Jun 5, 2018

"Until all the facts are known: Nick Cafardo"

Humphrey · Jun 5, 2018

Something referencing the many times Nick argues with himself would seem appropriate.

Zedia · Jun 6, 2018

joe dokes · Jun 6, 2018

neither sound nor fury
Apropos of nothing

E5 Yaz · Jun 9, 2018

Nick the Potshotter

Buchholz declined to be interviewed for this story. He didn’t seem to like how he was covered and characterized while with the Red Sox. Though he’s good friends with John Lackey and Jon Lester, he never adopted their gutsiness.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2018/06/09/clay-buchholz-staff-savior-the-diamondbacks-think/plb487wjwdAbLSMNBo5r6H/story.html

Red(s)HawksFan · Jun 9, 2018

E5 Yaz said:
Nick the Potshotter

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2018/06/09/clay-buchholz-staff-savior-the-diamondbacks-think/plb487wjwdAbLSMNBo5r6H/story.html

Gee, can't imagine why Buchholz feels the way he does.

Humphrey · Jun 9, 2018

He should have gone out there down the stretch in 2011 and embarrassed himself, just like Lackey did that year. But Nick would have called him gutty for doing that and all would have been well.

joe dokes · Jun 9, 2018

Humphrey said:
He should have gone out there down the stretch in 2011 and embarrassed himself, just like Lackey did that year. But Nick would have called him gutty for doing that and all would have been well.

Nick is gutsy. He embarrasses himself nearly every Sunday.

Reverend · Jun 10, 2018

Red(s)HawksFan said:
Gee, can't imagine why Buchholz feels the way he does.

I'm having trouble grasping anyone writing that seriously in real life.

geoflin · Jun 10, 2018

Suggestion for the title of this thread: Apropos of Nothing - The Nick Cafardo Thread

CoffeeNerdness · Jun 10, 2018

You can't merely adopt guttsiness, Nick. You must be born in it, molded by it.

Cesar Crespo · Jun 11, 2018

joe dokes said:
Nick is gutsy. He embarrasses himself nearly every Sunday.

Well, he's definitely gutty.

joe dokes · Jun 12, 2018

Lazy and stupid is no way to go through life son:

These Orioles are a team the Red Sox should beat easily. The Orioles’ season is already over. The Sox then go to Seattle to play a very tough team. Meanwhile, the Yankees are not going away.
You have to play the schedule. Dominate the teams you need to dominate and hold your own against the rest.

Sox are 12-10 against teams with winning records; 32-12 against the rest. Seems to me that that is the very definition of "dominating" and "holding your own." They are now 7-1 vs. the Orioles. (The Yankees are 3-3 vs. the Orioles). If you round their average RS/RA Sox should beat them 5-3 or 5-4.

Nick cant remember anything before last Tuesday. His hero must be the guy from "Memento."

John Marzano Olympic Hero · Jun 12, 2018

Shaughnessy's lede was something similar to this yesterday (I only read the first sentence BTW) in that he, like Wilbur here, are some how concerned that the Red Sox didn't "dominate" the White Sox (as Cafardo is regarding the Orioles).

It's like the two just started watching baseball and haven't figured out that even good teams lose at least 60 games. And sometimes some of those losses come against teams that they should smoke. That's baseball. And that's why most normal people don't lose their god damn minds when a team on pace to win 108 games drops two against the White Sox. Especially when one of the losses was a 1-0 contest. Shit happens, it's baseball.

And I know that they can't write that, for a number of reasons, but show some sort of composure, some sort of base understanding of the sport that you've been covering since the 1980s.

shaggydog2000 · Jun 12, 2018

joe dokes said:
Lazy and stupid is no way to go through life son:

Sox are 12-10 against teams with winning records; 32-12 against the rest. Seems to me that that is the very definition of "dominating" and "holding your own." They are now 7-1 vs. the Orioles. (The Yankees are 3-3 vs. the Orioles). If you round their average RS/RA Sox should beat them 5-3 or 5-4.

Nick cant remember anything before last Tuesday. His hero must be the guy from "Memento."

I always thought of him as a cross between Brick Tamland and one of the board members from the Tall and Fat store meeting at the beginning of Back to School.

joe dokes · Jun 12, 2018

The 1962 NL pennant-winning Giants won over 100 games. They lost 4 games to the 40-120 Mets.

The 1998 Yankees won 114 games. And while they went 11-1 vs TB, they lost 3 or 4 games to all the other shitty AL teams.

Smiling Joe Hesketh · Jun 12, 2018

Nick is one of those guys who would be FASCINATED to note that Dan Naulty, pitching for the '99 Yankees, WS champs and winners of 98 regular season games, appeared in 33 games that year and the team went 6-27 in his appearances. "If they only got rid of Naulty they'd have gone undefeated!" thinks Nick.

Humphrey · Jun 13, 2018

joe dokes said:
Lazy and stupid is no way to go through life son:

Sox are 12-10 against teams with winning records; 32-12 against the rest. Seems to me that that is the very definition of "dominating" and "holding your own." They are now 7-1 vs. the Orioles. (The Yankees are 3-3 vs. the Orioles). If you round their average RS/RA Sox should beat them 5-3 or 5-4.

Nick cant remember anything before last Tuesday. His hero must be the guy from "Memento."

Abraham continued with Nick's theme this morning. "It should have been an easier game".

John Marzano Olympic Hero · Jun 13, 2018

Instead of writing stories, there should just be a photo of the beat writers holding cards over their heads, as if they were skating judges.

"Red Sox won, but I give their effort a four."
"Four point five."
"Three."

Protecting the Shields -- The Nick Cafardo Thread

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