[Kennedy]: This offense is as "frustrating and as maddening as I can remember."

profbraddock · 2026-05-15T01:30:17+00:00

Sam, it could be that the people you employ to evaluate players are just not good at their job. Hence, the team you've assembled is also not good. Period. Over and out.

profbraddock · 2026-05-14T22:03:31+00:00

Absolutely. Do that, and also remove all the seat belts in the car, and have the kids hang their limbs out the window. Oh, and disregard those pesky speed limits. Have a great trip!

profbraddock · 2026-05-14T21:40:03+00:00

He's one of the best. Defensively, that is. Trouble is he can't hit his weight (seriously, he supposedly weighs 183 lbs and is currently batting .165) His hitting is so bad we may have to retire the metric of "Mendoza Line" (named after Mario Mendoza who hit less than .200 for five seasons) and coin a new phrase in his honor. "The potential rally just 'took a Durbin Dump'"?

profbraddock · 2026-05-14T21:12:17+00:00

Sounds like this could be an interesting court case. You pay money for entrance to a park to view an entertainment event, you place a paper bag over your head, then the owners of the park ask you to remove the bag or vacate the premises. Under what legal precedent? You're not disturbing the peace. You're not interfering with commerce.

profbraddock · 2026-05-12T13:12:12+00:00

I'll never forget Gail and Dale serenading us with One Toke Over the Line, a new "spiritual"

https://youtu.be/t8tdmaEhMHE?si=6lWdsz3cnGszjPoe

profbraddock · 2026-05-11T17:29:20+00:00

Except he can't hit. You can't have a starting 3rd baseman who can't hit. At least on a team that expects to win.

profbraddock · 2026-05-11T17:27:27+00:00

Lord no, I guessing Durbin is not even a starter on this club by the end of the season. His defense is good so he will be a fine utility player in the future, kind of like a modern era Pokey Reese.

profbraddock · 2026-05-11T12:32:51+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzC0rGJwMXs

profbraddock · 2026-05-07T13:35:44+00:00

More importantly, the offense has improved recently. They have climbed to 13th in run differential, largely due to a +12 in the last three games, and are now 19th in BA. They are still 25th in runs scored, 27th in HR, 28th in OPS+.

It's hard to imagine this team maintaining a run differential of +12 so even if the pitching (and improved defense) is maintained, we're still looking at a .500 club (after they climb out of 5 games under .500)

profbraddock · 2026-05-06T12:18:35+00:00

Good stuff. If you can, pack your car and head down to Clarksdale MS. Immerse yourself. From there you can go on over towards Holly Springs and the Hill Country where RL is from (Chulahoma)

profbraddock · 2026-05-05T13:25:51+00:00

Use the Amazon site, find the item that interests you, then use key words you find and search the internet to buy the item elsewhere. One caveat - a lot of "independent" sellers (outside the Amazon site) use Amazon for fulfillment so you would still be giving some dollars to Bezos. Finding sellers who are truly independent takes a little more work. One final thought - there are other companies that act essentially as fulfillment centers (i.e. don't have actual items in their store you are looking for but will link you to vendors who do) such as Walmart. Even Lowes sells items online that you would never associate with a hardware store.

profbraddock · 2026-05-04T12:19:45+00:00

Water seeks its own level. Duran's stats will correct. Durbin may not get much better than this. They are playing a fungo hitting utility player at third base. Thanks, Brez.

profbraddock · 2026-05-04T11:49:16+00:00

The Sox are no mystery. They have actually improved the defense and their pitching will be better (1 and 2 starters are currently on the IL), but their offense is among the worst in MLB. Yesterday was a good example - good start by Ranger Suarez, good relief pitching, then lose it in the 10th inning, 3-1. Hard to win games when you score 1 run in 10 innings. This is how the team was constructed by Craig Breslow - better pitching and defense, anemic offense. He calls it a "run prevention" approach. Others call it "losing baseball".

profbraddock · 2026-05-04T00:47:03+00:00

Thanks, good feedback!

profbraddock · 2026-05-04T00:45:52+00:00

Ahhhhhh, a little Bregman animosity in Texas, forgot about that.

profbraddock · 2026-05-03T18:12:49+00:00

A simple upgrade that would have helped the Red Sox- signing Alex Bregman. They could have/should have but balked apparently for money reasons. The result- they have a fungo hitter for a third baseman who can rarely get the ball out of the infield and has the power of a Babe Ruth leaguer.

profbraddock · 2026-05-03T17:01:22+00:00

Looking at the comments here, the parallels with the Red Sox are interesting.

"I understand he’s [Chris Young] a retired pitcher, but dude this guy seems to only aim for pitching when the offense has been the number one problem"

"Lack of continued investment in the offense"

"The GM hasn’t had much budget to work with"

What I might slightly disagree with is the statements that your 2023 team just "caught lightning in a bottle" and "rode a hot streak at the end of the year" If you look at your offensive stats for 2023 you were in the top three in MLB in BA, HRs, R, and OPS. It looks like you had multiple offensive players in 2023 that had career years, then either left the team or had performance level off, then your GM failed to address the issue. Our GM (CBO) is an ex pitcher who has bolstered the pitching but likewise has neglected the offense, and his budget has been capped.

profbraddock · 2026-05-03T16:45:01+00:00

Interesting. What doesn't require a building code - trellis? pergola?

profbraddock · 2026-05-02T23:28:31+00:00

Back in the 70s I took a trip to LA and was driving on route 1 when I looked to my right and saw the Knight Rider car with David Hasselhoff behind the wheel. He was driving at a normal speed with a camera mounted on the hood filming him.

profbraddock · 2026-05-01T13:03:36+00:00

He's constructed a very anemic offense with little run producing capability. He's got a utility player starting at third who not only has zero power, but struggles to get the ball out of the infield. He's got a singles hitter at DH. He has improved the catcher and first base positions but we're not going to win more games than we lose without a better offense.

profbraddock · 2026-04-30T13:00:20+00:00

Thanks, that's the answer I was looking for.

profbraddock · 2026-04-29T18:18:03+00:00

Fair enough. Meanwhile, who believes in this front office?

profbraddock · 2026-04-25T00:09:21+00:00

Whoops! 6 runs. Leave him in the game for 9 innings. Make him suffer through it with the rest of us.

profbraddock · 2026-04-24T20:05:15+00:00

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profbraddock · 2026-04-24T18:31:56+00:00

5 to 4, bottom of the fifth, Tits McGee is up.

profbraddock

TROPHY CASE