Several readers of this blog have questioned my recent criticism of Nick Swisher’s play in the Yankees game of June 10, 2009 – where I said it was Nick Swisher who cost the Yankees the contest that evening. Many wanted to know why I was not willing blame Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, or Robinson Cano for not providing hits – or blame Worm Killer Wang for his poor pitching. The answer to this is simple.
There’s a huge difference between physical errors, failures, shortcomings that happen in the course of a baseball game and bad play that is the result of a lack of concentration and focus. Every baseball manager understands this matter. In fact, many times, the physical “stuff” is a matter of law of averages, the sun not shining on the same dog’s butt everyday, or, even, the result of a player trying too hard. In baseball, you have to learn to live with that. However, it’s inexcusable, when a player fails on the field because of a lack of hustle or they just don’t have their head in the game. This is the stuff that drives baseball managers – and some fans, like me – crazy.
When you allow yourself to fall asleep on the bases, and/or misplay a fly ball after tracking it and being in a position where it is inches from your glove, like Swisher did in this game (in question), it shows that you’re not giving the contest 100% concentration. And, such lack of attention during a critical game is indefensible – again, in my opinion. Hence, this is why Nick Swisher has garnered the bulk of my wrath about the loss of June 10th.
Save the bonehead act for the clubhouse and the media Nick. On the field, it’s important to play “hard” – in the sense of staying focused – all the time, not just most of the time.
27 Responses to “Separating Bad Outcomes And Boneheadism”
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June 11th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
” it shows that you’re not giving the contest 100% concentration.”
I never got that. This is not directed at you, Steve, because this is a common refrain, but I do not get why mental errors= not concentrating. Some players are just not as instinctive on the field, and Swisher looks to be one of those players. When Bernie did stuff like this, it was because he was not instinctive, but when Swisher does it, it is because of a lack of concentration? I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure, from watching Swish, that he gives 100 percent every game. He just is not inherently intelligent out there.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
When you allow yourself to fall asleep on the bases, and/or misplay a fly ball after tracking it and being in a position where it is inches from your glove, like Swisher did in this game (in question), it shows that you’re not giving the contest 100% concentration.
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I understand both plays upsetting you. I was also upset as both plays were very frustrating. But when you put them in comparison to Wang’s 2+ innings of crap and the ENTIRE TEAM hitting 2 for 15 with RISP, it’s hard to pick two little blips and put the entire game on Nick’s shoulders.
Again, I understand the frustration…but those were two of many frustrating parts of the game that led to a Yankee loss. It doesn’t excuse them, but come on Steve…that 6-5 loss was Nick Swisher’s fault?
June 11th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Cano is always paying attention on the field…right…
June 11th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Corey wrote:
See: http://waswatching.com/2008/08/31/yanks-should-trade-cano-this-off-season/
June 11th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I think there’s middle ground here, folks. Steve is right that Swisher’s miscues last night were irritating and deserve to be discussed. At the same time, Yagottagotomo1 correctly points out that Bernie’s career (especially early on) was littered with tons of these types of blunders. Bernie was obviously a better player than Swisher but no less “boneheaded” or “nitwitted” on the basepaths and in the field.
The game didn’t turn on Swisher’s mistakes but they’re appropriate to point out nonetheless. Having said that, his mistakes don’t make him a bonehead or a nitwit, they’re simply flaws in his game that other, greater players like Bernie also shared.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
yagottagotomo1 wrote:
See: http://waswatching.com/2005/06/05/june-5th-the-twins/
June 11th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
I think there’s middle ground here, folks.
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That’s pretty much what I was getting at too. The plays were inexcusable and clearly mistakes, but many other mistakes also cost us the game.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
@ Steve Lombardi:
That does not really get to my point, that just because someone makes mental errors doesnt mean that he isnt giving 100%. He is not as instinctive as other guys. From the stuff that you mention about Bernie in the comments of that post, he was much worse.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Steve Lombardi wrote:
right, but this was last year. I’ve just been saying that Cano deserves his fair share of the blame the past month and a half, just as swisher does, and that you’ve only been beating the swisher drum. That’s all i’m gettin at.
June 11th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
that and the fact that one of your arguments are about how pure contact hitters are better then K/BB walk guys. I just want to point out that when anyone is doing bad, they suck no matter the style.
June 11th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Re: the links, my point was…
I just wanted to show that, in the last 5 years, here, anyone who had an issue “because of a lack of hustle or they just don’t have their head in the game” has been “highlighted” by me.
This is not a personal thing about a particular player, for me. More so, it’s about my personal dislike for players, in general, who play the game, at times, like they’re dead from the neck up.
June 11th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
yagottagotomo1 wrote:
In my opinion, you have to pay attention to what’s happening in the game, and yourself, when you’e involved in a play, to be “giving 100%.”
It doesn’t take a lot to keep your eyes open and your mind focused on the game, for 3 hours a night. “That” should be the easiest thing to ask a player to do.
Of course, your mileage may differ and you’re entitled to have a different opinion of what “giving 100%” means…
June 11th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Corey wrote:
Let’s be clear here. I never said that contact guys are better than BB/K guys. I said they were players that I like to see up in High Leverage situations. That’s a huge difference.
June 11th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
@ Steve Lombardi:
That is fair. I just take issue with the idea that they are not concentrating or giving 100%. I think that just as some players are more skilled physically, some are more skilled mentally. Swisher is not in that category, but it does not mean that he is not trying. And you are fully within your rights to not like that sort of player, the less instinctive guys.
June 11th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Steve Lombardi wrote:
Why does making a mistake like getting doubled off mean that you are not paying attention? He is not very instinctive, thought the ball was going further, and got caught too far. It does not mean that he was not paying attention.
June 11th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
How about bonehead 6-pitch offensive innings after Wang threw two straight 29-pitch marathons? Does that count a series of “mental errors”?
Because that’s exactly what Damon, Tex, A-Rod and Cano conspired to produce in the top of the 3rd, the last two making outs on the 1st pitch.
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In any event putting the worst spin on things, Swisher’s two blunders took a potential 2-2 tie, and left the Yanks down 3-1 after two innings.
Down by two runs after two innings? Clearly an insurmountable deficit. Just as clearly, nothing that happened in the succeeding 6 1/2 innings had any effect on the eventual outcome.
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Again, it’s not your description of Swisher’s plays as “boneheaded” that I objected to. It was your attribution of them as the decisive factor in the game, with no offset credit recognized for the three times he reached base, or the tremendous diving catch on Lowell leading off the 7th. Sure, Swisher made 2 awful plays last night, but he was NOT the sole, or even the main culprit in the loss.
June 11th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Physical errors, failures, shortcomings that happen in the course of a baseball game cannot be avoided. However, bad play that is the result of a lack of concentration and focus can be avoided if a player doesn’t go about his business with his head shoved up his own poop chute.
It’s hard to blame someone for the former because they cannot be controlled. However, the latter can be prevented and therefore, in my opinion, carry heavy fault when they happen.
June 11th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
i think there are a lot of fair points here, steve. but i think as always it becomes tough for you to make these fair, rational points on certain players because of the nonrational vibes you emit towards those same players, whether intentional or not. for whatever reason, it seems like you have had it out for swisher from the start, and are quick to point out any failure and equally quick to ignore or twist positive performance in a way that portrays it as less meaningful. it clouds and taints the fair, rational points that you make because it seems like you are coming from a negative angle that you may not be coming from.
June 11th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Steve Lombardi wrote:
You keep saying this, but you have yet to explain why you think the latter can be prevented. Sometimes, a player just is not instinctive, and there is not anything you, or he, can do about it.
June 11th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
yagottagotomo1 wrote:
Baseball instincts allow you to know when to go first to third without the help of a coach, or to know when you should slide head-first or feet first, or to know whether or not to take a pitch or two after a pitcher has just thrown 8 straight balls to the two batters before you.
You don’t need “baseball instincts” to know “Hey, if I don’t move my glove two inches higher, I’m not going to catch this ball” or “Hey, if the ball is hit right at an infielder on a line, I better get back to my base quickly.”
You can prevent a ball going two inches over your glove or being caught off base for a DP on a liner by paying attention to what’s happening in the game instead of sleep walking your way through a play.
That’s the prevention method: Get your head out of your ass, stop day dreaming, and don’t half-ass something or take it for granted that you’re going to be fine in that half-ass mode.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Steve Lombardi wrote:
Totally disagree. He read the line drive poorly off the bat, thinking it would go further than it did. He didn’t absentmindedly stray off the base, his instincts about where the ball was headed were off. In regard to the other ball, he should have caught it and just missed it. I still have no idea why that is a mental error? Are all fielding errors mental errors? He short-armed it, and it happens to gritty, “focused” players all the time.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
yagottagotomo1 wrote:
Name the last ten Yankees to short-arm a ball in the outfield the way Swisher did. Heck, name the last two. Happens all the time, really? I don’t think so…
June 11th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Steve Lombardi wrote:
Wow, you just took the most irrelevant portion of my statement and amplified it. How about this- Derek Jeter, when going up the middle, misses a lot of balls due to short-arming them. But that ignores my point- he made a fielding miscue, and it is your dislike for the player that is interpreting it as an egregious mental error.
June 11th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Just to clarify, Steve. I think his getting caught napping at 3rd=boneheadedness. I think the stuff from last night= bad outcomes.
June 11th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
7:53 pm ET, 2nd inning of Game 3 of this Boston series, and Nick Swisher gets doubled off base again – and, when it happened, Michael Kay called it a “bonehead play.”
Thank you Michael. Somebody gets it.
June 11th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
On the same issue, PeteAbe, live blogging writes:
“UPDATE, 7:53 p.m.: Nick Swisher … wow. Doubled off again on a ball right in front of him. How does that happen two days in a row? He either needs more Red Bull or less, it’s not clear.”
It happens when you’re a bonehead, if you ask me.
June 11th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
You won’t get any disagreement from me on tonight’s play- boneheaded. It was not a reaction play, he just drifted way too far.