Protecting the Shields -- The Nick Cafardo Thread

dynomite · Mar 7, 2015

It's two posts up, I think ("He had a .928 OPS in his first 40 plate appearances.")

These appearances were also during the September roster expansion, so some of the pitchers he was facing were AAA guys (one of his HR came off of Tampa Bay RP Steve Geltz... Who?)

Van Everyman · Mar 8, 2015

HEY EVERYBODY LETS TALK ABOUT TRADING WITH THE PHILLIES

Don Buddin's GS · Mar 9, 2015

Nicky gets called out for BS reporting by Heyman, according to MLB Trade Rumors:

•Earlier today, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reported that the Yankees had come closer than any other team to acquiring Phillies star Cole Hamels. If that’s true, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman writes, that might mean the Phillies haven’t come close to dealing Hamels to any team, because the two sides have not had discussions recently and never were near a deal.

joe dokes · Mar 9, 2015

Nick v Heyman. I'm rooting for the asteroid.

(Actually, I've had email exchanges with both. Nick is the one that's never been an asshole, so I hope he has his sources in order).

LeoCarrillo · Mar 9, 2015

Twitter may end up being a wonderful thing after all, if the rabid sportswriters turn on each other.

joe dokes · Mar 10, 2015

Nick invents a problem, can't decide if its a problem, and then surrenders.

JUPITER, Fla. — Wade Miley will get his share of attention this season. One, because he’s new to the Red Sox, and two, because he’s Boston’s only lefthander in the rotation.
Is this good or bad? Or neither?

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/03/09/red-sox-with-wade-miley-only-lefthander-rotation/fpIx2o6EvHAEQ4oKH2VRlO/story.html

John Marzano Olympic Hero · Mar 10, 2015

God. What a terrible lede.

I mean if an actual breathing editor was in place the third sentence should be rewritten to, "Is the latter good or bad?" because right now that third sentence insinuates that it could be good or bad that Miley is new, which is just dumb. I think what Cafardo is trying to convey is that it may be good or bad that Miley is the only lefty in the Boston rotation.

A question that does have some merit, but not that much to frame an entire story around it.

That last sentence is a pile of crap. I understand that not every story is going to be "War and Peace" but please give the illusion of trying.

joe dokes · Mar 10, 2015

John Marzano Olympic Hero said:
God. What a terrible lede.

I mean if an actual breathing editor was in place the third sentence should be rewritten to, "Is the latter good or bad?" because right now that third sentence insinuates that it could be good or bad that Miley is new, which is just dumb. I think what Cafardo is trying to convey is that it may be good or bad that Miley is the only lefty in the Boston rotation.

A question that does have some merit, but not that much to frame an entire story around it.

That last sentence is a pile of crap. I understand that not every story is going to be "War and Peace" but please give the illusion of trying.

Not surprisingly, the story itself follows the lede's lead into crapville.

glennhoffmania · Mar 10, 2015

I thought he was asking if Miley getting attention is good, bad or neither. Who the fuck knows.

OzSox · Mar 10, 2015

glennhoffmania said:
I thought he was asking if Miley getting attention is good, bad or neither. Who the fuck knows.

This is how I read it too. It's still terrible, but I thought that part was fairly clear.

John Marzano Olympic Hero · Mar 10, 2015

Yeah, I can see that. But most of the story is about how Miley has to face a lot of good righty hitters in the American League (he lists about a dozen). Some good lefties (including Jacoby Ellsbury!) and some good switch hitters too. Most batters in the National League gripped the bat with their teeth, different game in the American League. I hope Miley is ready!

Jesus, he's a fucking terrible hack of a writer.

glennhoffmania · Mar 10, 2015

But don't forget about how much attention he may or may not get, and how much that will impact his ability to get out guys like Ellsbury and the good righties.

joe dokes · Mar 10, 2015

glennhoffmania said:
I thought he was asking if Miley getting attention is good, bad or neither. Who the fuck knows.

Ha. I never thought of the "he's getting attention" angle. The talk of all the hitters he has to face ("there are good hitters that bat lefty AND righty," sayeth Nick) put me in the "is being the only lefty a problem?" camp.

Read it any way you want. Nichschach

Van Everyman · Mar 15, 2015

Nick back today with a full-on "Get off of my lawn" column on all the things that are wrong with the game today – all under the auspices of "Why the game isn't as popular as it used to be." Some of Nick's reasons:

Batters are too selective
The game has fewer characters
Pitchers don't pitch inside
Pitch counts suck
Defensive shifts (again!)
The DH
Players get hurt more
Players only play baseball now and don't have to do things like deliver ice for a living (yes, this is really in the column)

Amazing stuff from an amazing man.

joe dokes · Mar 15, 2015

Van Everyman said:
Nick back today with a full-on "Get off of my lawn" column on all the things that are wrong with the game today – all under the auspices of "Why the game isn't as popular as it used to be." Some of Nick's reasons:

Batters are too selective
The game has fewer characters
Pitchers don't pitch inside
Pitch counts suck
Defensive shifts (again!)
The DH
Players get hurt more
Players only play baseball now and don't have to do things like deliver ice for a living (yes, this is really in the column)

Amazing stuff from an amazing man.

Moron just wrote 500 words on why baseball sucks, and he wonders why fewer people watch it. Maybe its because those who are tabbed as "experts," like GravyStains Cafardo, keep shitting on the game and rarely write good things when it isnt in the service of the 3 agents that return his calls.

also bugging Nick

Not enough "human interest stories; other stories too technical." (STATS!!!!!)

Too much science, but we need to study biomechanics more. (wow. I wonder if anyone has thought of that. I wonder if Nick is angling for a front office job)

Yelling At Clouds · Mar 15, 2015

Van Everyman said:
Nick back today with a full-on "Get off of my lawn" column on all the things that are wrong with the game today – all under the auspices of "Why the game isn't as popular as it used to be." Some of Nick's reasons:

Batters are too selective
The game has fewer characters
Pitchers don't pitch inside
Pitch counts suck
Defensive shifts (again!)
The DH
Players get hurt more
Players only play baseball now and don't have to do things like deliver ice for a living (yes, this is really in the column)

Amazing stuff from an amazing man.

Could be because any time someone shows a shred of personality, a writer rips him for failing to "respect the game."
EDIT: Upon actually reading the column, I see that Nick mentions this.

The thing about oblique injuries is weird, though.

RedOctober3829 · Mar 15, 2015

Cafardo tweets that it is of "interesting note" that Swihart is catching in Clearwater today. Well it's interesting except for the fact that Swihart is not getting traded to the Phillies, Nick.

ifmanis5 · Mar 15, 2015

There's fewer "characters" writing about baseball as well; what's in worse economic shape, baseball or newspapers?

John Marzano Olympic Hero · Mar 15, 2015

That column this morning was garbage. Like most of his pieces, it started off with an interesting premises: why is baseball failing to capture the youth of today? But then it devolves into a "What Are the Things That I, Nick Cafardo, Don't Like About Baseball" column. Aside from the first paragraph, does Cafardo reference the Globe poll? Did Nick bother to talk to anyone in the 25 and under bracket (probably not)? You know who may have been a good person to talk to about the Globe poll, the person who owns the Globe and the person who owns the Boston Red Sox. I wonder if Cafardo would be able to get either man on the phone?

It was bullshit.

And one of the worst parts was his logic that stats ruin the game argument. But in the next line he says, "The stats I used to follow were better!" I want to grab Cafardo by the jewels and say, "VORP and RBIs are both FUCKING statistics! You just like one better than the other." And Cafardo is usually one of the lead torch bearers when a baseball player attempts to color outside the line. "He's not respecting the unwritten rules! HOW DARE HE!" So his assertion that there aren't any colorful characters left in the game is bogus too.

And fuck him for bringing Barry Bonds' name into it. "Durrrr, whatever happened to cocky guys like Barry Bonds? That's what the kids liked!" Fuck and you. If I had the time or the inclination, I could go back and find the thousands of words that Cafardo and his brethren wrote about Bonds saying that he was the anti-Christ. If, in 1999, Cafardo happened to see a kid act like Barry Bonds, he would have lost his shit. There is no doubt in my mind, he's such a god damn hypocrite.

The shifts. Man, I was wondering how he'd shoehorn his anti-shift crusade. "Ted Williams? Bah, don't give me any of that crap. David Ortiz has to hit into a shift 500 times a year."

FIVE HUNDRED TIMES A YEAR! He does not, so fuck you, you over-exaggerating prick. And you know how you beat a god damn shift, hit it the other way. Do it a half-dozen times and I guarantee there won't be any more shifts.

Man. I don't know who wrote a worse column in the last 48 hours: Nick Cafardo or Bill "All of My Friends are WICKED FAMOUS, You Guys!" Simmons.

E5 Yaz · Mar 15, 2015

John Marzano Olympic Hero said:
Man. I don't know who wrote a worse column in the last 48 hours: Nick Cafardo or Bill "All of My Friends are WICKED FAMOUS, You Guys!" Simmons.

At least you have Monday to anticipate with joy!

Humphrey · Mar 15, 2015

John Marzano Olympic Hero said:
Man. I don't know who wrote a worse column in the last 48 hours: Nick Cafardo or Bill "All of My Friends are WICKED FAMOUS, You Guys!" Simmons.

You haven't even given Peter King a chance to match Simmons's and Nick's suckitude.

Granite Sox · Mar 15, 2015

No characters?

How about Papi, Pedey, Panda, Koji, and Joseph Kelley Jr. for starters just on this team. Pedro as wandering ambassador.

Even kids like X, Mookie, and someone new like Moncada have a certain type of charisma that is incredibly appealing to young kids.

He's just completely nonsensical with everything today.

Jaysus what an idiot.

E5 Yaz · Mar 15, 2015

Humphrey said:
You haven't even given Peter King a chance to match Simmons's and Nick's suckitude.

Reverend · Mar 15, 2015

Dick Pole Upside said:
No characters?

How about Papi, Pedey, Panda, Koji, and Joseph Kelley Jr. for starters just on this team. Pedro as wandering ambassador.

Even kids like X, Mookie, and someone new like Moncada have a certain type of charisma that is incredibly appealing to young kids.

He's just completely nonsensical with everything today.

Jaysus what an idiot.

Two years from one of the more likable squads anyone can remember no less.

Some of these guys fail to realize that they aren't really talking about the team or the game--it is they who have changed.

RedOctober3829 · Mar 15, 2015

Pretty funny to hear him bitch about the popularity of the game when revenues and attendance are at an all time high.

touchstone033 · Mar 15, 2015

What an execrable column. Really the worst. Even the premise of that argument is probably wrong.

This applies here: Baseball is dying? Don't be stupid.

Nobody could really believe the crap contained in that column. Dude was trolling us.

Hyde Park Factor · Mar 16, 2015

I didn't have a chance to read the Sunday notes yesterday, so I started my Monday morning with that crap fest. The only highlight was coming here immediately upon finishing it. You know, misery / company....

joe dokes · Mar 16, 2015

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Well, after watching Justin Masterson and Wade Miley Sunday could you draw the conclusion that the Red Sox need Cole Hamels?

March 10...FORT MYERS, Fla -- Well, after Justin Masterson and Wade Miley pitched back-to-back 3 perfect innings against the always-tough Rays and Cardinals, keeping their spring ERAs at 0.00, could you draw the conclusion that each will go 32-0 and cruise to a Cy Young Award tie.

One scout described the outing as “awful.”

THAT's why Nick gets the big bucks. He has scouts on call to give in-depth analysis that "analytics" can't always provide. Without such scouting acumen, the mathematicians ruining baseball might have thought that Masterson's 3.1IP/7H/6R/2BB/2HR0K was actually pretty good.

Van Everyman · Mar 16, 2015

Today's new way of getting the kids to like baseball again:

Reinstate 73 year-old Pete Rose.

Baseball needs it.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/03/16/new-baseball-commissioner-should-reinstate-pete-rose/D1qrdAOFFflF1GFOXTQVmN/story.html

Good Christ.

John Marzano Olympic Hero · Mar 16, 2015

Why does baseball "need" Pete Rose?

I may go ask him that on the old Twitter box.

Edit: Wait a second. I'm blocked from following him, which is strange because I've never ripped on him or was ever disrespectful or even engage with him on Twitter. Ever. I wonder why I'm blocked?

This is the first time anyone has ever blocked me on Twitter. I don't know how I feel.

Red(s)HawksFan · Mar 16, 2015

Why not re-instate Shoeless Joe too? It would probably have as much impact on the under 30 demographic.

John Marzano Olympic Hero · Mar 16, 2015

Papelbon's Poutine said:
I just did it, I'll let you know if he responds.

Sweet. Thanks.

Granite Sox · Mar 16, 2015

Van Everyman said:
Today's new way of getting the kids to like baseball again:
Reinstate 73 year-old Pete Rose. http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/03/16/new-baseball-commissioner-should-reinstate-pete-rose/D1qrdAOFFflF1GFOXTQVmN/story.html
Good Christ.

Pete's a character!

joe dokes · Mar 17, 2015

Rose played the game on the field the right way. He had that energy about him for most of his career. Nobody played the game harder. Ask Ray Fosse about the home plate collision that derailed his career. Rose would go through a brick wall to help his team win.
That’s the good part.

Yeah. "The right way." Screwing up a rookie's career in an exhibition (all star) game. Quite a guy.

And I'm sure Ol' Pete didn't begin to gamble until he reached the manager's office. Never occurred to him.

And I guess it never occurred to Nick that people HAVE asked Ray Fosse:
http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Cincinnati-Reds-Pete-Rose-Cleveland-Indians-Ray-Fosse-collision-home-plate-1970-All-Star-Game-070412

Smiling Joe Hesketh · Mar 17, 2015

And that "nobody played the game harder." That's such mealy-mouthed bullshit. Maybe I'd accept "nobody publicly showed how hard he played the game more obviously than Pete Rose," but that's about it. It assumes that 1) the way to be great in baseball is to play harder than everyone else, which simply isn't true (no one's ever hit a curveball off of more effort), and 2) that because Rose was such a gloryhound showboat about the way he played therefore his efforts were true and pure.

Only a dimwit like Nick would take anything Rose said or showed in his career at face value. It's not enough to say that Rose was a great player, because obviously he was. No, Nick has to add strength of character into the mix, which is silly and in Rose's case utterly fraudulent to his cause, since, ya know, he did bet on baseball.

John Marzano Olympic Hero · Mar 17, 2015

Ask Ray Fosse about the home plate collision that derailed his career.

Why is this a positive, Rose destroyed a guy's career in an exhibition? Why don't you ask Daryl Stingily how fun it was to play against Jack Tatum? Maybe Rudy T. can explain how wacky it is to be in a brawl with Kermit Washington. Dig up Tony C. and ask him what it was like to face a Jack Hamilton fast ball? While you're at it, dig up Ray Chapman and ask him the same question about facing Carl Mays?

I get it, Pete Rose hustled. A lot. And that's pretty great, I guess. But the guy also bet on baseball. A lot. And that's not so great.

Baseball has done pretty well for itself in the 25 years since Pete Rose was booted from the game. It doesn't NEED Pete Rose. In fact, it needs less people like Rose.

EDIT:

Nick really needs to read Pos' Big Red Machine for some insight into Rose's "character." Yeah, he wanted to win real bad, but he was not a good dude at any point in his career.

Actually, that was the part of the book that I liked the least. Pos was in Rose's corner for everything, he really loves himself some Pete Rose. Cafardo should read Michale Sokolove's "Hustle" if he wants a good description of this creep.

Reverend · Mar 17, 2015

Cafardo is coming off as a guy whose favorite book is still Catcher In the Rye.

joe dokes · Mar 17, 2015

MyDaughterLovesTomGordon said:
Ha. I agree that Pos was rather enamored, but I just found myself thinking, "God, what a dick that guy is."

That's a point in Pos's favor. It takes a pretty good writer to sketch the scene fully such that he shows that *he* likes Rose, but the reader doesn't. I haven't read it, but it sounds similar to Feinstein's effort with Bobby Knight in "Season on the Brink."

E5 Yaz · Mar 17, 2015

There is no Rev said:
Cafardo is coming off as a guy whose favorite book is still Catcher In the Rye.

Or Catcher in the Wry

ifmanis5 · Mar 17, 2015

I'm really glad SoSH has not started a Rose thread- worst sports talk radio topic ever. Can't even come up with a close second other than maybe PEDs/steroids.

Attention Nick et al, no one is losing sleep over this. He broke the golden rule and got punished. All perfectly understandable. We're not missing out on anything. Moving on then.

joe dokes · Mar 17, 2015

E5 Yaz said:
Or Catcher in the Wry

Too Much Time at the Screen Dept.: At first glance, I read "catcher" as "catheter."

SydneySox · Mar 17, 2015

There is no Rev said:
Cafardo is coming off as a guy whose favorite book is still Catcher In the Rye.

No? Catcher in the Rye is amazing and the message doesn't seem to pertain here.

Don't see the connection ... unless you are insinuating he's coming off as someone who read it in 8th grade and identified Holden Caulfield as a protagonist and not a deeply flawed lesson.

Or maybe you're saying that Catcher in the Rye is his favourite because he read it a long time ago and pines for the days of yesteryear? If that's the case I wish you'd picked a book that has less direct conflict with your theory, professor.

hashtagilovesalingerfuckyou

Corsi · Mar 17, 2015

If I recall, Nick derided Salinger for needing a personal catcher.

Reverend · Mar 17, 2015

SydneySox said:
No? Catcher in the Rye is amazing and the message doesn't seem to pertain here.

Don't see the connection ... unless you are insinuating he's coming off as someone who read it in 8th grade and identified Holden Caulfield as a protagonist and not a deeply flawed lesson.

Or maybe you're saying that Catcher in the Rye is his favourite because he read it a long time ago and pines for the days of yesteryear? If that's the case I wish you'd picked a book that has less direct conflict with your theory, professor.

hashtagilovesalingerfuckyou

The bolded, yes.

Like, he thinks everyone and everything about the game today is somehow inauthentic. He sounds like someone who might start complaining about all the phonies in the league or something.

There might be an interesting novel to be written about a man whose love of baseball turns into loathing, but he's locked into writing about it for a living.

SydneySox · Mar 17, 2015

It is very valid to suggest he's the sort of person unaware of the what that book is about.

It would be interesting to see if he would see himself as he appears to be; the phoney.

LeoCarrillo · Mar 18, 2015

"Shift right, ya morons!"

joe dokes · Mar 19, 2015

I just can't . . . .

NICK CAFARDO | ON BASEBALL

Red Sox taking a risk by waiting on Cole Hamels

Protecting the Shields -- The Nick Cafardo Thread

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