Ask Joe Morgan

[beerchaser]

Joe Morgan has good insight into baseball. Which means that he sees the game really well. He knows a lot about the game, which is good because he has to talk about it a lot. If he didn’t know much about baseball, he wouldn’t be able to say much. So I think we should have a Joe Morgan Q&A advice thread. Q&A means questions and answers. Advice is something you give people, sometimes whether they want it or not. Because even if they didn’t want it at first, they are grateful later because you have good insight.

Joe, I’m having trouble figuring out this quote by Joe Torre about a big base hit last night by Russell Martin. "That was big," Los Angeles manager Joe Torre said. "Russell's ability to hit the ball all over the field makes him tough to pitch to."

Martin is the Dodgers catcher, so he spends most of the game behind the plate. Except when he is hitting, then he is beside the plate. Or if he’s in the dugout, then he’s not close to the plate at all. Anyway, on the surface this quote seems obvious, but I’m wondering if there is some hidden meaning to it that I’m not getting. Is there a hidden meaning in this statement, or do I just not have good insight?

Thanks for your insight, Joe.

[koolzach1]

Keep on posting beerchaser. Joe Morgan always states the obvious, and he gets made fun of so much, so ya know... this is warranted.

[nuzzy62]

S T O P P I C K I N G O N J O E.

H E I S N O T T H A T S L O W!

[koolzach1]

S T O P P I C K I N G O N J O E.

H E I S N O T T H A T S L O W!

You're an awesome rapper

[nuzzy62]

Thanks.

Vanilla Ice gave me lessons
So dont you dare go a messin'

[Swampdog]

Looks like some relevant posts were....deleted here. Hmmm.

[CatKnight]

Well, they weren't really questions.


Okay Joe. The Indians were predicted to win the AL Central with a possible challenge from the Detroit Tigers. As of today Cleveland's in 3rd, Detroit's in 4th, and neither one is playing .500 ball.

What happened, and is there any hope for either of 'em?

[Clay Dreslough]

Looks like some relevant posts were....deleted here. Hmmm.

The only stuff that I see deleted was swear words and insults, and responses to same.

[Joe Morgan]

Joe, I’m having trouble figuring out this quote by Joe Torre about a big base hit last night by Russell Martin. "That was big," Los Angeles manager Joe Torre said. "Russell's ability to hit the ball all over the field makes him tough to pitch to."

Beerchaser, Russell Martin is the type of player who will give you 100% day in and day out. He's also from Canada I believe, so it's difficult to get him out. He's a little weak against right-handed pitchers and still hasn't developed his power stroke, so the key to pitching to him would be to have a right-hander out there on the mound. Catchers generally aren't good baserunners, but Martin is above average there, so the key to getting him out if he got a hit would be to get the ball back into the infield right away. If the outfielders do this, they could prevent a single from being a double, or a double from being a triple. If they don't do this, then a single up the middle could score a run.

[Joe Morgan]

Okay Joe. The Indians were predicted to win the AL Central with a possible challenge from the Detroit Tigers. As of today Cleveland's in 3rd, Detroit's in 4th, and neither one is playing .500 ball.

What happened, and is there any hope for either of 'em?

CatKnight, any team can win during the course of the season. The problem with the Tigers is that they put all of these pieces together and they don't seem to have come together yet. Cleveland is a tough team as well. I haven't seen them play, but it is only June 11th and they still have a chance to do good things. The key for them to start winning some games will be their pitching, so C.C. Sabathia really needs to step it up and show everybody that he deserves to be mentioned as an ace. Then again, if he doesn't and Cleveland loses, they can at least re-sign him for a better price than if he dominates this season. Cleveland is in Ohio as well, and the state motto there is "With God, all things are possible", so Cleveland fans maybe need to pray.

[CatKnight]

Wow....that....that made sense! Thanks!

[koolzach1]

Joe;

Why don't we have baseball down here in the great state of North Carolina yet?

[nuzzy62]

Joe,

Is jeff Kent a better secondbaseman than you?

[YEAH DAAAAWG]

Joe,

Is jeff Kent a better secondbaseman than you?

Yes.

[RedsoxRockies]

Hey Joe, could you tell me what it takes to play baseball good enough that the other team has a chance at not winning, because if they won, our team might lose