6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog: The Difference Between A DH And A Dog

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Monday, March 15, 2004

The Difference Between A DH And A Dog

Much is being made on the Angels forums of Brad Fullmer's comments regarding his playing time that "There was some stuff regarding me that was set in stone, and no matter how I swung the bat or how well I played, it wasn't going to change, no matter how hot I got." At issue is Fullmer's at-bats versus lefties, with some accusing Mike Scioscia of a conspiracy to take away Fullmer at-bats. Well, let's look at this a mite closer, shall we?

			vs. lefties				vs. all
Year	Team	Manager	AB	Avg.	OBP	SLG	AB	Avg.	OBP	SLG	left%
2003	Angels	Mike Scioscia	30	.267	.324	.400	206	.306	.387	.500	.146
2002	Angels	Mike Scioscia	63	.221	.231	.365	429	.289	.357	.531	.147
2001	Blue Jays	Buck Martinez	119	.202	.233	.286	522	.274	.326	.444	.228
2000	Blue Jays	Jim Fregosi	93	.226	.279	.430	482	.295	.340	.558	.193
1999	Expos	Felipe Alou	50	.240	.264	.480	347	.277	.321	.464	.144

And there ends the splits data on mlb.com. I liked Brad as a player, but I have to wonder whether he didn't say the same things about Alou, who also benched Brad versus lefties. When he played for Toronto, his large numbers of LH at-bats dragged down his average and certainly his slugging percentage. In any case, his outburst would explain why management released him shortly after he injured himself. What's funny, though, is that Scioscia used him exactly for his strengths, and Fullmer proceeded to set career records for OBP and average, not to mention picking up a championship ring. And for this, Fullmer is angry? It reminds me of the old Mark Twain quote, "If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man."

// posted by Rob @ 9:31 PM link // 0 comments