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Saturday, August 20, 2005 |
Just. Hit. The. Damn. Ball. Steve.
The height of cluelessness?
Steve Finley doesn't need to be reminded he's hitting .216, not when each trip to the plate at Angel Stadium these days brings a chorus of boos. Coming off last season, when he hit .271 with 36 homers and 94 RBIs with the Diamondbacks and Dodgers, the fans have expected more from the 40-year-old center fielder.Scary ghost story part of the article: "Manager Mike Scioscia said as of now he has no plans to bench Finley other than the occasional day off." Aaaaaaaagh!"They pay their ticket and can do what they want to do, but I don't understand," Finley said. "If I was loafing out there, that would be one thing, but I'm busting my butt. When I walk to the plate and we're up 13-3 (Thursday night) and I hear boos from the fans, they don't know baseball. They can dish out whatever they want, but all I care about is winning."
Finley desperately wants to play a role in that winning and he knows he hasn't done his share. But he refuses to get caught up in the past.
"I'm not worried about the numbers, you can throw them off the board,"he said. "We're in first place and that's all that matters. I'm looking at what I can do from here forward. Even in my good years, I wasn't thinking about what's been done, I was thinking about what's ahead."
Update: Matt Welch kicks some rhetorical ass:
Angel fans certainly have their faults, but they ain't dumb. They're booing him not only because he's not hitting, but because he has failed at least four times in recent weeks to lay down a freakin' bunt, which is a skill you might want to hone if you're hitting worse than a pitcher. They're booing because after each failure -- the clutch whiff, the botched sacrifice, the weenie pop-up -- he acts like a petulant 8-year-old, mock-slamming his bat to the ground and presumably yelling "Dang it!" They're booing because, like every other 40-year-old in Major League history, he's a bad defensive centerfielder. They're booing because we have the best centerfielder in baseball playing first base, a hot-hitting young Mark Grace in the making ready to take over first base, and a Finley-created logjam at DH the day Garret Anderson is ready to play again. And they're booing because spending $14 million on this clown for two years is tying up resources that could be much better spent elsewhere, for instance on a premium pitcher in the off-season. Lyman Bostock would have offered to refuse his salary, or give it to charity ... Finley tells the fans they "don't know baseball."Update 2: I'm afraid I'm gonna have to spell it out for certain people:
Halofan is right -- when the fans boo Finley, Stoneman hears it.The lesson he's supposed to take from that, Eric Enders, is that it's well, well past time for Finley to go. He should not be in the lineup, ever, under any circumstances, save as a replacement when starting centerfielder Desmond DeChone Figgins needs a day off. He has proved -- beyone even the merest shadow of a doubt -- that he no longer has any reason to be playing regularly. Your comparison to Choi -- a young player with the possibility of improvement who's gotten next to no playing time thanks to Tracy's incompetence -- is so far off base as to merit long, loud guffaws that last for several minutes. Maybe you don't watch the Angels; I don't expect you to. But his mammoth and consistent incompetence requires a reaction. He's aging and falling apart, and gracelessly. The fans take the only action they have at their disposal to indicate their displeasure.
And the lesson he's supposed to take from that is what, exactly? Don't sign any more high-priced free agents? Don't sign Steve Finley again?
Comments:
Finley's been around for a looooong time. How could he be so dumb as to insult the fans?
Jeebus I hate this guy. Hate.
Jeebus I hate this guy. Hate.
I don't think Finley is being insulting here. And he may even be right about the busting his butt part. But quite frankly I've had enough of his failing to produce, so from that point of view, the Angels need to not put him in the lineup anymore. Better options exist.
I've never understood the idea of signing players at his age. For every Roger Clemens, there are many more disappointing Randy Johnson and Steve Finleys.
# posted by 
: 8/20/2005 02:19:00 PM
: 8/20/2005 02:19:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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