You guys are going to love Green!

<Magnus_Malibu.DeleteThis@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:22257-41EF0F49-65@storefull-3111.bay.webtv.net...
> Speaking as a Dodger fan, Shawn Green is the kind of guy who after
> hitting a homerun pulls off his batting gloves and presents them to a
> child in the front rows,

Because, you know, that's where all the underprivileged kids sit, right?

No?

Oh. Then I guess that's the way he sucks up to the corporate types who drag
their kids to the ballpark in an effort to convince others what swell
family-types they are.

Or not. I'm just saying.

> and the kid will sit there awe struck with the
> gloves like it was Christmas.

More like trying to figure out what reserve price to set when he puts it on
eBay.

> Shawn Green is the kind of guy who refuses
> to play, big game or not, because it's Yom Kippur and he believes it is
> more important to be with his family.

Or, the type of guy who lets superstitious twaddle keep him out of games
that matter to his co-workers and the city he claims to represent.

If that's the way you lean. I'm not saying I do. (Or don't.)

> He's the kind of guy more
> ballplayers should be like.

Whatever my criticisms, I can think of two guys on the 40-man roster with
the DBacks for whom a more Green-like take would be a marked improvement
<coughcintronterrerocough>. But they'd be even =better= served by taking
cues from Craig Counsell and Quinton McCracken instead.

> The Dodgers ripped their fans hearts out by
> trading him.

You say that like it's a bad thing....
--
_____

"[Massacussetts'] national representation [is] summed up by a junior senator
whose idea of the common man is someone who can only put $10,000 into his
campaign funds, thinks low-cost housing is a $680,000 house on Nantucket,
changed his middle name to be J.F.K., threw someone else's medals into the
ocean in a Vietnam Veterans rally and out-Hillaried that lifelong Yankee fan
by appearing on WEEI's Eddie Andelman's show and told listeners he's a
lifelong Red Sox fan whose favorite Bosox player was Eddie Yost (too bad
Yost never played for the Red Sox)."

-- ESPN.com's Peter Gammons, 22 Dec 2000
<http://sports.espn.go.com/gammons/s/2000/1222/969933.html>
_____
 >> Stay informed about: You guys are going to love Green! 

He only does the batting gloves thing during home games and it was at
the suggestion of Vin Scully after seeing him do it once, with a ripped
batting glove.

Shawn is a good guy, plays a solid first base, a decent outfield, and
usually finishes strong.

The downside is he is a slow starter, is very streaky, has dropped a
lot in power numbers over the past couple of years and does not have
the personality to be a clubhouse leader.

To be honest, I am saddened that the Dodgers traded him but I would not
have been happy to see him resigned to an extension. Time may prove me
wrong but I feel his best years are behind him and I doubt he will hit
30 HR's or near 300 again.
I do wish him the best, except when he plays the Dodgers.
 >> Stay informed about: You guys are going to love Green! 

SDShadow <sdshadow RemoveThis @hotpop.com> wrote:
[...]
> The downside is he is a slow starter, is very streaky, has dropped a
> lot in power numbers over the past couple of years and does not have
> the personality to be a clubhouse leader.
[...]

Well, somebody had to fill Steve Finley's shoes. At least, in the slow
starter, streaky area. Fins wasn't exactly a clubhouse leader, either.
Just a nice guy and a hard worker whose level of play never seemed to
decline at the level you'd expect from a guy his age.

I personally think Green's best days are behind him. I'll be pleasantly
surprised if he returns to an MVP-level performance. I just hope he's not
too much of an albatross.

--Paul
** Note "removemunged" in email address and remove to reply. **
 >> Stay informed about: You guys are going to love Green! 

"Paul Wylie" <paul DeleteThis @teamwylie.removemunged.org> wrote in message
news:ct3r8h$hn3$1@reader2.panix.com...

> I personally think Green's best days are behind him. I'll be pleasantly
> surprised if he returns to an MVP-level performance. I just hope he's not
> too much of an albatross.

He's not being asked to carry the team. He's expected only to provide enough
of a threat as a left-handed hitter to force opposing managers to burn
through their specialists late in a game when facing the heart of the
Arizona batting order. We can debate whether or not the effective price
being paid for Green's services ($8M per) is the appropriate price to pay
for this level of talent; nevertheless, it's not expecting too much for
Green to post a nice .270/.370/.470 season and call that acceptable. (A
..310/.420/.540 year, of course, wouldn't hurt.)

If the Terrero/McCracken hybrid winds up patrolling center in 2005, Green's
relative lack of range -- augmented by the fact that his
less-than-spectacular throwing arm compels him to cheat shallow -- won't be
too much of a hindrance. If, however, either the Byrnes or Burnitz deals
materialize......

--
_____

"[Massacussetts'] national representation [is] summed up by a junior senator
whose idea of the common man is someone who can only put $10,000 into his
campaign funds, thinks low-cost housing is a $680,000 house on Nantucket,
changed his middle name to be J.F.K., threw someone else's medals into the
ocean in a Vietnam Veterans rally and out-Hillaried that lifelong Yankee fan
by appearing on WEEI's Eddie Andelman's show and told listeners he's a
lifelong Red Sox fan whose favorite Bosox player was Eddie Yost (too bad
Yost never played for the Red Sox)."

-- ESPN.com's Peter Gammons, 22 Dec 2000
<http://sports.espn.go.com/gammons/s/2000/1222/969933.html>
_____
 >> Stay informed about: You guys are going to love Green!