"Aesthetic" Ballplayers
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Terry McDermott says,
I think a huge amount of Ackley's obvious appeal is aesthetic. I know, I know, the data has been run out and it indicates greatness. But what persuades isn't the data here, it's the eye. The kid looks contemptuous at the plate. Is that all you've got? Really, that's it?
Put him where he belongs, CF, and we can start examining those Dimaggio comps a bit more closely.
That's a good point - that Ackley looks so gorgeous on the field that maybe we're getting skewed a bit. J.D. Drew maybe somewhat similar, but then again, his healthy year he did get 8.9 WAR...
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Your Dodgers battled Will the Thrill a time or two, right? A list of "aesthetic" players would be an interesting one to attack .... hm.
Junior would actually be in that category for me, probably.
Ichiro definitely is way up there in my book. Generally, Japanese players look smoother and more elegant to me, as opposed to American-born players who muscle the game.
Fred Lynn was one of the most beautiful players ever ... wonder if, subconsciously, Dr. D matched the two of them based on that. Does PECOTA have a data field for this? :- ) If not, "unusually graceful" will be in the comp algorithm at some point in the 21st century.
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As far as Joe Morgan is concerned, my impression of him was not one of grace, though he probably was. My impression of him was of overwhelming baseball intelligence.
Bill James once remarked about the fact that, when the other team pitched out against Morgan (who stole what, 50 bases a year?), the catcher would take the pitch and then look over and Morgan, back on the bag, hands on his hips. "I always thought teams pitched out just to watch him do that," Bill wrote.
To me, Morgan did not move in an unusually graceful way; he angled into the weak spots of a baseball game through brains and explosiveness.
His teammate Johnny Bench was a super-aesthetic player to me, although it was in a 220-lb. interpretation.
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In basketball, you remember Derrick McKey? I wonder if "aesthetic" players, as a group, are overrated as very young players and then unfairly judged as underachievers ...
Clark looked tremendous on a baseball field, but looking at his career you have a sense of disappointment. Wonder if the expectations were too high based on the fact that he looked so beautiful on the field.
Without a doubt, baseball scouts grade players up based on the Will Clark factor. We need to be aware of this bias and adjust for it. If there is a saber light bulb to be gained here, maybe it's that. Don't overrate the smooth players?
Hope none of this means that we're selling Ackley a little long, based on the fish-in-water impression that he gives. I don't think we are.
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Here is a related article, with 50 suggestions as to "smooth" players. Amos Otis, Stan Musial, etc.
Am not sure I agree with their suggestions of Jeter and Robbie Alomar. Did even they look as attractive on the field as Ackley does?
Paul O'Neill looked real good. They've got Joe Mauer and ... oh yeah. Josh Hamilton on there.
Maybe looking like "The Natural" isn't a death sentence after all. :- )