If you want love, you'll need a glove. (Defense 2010)

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I've been WFAN-free for nearly five years now, and I've lost count of how many brain cells have regenerated.

"Lost count?" Have you been listening to WABC instead?

I find myself only listening to WFAN when I'm driving late at night. The confusion/vitriol are like cold coffee.

[Ceetar]

could always switch to ESPN radio. It's just as much Mets hate with a little less knowledge.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I use the radio for rock 'n' roll and the internet for Metly enlightenment.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I'd prefer Wally Backman working with him on second base footwork, but this does pique the interest: In a report for Newsday, David Lennon says Daniel Murphy will work with Keith Hernandez on defense at first base this season.

Updating...

As Newsday reported on Sunday, Keith Hernandez will tutor Daniel Murphy this spring, and the two already have begun working out at the team's minor-league complex in Port St. Lucie.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

As per Metsblog:

In a conference call with reporters today, Keith Hernandez said Omar Minaya called him last week to, as he put it, �Get this whole ball rolling,� so he could work with Daniel Muprhy on his defense at first base. He said he and Murphy also worked together yesterday, and he�s more than happy to work with him again at various points during Spring Training, though he doubts there will be time to connect during the regular season. Murphy said they worked on his footwork around the bag, and talked a lot about in-game situations. Hernandez said he only worked with Murphy on fielding, saying hitting is Howard Johnson�s responsibility. He said he also worked with Todd Zeile before, as well as John Olerud, �who, obviously, didn�t need any help at all.� Murphy said, in time, he believes he can be an asset to the Mets at first base. Hernandez also worked with Nick Evans, who, he said, �Does a good job around the base.� In the end, Hernandez feels Muprhy did an admirable job last season, being asked to learn first base, mid season, in New York, and he is surprised at how well he handled the transition.

Video here. Want much, much more such video.

[metirish]

The local sports reports are showing some of this video , certainly it's encouraging how willing a student Murphy is , and always has been.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Another Patrick Flood look ahead at defense... this time, for our intrepid young scholar/your starting first baseman for 2010, Daniel Murphy:

Some baseball players just look like they were born to play the game. The smiling naturals. The ones who came out of the womb cleat-first, bat in one hand and glove in the other. They have a graceful gait of Carlos Beltran, that smooth one-handed Ken Griffey Jr. follow-through, or even just thick wrists and forearms like Fernando Martinez that inform the world they were built to swing a wooden bat with force. Even the big guys, the CC Sabathias or the Prince Fielders, move with a certain amount of grace and smooth coordination that hints to the point guard hiding beneath all the layers of flab. And then there are players like Daniel Murphy... The appearance of awkwardness is not always indicative of inability. Daniel Murphy's situation is one where looking at the defensive metrics can help overcome the lies of perception. He didn't look smooth playing first base, but he was surprisingly good. UZR ranked Daniel Murphy as the 4th best defensive first baseman in the majors last year. Plus/minus ranked him as tied for first with Albert Pujols and Kevin Youkilis. Fan Scouting Reports ranks Murphy as a better defensive player than either Carlos Delgado or Fernando Tatis. He was not only solid defensively, but in fact he appears to be one of the best... The defensive picture of Murphy is one of an aggressive player who too often has no idea what he's doing. Hopefully he cuts down on the errors with more experience, but that may not happen... If he's able to maintain his defense, he could actually (somehow) wind up as an average first baseman overall,* despite his batting that is well below the positional average.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I didn't think he looked all that un-natural.

Notice how all the natural-born players are men of pigment.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

It's proven that pigmentation improves UZR's by an average of 146 basis points; and naturalness by nearly 100%. Problem is, it also leads to massive increases in LZF (Laziness Factor) and MD (Mental Deficiency).

[seawolf17]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: It's proven that pigmentation improves UZR's by an average of 146 basis points; and naturalness by nearly 100%. Problem is, it also leads to massive increases in LZF (Laziness Factor) and MD (Mental Deficiency).

Plus it causes their SF (Scrappy Factor) to drop nearly to zero.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Now, now. I really don't think that's where he was going with that, nor is it where the piece ends up. Josh Hamilton or Mauer work just as well, if you'd prefer. Perhaps more to the point, there's Townie Cop over in the Bronx... or Murph's tutor hisself.

As to the awkwardness... he didn't seem a little overexcited to you, both in LF and 1B? Eager puppies come to mind.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I don't really think it was where he was going either, but it's where he ended up, and I think he would do well to examine his thinking in light of that.

I think Murphy looked like a rookie out of position in left field. At first base, he looked like a rookie who just made a damn fool out of himself in left front of perhaps hundreds of thousands of people, who knew --- knew --- that he could hack first and was determined to prove it. Once a combination of his manager's (initially quite meager) confidence and the realities of battlefield attrition gave him some room to breathe at the position, he looked mostly fine. At home. Comfortable in his skin.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I don't really think it was where he was going either, but it's where he ended up, and I think he would do well to needs to examine his thinking in light of that.

As someone who's all in favor of calling out brown-people-are-naturals/white-people-are-effort-guys dreck when I see it, I strongly disagree on this, and I think you might want to re-read the piece-- my excerpt may have been more than a bit misleading-- if you believe that's the product he's selling. (Christ, the first guy he references in the "born to play the game" list is Jeff Francoeur, via link.)

I agree Murphy looked-- and, by self-report, felt-- a lot more comfortable at first. I also think he occasionally looked like he tried to do too much with men on first and less than two out, and at least 2 occasions I can recall without research when he charged so aggressively to the right that he left first uncovered. 10 errors in a half-year of first base is a lot.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Holy fucking shit, that's a catch.

Good on you, Ichy.

[Fman99]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Holy fucking shit, that's a catch. Good on you, Ichy.

Beh. What's with that dumb little hop first?

Endy Chavez it ain't.

[Guest themetfairy]

IIRC, Shinjo used to hop before making catches.

[seawolf17]

I miss Shinjo. The Mets should bring him and Turk back as swagger coaches.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

That nutty play from White Sox Mark Buerhle. Think Murph, plus added degree of difficulty.

[DocTee]

wow! Amazing play!

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Baseball is a beautiful game!

[Fman99]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: That nutty play from White Sox Mark Buerhle. Think Murph, plus added degree of difficulty.

Ridonkulous.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Was the barehanded catch just to rub it in?

[metirish]

That was a great play, Konerko was great in his explanation as to his thinking.....basically expect Buerhle to do the unexpected and that's why he was rooted to first base.

Also , a lot of chatter here yesterday about GMJ in CF but watching the game last night that was a pretty tough wind swirling out there. I thought he did good in battling it.

[Frayed Knot]

24 hours into the season and the play of the year contest is OVAH!

[MFS62]

Frayed Knot wrote: 24 hours into the season and the play of the year contest is OVAH!

I had this play tied with Murph's behind-the-backer from last year until I saw the bare handed grab. That was the tie-breaker.

Then again, he's a Gold Glove winner.
That kind of stuff is expected.
Let's see him do it again.


Later

[Frayed Knot]

Hey, if he's going to throw it with his glove you might as well catch it without.
Also, that ball didn't just hit Burhle, he deflected it with his foot so the play was intentional - at least to a degree.



Reminds me a bit of one of my favorite GiDPs, turned in the playoffs by one the Indians teams of the late-90s:
A hot-shot up the middle was deflected by the pitcher's glove towards Vizquel at SS -- he promptly did his patented glove-scoop-shovel thing over to Alomar covering 2nd who caught and threw it bare-handed to 1st to complete the GiDP.
Two outs were recorded - four guys touched the ball - all of them used only one hand.

[Guest themetfairy]

You want a glove? Here's a glove -



Keith's Gold Glove, as displayed in the Mets HOF.

[Benjamin Grimm]

They put your face on the Gold Glove award?

Or did Keith do that on his own after he received it? (I wouldn't put that past him at all.)

[metirish]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: They put your face on the Gold Glove award? Or did Keith do that on his own after he received it? (I wouldn't put that past him at all.)

Good question , and would they update the face for a multiple winner like keith or use the same one?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

metirish wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: They put your face on the Gold Glove award? Or did Keith do that on his own after he received it? (I wouldn't put that past him at all.) Good question , and would they update the face for a multiple winner like keith or use the same one?

That's a sweet way to memorialize an of-its-time haircut or two, innit? "That's the year I went feathered... and KICKED ASS IN THE FIELD."

Metirish wrote: Also , a lot of chatter here yesterday about GMJ in CF but watching the game last night that was a pretty tough wind swirling out there. I thought he did good in battling it.

Yes, but... he did that in EVERY Spring Training game I saw in which he played center. I'm not kidding-- I watched significant portions of maybe 5 games all spring, and he was turning around and flipping while chasing balls like he was following someone else's kite in each one. Hell, even the one good ST play he made-- the catch-and-throw doubling of a (Marlins?)runner on first-- seems to have been made because he made a mistake in breaking for the ball, and had to sprint so hard to get there, the runner assumed he wouldn't make it. (Unless you've got Gomez-Pagan-Reyes speed, that sort of thing KILLS your range.)