Our long national nightmare is over ...

[Frayed Knot]

Albert has HR'd

2-run shot in the 5th inning of today's game in his 116th PA of the year or his 110th AB
Yeah, that's right, only 6 BBs for the year - and two of those were intentional
Dude came into the day hitting a stunning .194/.237/.269

[Fman99]

ESPN sez the 110 AB drought was the longest in MLB history by a player with 400+ career home runs.

[Frayed Knot]

Not only that but, if you looked at the year that those others* went through their droughts, they were all at or near the end of their careers.
The stunning thing about Albert's little slump here is that it comes right on the heels of 11 of the most dominant years we've ever seen.



* Eddie Murray, Yaz, Griff Jr., McCovey

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Yeah, obviously A-Jols went to see the shrink on his day off.

[Edgy MD]

Be interesting if St. Louis was so furious at him for spurning them, they said something to the effect of, "Now that you got the payday of a lifetime, if I were you, I'd get off the juice, because we know who your pharmacist is, we know who your mule is, and we know what technique you've used to beat the the test, and if we suspect for a second you're still squirting, we'll leak that info in a Disney second."

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Edgy DC wrote: Be interesting if St. Louis was so furious at him for spurning them, they said something to the effect of, "Now that you got the payday of a lifetime, if I were you, I'd get off the juice, because we know who your pharmacist is, we know who your mule is, and we know what technique you've used to beat the the test, and if we suspect for a second you're still squirting, we'll leak that info in a Disney second."

You may be half-jesting, but I'm sure it's an unspoken thought that's crossed the minds of many baseball fans.

[Edgy MD]

Really? Seemed a pretty complex blackmail scenario to cross my mind. But yeah, I suppose a variant of "off the juice" has crossed many a mind.

[MFS62]

At least the (Yank) hacks haven't written that its because of that superior AL pitching... yet.

Later

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Total tangent here but I see "our long national nightmare is over" referenced so often I decided to look up the source of that quote. I was not expecting Gerald Ford. It seems overly dramatic for him.

[Vic Sage]

yes, its easier to believe that this is somehow juice-related (in the absence of any evidence that it was injury-related), then for fans and media to accept, even for a moment, that random shit happens in baseball, like the rest of our existence, and that in any given sampling of outcomes, there is a range of random occurrences that are simply inexplicable. People HATE having to deal with a random universe that is related to, you know, mathematics. That's why we invented religion in the first place. We are hardwired for pattern recognition, and if there is no pattern, we invent one.

[Edgy MD]

Um, YEAH!

[metirish]

This is why I love Vic, he says some of the most random shit going....and makes it all sound plausible.

[Vic Sage]

well, it all made sense in my head.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Made sense to me too!

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Mets � Willets Point wrote: Total tangent here but I see "our long national nightmare is over" referenced so often I decided to look up the source of that quote. I was not expecting Gerald Ford. It seems overly dramatic for him.

Jerry could get colorful once in a while!

[Frayed Knot]

Vic Sage wrote: yes, its easier to believe that this is somehow juice-related (in the absence of any evidence that it was injury-related), then for fans and media to accept, even for a moment, that random shit happens in baseball, like the rest of our existence, and that in any given sampling of outcomes, there is a range of random occurrences that are simply inexplicable. People HATE having to deal with a random universe that is related to, you know, mathematics. That's why we invented religion in the first place. We are hardwired for pattern recognition, and if there is no pattern, we invent one.

There other thing is, that even if one were to believe that there were some kind of steroid forces at work here, the idea that those drugs are so powerful as to act as some sort of on/off switch where a player goes from having one of the top ten decades ever to maybe the most punch-less hitter in either league (or the other way around) as a result of swearing off (or starting with) the stuff.
The biggest lab experiment in the world couldn't create such a fluctuation.

Jerry could get colorful once in a while!

Just ask Betty!

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Frayed Knot wrote: There other thing is, that even if one were to believe that there were some kind of steroid forces at work here, the idea that those drugs are so powerful as to act as some sort of on/off switch where a player goes from having one of the top ten decades ever to maybe the most punch-less hitter in either league (or the other way around) as a result of swearing off (or starting with) the stuff. The biggest lab experiment in the world couldn't create such a fluctuation.

I tend to agree with you. An elite athlete can retain the benefits of steroids for a number of years, particularly if they manage to stay injury-free.

However, abruptly ceasing steroid use can have an adverse psychological impact. Many bodybuilders experience muscle dysmorphia (or "bigorexia") when they stop juicing. It's no great stretch to see how this can have consequences on a hitter's performance; if in their mind they believe they are physically weaker, they start to make unnecessary corrections to their stroke.

As a sidenote, the OOC testing in MLB is a complete farce. Less than 10% of MLBers were given an OOC test (compared to close to 50% in the NFL) and all of them were in the US. This means a player can go on a full steroid cycle on November 1, and be clean in time for the start of Spring Training.

[Guest vtmet]

I'm not using any statistical data to make this opinionated statement/hypothesis, but...I have a feeling that it's a lot harder for a power hitter to switch leagues than it is for a pitcher to switch leagues...

The hitter doesn't know what to expect from a pitcher that he hasn't seen, whereas the new league's pitchers are gonna see scouting reports and review video of a guy like Pujols (or even Jason Bay to a much lesser degree)...

As far as a pitcher switching leagues, he may not know the hitters but...his catcher does, and the hitters haven't really seen his stuff/tendencies either...

[metsmarathon]

a pitcher doesn't need to see a hitters' batting stance to know how to pitch to him - at worst, he must adapt to a new catcher. a hitter needs to see a pitcher's release point, delivery motion, spin, and break to get a feel for him. the advantage belongs entirely to the pitcher.

[Guest vtmet]

metsmarathon wrote: a pitcher doesn't need to see a hitters' batting stance to know how to pitch to him - at worst, he must adapt to a new catcher. a hitter needs to see a pitcher's release point, delivery motion, spin, and break to get a feel for him. the advantage belongs entirely to the pitcher.

exactly...if anything, a pitcher loses his advantage the more often that he faces the same opponent (or in the case of Tom Glavine, has to face the team often that he used to pitch for)...

[Ceetar]

Plenty of film exists, plus he's seen plenty of these guys before. Kuroda, Liriano, Colon. Not much..

but that's like saying Pujols can't hit rookies. Actually, that'd be harder because the tape and prep work wouldn't be there for rookies as much. Plus, a pitcher needs only to make one mistake "oops, Pujols can hit that down and away pitch?" whereas if Pujols misreads a curveball he probably gets two more strikes.

It's probably just a slump. Maybe it's made worse by the team switch. change is not easy for most people, never mind baseball players. new city, new home, new routine, family maybe not there yet, workout regiment is probably slightly different with different people in a different climate. Adapting, even if you enjoy change and the excitement of new experiences, is mentally straining and perhaps that leaves him somewhat sapped when it comes to the mental effort of facing pitchers?

[Guest vtmet]

I'd imagine (whether it's slump, change in routine, unfamiliarity with pitchers) that by around the all star break, Pujols will be back to being a monster...then again, I keep waiting for Jason Bay to hit RHP in a Mets uniform (a lot of the same pitchers that he hit against in a Pirates uniform, right?)...

[Frayed Knot]

Well, Albert's power is back even if not yet his overall game:
- April: 92 ABs; .217/.265/.304; 0 HRs, 4 RBI; 6 BB; 14 K
- May: 110 ABs; .255/.297/.488; 8 HRs (including, Heh, Heh, one off Pettitte last night) 24 RBI; 7 BB; 14 K

Still not what we're used to and certainly not what the Angels thought they were paying for. Plus essentially all that really changed in the 2nd month of the season is that his doubles turned into HRs -- his 8 XBHs (8 2Bs + 0 HRs) became 10 (2 2Bs + 8 HRs) although once you factor in the extra ABs in May they're coming at about the same rate. Walk rates & K rates have stayed about the same and he's getting an extra hit or two per week.

[Edgy MD]

Albert is perfectly welcome to hit all the homers he wants while facing Yankee pitching.