Scott Podsednik released

[PeaveyFury]

As a NRI, sure, but I'd be afraid that would lead to regular playing time somehow down the line.

 

And I seriously think we're the only site devoted to a team in baseball outside of the Sox (obviously) where this would get even close to 50 posts discussing it. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Ennder]

I find it funny that people take those W/L stats seriously for a guy who led off all season, stole 59 bases and still managed to score only 80 runs.

 

However if you really think Pods is what made that team tick you'll be happy to know we picked him up in C form, just without the SB (or the 23 CS that offset most of their value). Kendall pretty much matches or surpasses pods in offensive contribution.

[Fike85]

A common complaint I hear is that stats are misleading and that you can use any stat for good or bad. What I find funny is that those people then go ahead and use the most misleading stats (RBI, W/L, batting average) to evaluate players. Stats are only misleading if they are not fully understood or if they are presented with deceptive rhetoric.

 

As for the discussion at hand...

 

...in 2005 Podsednik hit .290/.351/.349 with 28 2B, 1 3B, and 0 HR AS A LEFT FIELDER. That's bad. I will give him creding for leading the team in average and OBP, but at the same time I'm going to go out on a limb and say it was the Team's 3.61 ERA and outrageously dominant relief pitching that won them the World Series.

[jason21nl]

and what i find is funny is that you all will bring up stats to prove your point when he wasn't brought in there to hit home runs. thats not his role as a player. unless you watched that team day in and day out, you have NO idea what role he played except to look at stats. The stats do lie, and if you people want to continue to dismiss podsedniks role on the team go ahead. He was brought in to do a job, and did it well. He must have been doing something right, he did finish 12th in MVP voting. The game of baseball does go past stats from time to time, even if most here don't want to admit that. Some of you people will sit here and blast move after move, because they don't make sense to you. Well there are people getting paid and are a lot smart than us making those decisions.

[Oldcity]

Zero home runs for a left fielder doesn't lie. That's loud and clear.

[TerraceReserved]

and what i find is funny is that you all will bring up stats to prove your point when he wasn't brought in there to hit home runs. thats not his role as a player. unless you watched that team day in and day out, you have NO idea what role he played except to look at stats. The stats do lie, and if you people want to continue to dismiss podsedniks role on the team go ahead. He was brought in to do a job, and did it well. He must have been doing something right, he did finish 12th in MVP voting. The game of baseball does go past stats from time to time, even if most here don't want to admit that. Some of you people will sit here and blast move after move, because they don't make sense to you. Well there are people getting paid and are a lot smart than us making those decisions.

 

 

Ok, here goes. What exactly did he do to help this team win? What fantastic role did he play? Did he have a stolen base that led to a victory, a diving catch to save a game, a big hit or two? I'll be honest, I didn't follow that team, so I have no idea. I mean seriously, what was his job that he did so well? Did he get on base at an amazing rate? No, he got on base for about average. Did he slug doubles, triples and home runs? No, not at all. Did he steal bases well? No, in fact he probably took runs away from the Sox that year by trying to swipe bases and getting caught 23 times.

 

I agree that baseball can go past stats, I really do. But in this case, simply saying that stats tell nothing about this guy and he played a huge role that stats can't see is flat out wrong. Seriously, can you tell me what this role was that Posednik had that was so incredibly important? I'd really like to know.

[jason21nl]

I'm done with this debate. Pods gave them a lead off guy that they were missing. They had their sluggers in the past, but never had a lead off guy. He gave them sparks, and had key stolen bases. He gave them speed that, that team was missing. Like I said, his role isn't to hit HRs. So he didn't hit a hr all year, big deal, they had other guys to do that. besides most of you guys were pissed when he hit HRs as a brewer in 2004 because that meant he was swinging for the fences and not playing to his strengths. They did win with pitching and slugging but if you didn't follow this team as close as I did, you wouldn't understand, so I'm done with this conversation.

[strawbossisevil]

Pods was not a good player outside of his first year as a Brewer. He just wasn't. The White Sox luckily had amazing pitching that carried them to the series, it had very little to do with Pods being their LF, in fact, I imagine they would have done far better with Lee in LF in his place.

[brettac1]

Pods, the great leadoff hitter, scored 80 runs that year.

 

Brady Clark, the chump he was replaced with, scored 94 and was pretty much better in all facets of the game aside from SB's.

 

I also followed that team really closely. In fact, I don't think I have ever hated a team in all my time as a baseball fan as much as I hated that one, and the hate was all predicated on the myth of "Smart Ball".

[Ennder]

and what i find is funny is that you all will bring up stats to prove your point when he wasn't brought in there to hit home runs. thats not his role as a player. unless you watched that team day in and day out, you have NO idea what role he played except to look at stats. The stats do lie, and if you people want to continue to dismiss podsedniks role on the team go ahead

 

The stats don't lie though, it is much more believable that fan perception lied after being fed the we are going to play smallball line all preseason. If he had 110 R or something then yeah I could agree with you that his rate stats didn't tell the full story, but he had a decent OBP, well below average SLG, CS that offset most of his SB and scored fewer R/G than most leadoff hitters. Any way you slice it that is not a big part of winning. The team won with pitching.

[Fike85]

It's not the stats that lie but the people interpreting them. For instance, I may argue that Pods was bad in '05 because of his slugging percentage while someone else would argue that he was brought in to be a spark plug and thus slugging percentage is not a good way to evaluate Pods as a player. The latter party may go on to argue that SLG% lies about Pods' production, but how can a stat lie if there is nobody there to interpret it?

[recte44]

We don't need Podsednik. We've got Gwynn, that'll do just fine. Pods would be a nice fit in Colorado.