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The
Five Tools
How
good is Manny Ramirez (Bos)? In a game against Detroit on June 5,
the Tigers intentionally walked Manny an American League record-tying
four times after he homered and singled in his first two trips to the
plate. And the four intentional walks came from three different
pitchers. Fellas, what are you scared of? Or are
you? Maybe you |

Manny
Ramirez |
SHOULD
put Manny on, you have a better chance of getting him out that way.
Five
Tools
Base
Running
Throwing
Fielding
Hitting
for Average
Hitting
for Power
In
the usual Manny fashion, there's always a paradox. Don't get me
wrong. Manny is a great hitter for both average and power.
But I can't buy the argument that he dominates the game.
He's
below average as a fielder. He's a terrible base runner,
having a putrid stolen base success ratio of 53% (28/52). When he
played for Cleveland, the first base coaches used to glue him to the
bag - not that it always helped since he was caught leaning or
daydreaming off of the base regularly.
Base
running is an important part of the game which is very often
overlooked since it doesn't win games. It WILL lose games,
though. Take a peek at Larry Walker (Col) or Barry Bonds (SF).
Walker has over 200 steals and reaches 76% (201/263) of the
time. Of course, both are lifetime National Leaguers - which
starts a whole other debate - but both are clearly five tool players.

Atlanta
Braves Third baseman Chipper Jones |
Or,
look at the stolen base success ratio of some other MVP-type players:
SS
Nomar Garciaparra (Bos) - 74% (58/78)
3B
Chipper Jones (Atl) - 78% (100/128)
1B
Mo Vaughn (Ana) - 63% (30/47)
Even
Big Mac, Mark McGwire` is at 60% (12/8). Maybe it's a case of
knowing you |
can't
run. The exceptions are 1B Jason Giambi (Oak) and Frank Thomas.
In any case, Manny is definitely lacking in the base running
department. Throwing is an area that Manny has greatly
improved. As a younger player, his throws to the cutoff man
were as accurate as a Rick Ankiel fastball.
In
60 games, Ramirez has only played the field FOUR TIMES. Manny,
you might SAY you want to win the AL MVP but playing the field is how
you win. When I brought up this notion, a friend mentioned
two-time MVP slugger Frank Thomas (CWS). Check the record.
Thomas still played the field in the years he won the MVP (1993: 1B
150 of 153 games; and 1994: 99/113). Frankly, Manny Ramirez does not
have the five tools (sorry for the pun).
The
moral of the story is that you have to play the ENTIRE game - not
pieces - to be truly great.
Update
No
sooner did I write about good guy SP John Smoltz's (Atl) comeback,
then he goes back onto the shelf due to inflammation in his right
elbow and shoulder. The move was made retroactive to June 10. Smoltz
started against the Yankees last Saturday and left after three
innings complaining of a sore back. He allowed four runs and
six hits in the abbreviated start. Smoltz made five solid
starts since returning from Tommy John surgery in his elbow. He
has inflammation in his right elbow and shoulder.
Are
you ready for some football?
Spring
training camps are just about here, football fans. Are you
ready for another season of fantasy football? Find out
everything you need to know. Check out this weeks "Fantasy
Football Tutorial".
Locker
Room is written by Michael Skordeles
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