Screw Phillips

I sure miss Fire Joe Morgan, but this will do nicely in a pinch.

My point is not to knock those guys. They’re great players. They do some things better than Beltran. And there are other things they don’t do as well. If you want to have a fair fight and compare what they do, how they play the game, fine. But saying stuff like this drives me mad:

“I think at times, while he puts up some numbers, his game is inconsistent. There are times where, in pressure situations, he hasn’t gotten the job done.”

See? Here we go. Even though Beltran puts up “some numbers” his game is “inconsistent.”

Some numbers = tangible.

Inconsistent = intangible.

Carlos Beltran is actually quite consistent. He’s a great centerfielder year after year. That takes consistency. He is the best percentage base stealer in baseball history. That takes consistency. He has, as mentioned, scored 100 runs, driven in 100 RBIs eight times. That takes consistency. He has only once in the last seven years hit fewer than 25 homers, driven in fewer than 100 runs, put up an OPS+ of less than 126. If anything, Beltran is TOO consistent, and that consistency has left knuckleheads demanding that he be greater than great … you know, by improving his intangibles.*

*Or is it increasing his intangibles? Monetizing his intangibles? Tangiblizing his intangibles?

One more Phillips gem:

While he has that great talent, there are times when he doesn’t play the game and make plays.

Yep, those players who don’t play the game or make plays, those are the worst kinds of players in the world. You want a player who plays the game, makes plays, a player who makes game plays, the plays gamers play to make, a player who makes plays for plays that playmakers make.

I caught some of the hilarity in the booth Sunday night. I'm pretty sure Steve Phillips is there to make Joe Morgan look prepared.