Another reason why I want to strangle Bill Simmons
No, I don't want to see that on the front page of ESPN.com.
over 2 years ago
shikantaza
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I thought it was funny
His golden age of baseball purity was right smack dab in the middle of the A’s winning the World Series. Um…what?
STEVE HOLM! refuses to be the odd man out.
totally… except that Bonds is still the really bad guy in the history of baseball! Bill Simmons sez so!
Psycho killer, qu'est-ce que c'est?
BARRY BONDS IS EVIL AND THE CAUSE OF ALL EVIL IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!! *
*Bill Simmons say so and is truth (to him)
by SoFa King Mike on Jun 18, 2009 2:57 PM PDT up reply actions
to be fair...
he’s been one of the few sportswriters to stay away from talking incessantly about steroids. I remember a few comments here and there about Bonds, but nothing damning or implying he’s Evil Incarnate, like most writers. For that, I do give him credit.
That being said, his homer-ness is incredibly disgusting when he talks basketball. As much as he criticized Kobe and the Lakers, you just know that he would think he’s the coolest chap if he was a Celtic.
STEVE HOLM! refuses to be the odd man out.
by UnleashTheGore on Jun 18, 2009 3:32 PM PDT up reply actions
well, he’s a fan that writes, not a journalist.
Randy Winn is going to catch that. And he'll do it real classy-like too.
Thank you.
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on Jun 18, 2009 11:23 PM PDT up reply actions
Seriously, Simmons is probably the highest profile sports personality to bring up the double standard with regards to the history of baseball and how everybody ignores all the things that were screwed up in the “golden age” when saying the modern times is tainted.
Bruce Bochy would like you to look at the career numbers and stop complaining.
even if true, he just wrote that Gibson’s homerun is the pinnacle of baseball history (or something close to that). Evil!
Psycho killer, qu'est-ce que c'est?
Shhh, he’s on a soap box.
Bruce Bochy would like you to look at the career numbers and stop complaining.
“A one-legged Kirk Gibson defines what could be baseball’s purest era.”
I find Simmons annoying. Dodger love just makes it worse. Irrational? Yes.
Psycho killer, qu'est-ce que c'est?
Simmons doesn’t write the picture captions. He isn’t loving the Dodgers, just admiring that their shit team in 88 beat the juggernaut that was the A’s.
It certainly was an unpredictable group of seasons. In a good way. The 1988 Dodgers were the worst on-paper champs of my lifetime: Basically, they won with Orel Hershiser, a one-legged Kirk Gibson and a couple of decent pitchers named Tim. It remains amazing. The scrappy 1990 Reds shocked Canseco and the heavily favored A’s. The 1991 World Series ranks among the best ever, Kirby Puckett and Jack Morris willing the Twins to a crown.
And the ‘92 playoffs feature one of my favorite rewatchable baseball moments: Atlanta’s Francisco Cabrera slapping a do-or-die single into left field in the climactic NLCS game, Sid Bream chugging around third like an 18-wheeler, Pirate Barry Bonds whipping a slightly off-the-mark throw home, pudgy Mike LaValliere blocking the plate and almost making the tag and CBS’ Sean McDonough yelping, “Saaaaaafe!” It’s fantastic. It’s the best. I would argue it’s the last great, completely untainted I-can’t-come-up-with-a-single-way-to-denigrate-this baseball moment. That it includes a spindly, normal-headed Bonds almost seems fitting.
I don’t really disagree with anything he said there. And I still vividly remember watching that game as a kid, back when the Braves actually sold out games and their fans did that annoying tomahawk chop with the chant. I would argue that he should have included the 93 season though, even if the Phillies were roided up. That season had the last true division race, and culminated with Joe Carter’s awesome walk-off HR to win the World Series. Then we had the strike, and the other shit happen after that.
The premise is good, but the main problem is he fails to define what “pure” really is. Is it not on PEDs, not on other drugs, not racist, “playing the game the right way”?
I don’t know what he thinks pure is, and it is especially troublesome in the areas where he says things along the lines of “everything was good, but the managers were bad, so it wasn’t pure”
I think by pure it means the moments where he can look back and not have a tainted view on what happened. He can look back on those World Series he listed and not feel the least bit bad about enjoying them.
Bruce Bochy would like you to look at the career numbers and stop complaining.
Understandable, but then how does it explain a section like this…
1969-1976: The sport began to assume its current form — all kinds of ethnicities and offensive players (speed guys, power guys, you name it); the dawn of semimodern closers, like Rollie Fingers; teams, like the Big Red Machine, that valued OBP as much as power and speed; even a first taste of overpaid stars mailing in seasons with Bobby Bonds and Richie (a.k.a. Dick) Allen…But I have issues with this time, too. Managers foolishly affected games with too much hit-and-run and too many reckless steals. Leadoff hitters were chosen for speed, not an ability to get on base. There was still no real bullpen specialization, and the power numbers weren’t quite there either. Starters threw too many innings (poor Catfish Hunter’s arm). Closers were routinely burned out by pitching 125 to 150 innings. Too many artificial turf stadiums rewarded double/triple guys and slap hitters and wore down everyday players. This is not a polished enough era for my taste — although the Afros and sideburns were sublime.
To me, he’s saying, “OK, this is pure, but I didn’t like it, so I’m dismissing it,” which is just Journalism FAIL 101. Anyways, I guess we’re just getting too worked up over a not-very-good writer who has time and time proven himself to not be the sharpest tool in the shed
He’s not a journalist, first of all. Second of all, he’s been consistent in saying he can’t enjoy games if they’re not being played as well as they could, which is why he doesn’t like college sports. When you’re a columnist, saying “I didn’t like it so it doesn’t count” is perfectly legitimate.
Bruce Bochy would like you to look at the career numbers and stop complaining.
Bill Simmons must have bought you an ice cream cone and given you a backrub yesterday. Such calm, logical, and numbered explanations! I suddenly feel okay with his article causing my brain to be bombarded with images of Kirk Gibson with arms raise in triumph.
Psycho killer, qu'est-ce que c'est?
Sure, in a vacuum, it is perfectly legitimate to throw it out, but when you’re trying to build an argument, and answering a question such as “What was the purest baseball era, from a statistical perspective?” and doing it by “dismissing the following eras for being either impure, antiquated or uniquely ludicrous,” it makes for an awful argument.
I think his main point with that was that managers shouldn’t be the ones controlling the games. When something outside of the players’ performances on the field is the controlling force of the game, it takes the purity out of the competition.
Bruce Bochy would like you to look at the career numbers and stop complaining.
Uhhh Bill....
There was a lot of crazy painkiller use/borderline abuse in that era. And speed (that’s what greenies are, right?).
Aaron King is still my homeboy... iffy mechanics and all
If Dustin Pedroia played in Seattle, not many people would be talking about him.
GET THAT VORP SH!T OUTTA HERE!!!
I always think that variations on the word taint make very strange adjectives.
It’s been a long time since I’ve listened to Tainted Love the way I used to….
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on Jun 18, 2009 11:24 PM PDT up reply actions
FWIW, from Twitter:
“Mag column on baseball’s most statistically pure era: ”http://tinyurl.com/lsd9kf" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/lsd9kf Good idea, piss-poor execution. I need a writing vacation."
Bruce Bochy would like you to look at the career numbers and stop complaining.
The Red Sox didn’t start their first black guy until 1959 — and his name was Pumpsie. Still not buying it
Ummm…OK
Minor White > Ansel Adams
I am pretty sure he wasn’t Al Jolson
Minor White > Ansel Adams
by say hey nation on Jun 19, 2009 6:21 AM PDT up reply actions
Meh
The 1987 Twins and 2006 Cardinals were both worse teams – “on paper” – than the 1988 Dodgers. And I’m pretty sure they played in Simmons’ lifetime.
Proud member of the Adopt-a-Giant program (Aaron Rowand)
Bill Simmons is one of the few things I like about ESPN. I think alot of you are missing the point, because he’s insulting Barry, Bobby and Darrell Evans, and saying nice things about the Dodgers. You’re picking apart his facts when he’s not trying to be accurate, he’s trying to be funny. The guy writes a column that’s supposed to be funny, and that is how you should judge him. Funny or not funny. That is the only question.
Proud new dad of Edgardo errr Edgar Renteria!!!
i don't think everything he writes is intended to be funny
This piece seems to want to have a sense of humor to it, but it’s more of “I like this era because_____”, and his reasons are faulty, which is just the bone I have to pick with it. For the most part, I agree…his articles and fantasy sports are the only reasons I visit that website.
STEVE HOLM! refuses to be the odd man out.
by UnleashTheGore on Jun 19, 2009 3:40 PM PDT up reply actions
I’m a huge Bill Simmons fan, and I like this article. I get the feeling nobody here likes him because of their irrational hatred of all things ESPN
Brandon Crawford: Your SF Giants 2011 Opening Day starting SS!
ITS NOT IRATIONAL!!!
Duane Kuiper: Hall Of Fame broadcaster.
by Johnny Disaster on Jun 20, 2009 11:35 AM PDT up reply actions
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