Miggy T - WHY DO WE HATE HIM?

by tobias on May 28, 2011 12:27 PM PDT

When a player underperforms, there are different factors—I call them “Hate Factors”—that will increase fans’ displeasure towards that player. Add up each of those factors, and you have an overall Hate Metric that I think can shed light on why certain players are reviled.*

1) Suck Factor (scale of 0-10): Does the player suck? How badly and how regularly is he sucking?

2) Expectation of Suck (Upside Factor) (Scale of 0-10): To what degree did you expect this player to suck? The higher the player's upside, the greater your disappointment each time he fails. Thus the higher his UF.

3) Salary Factor (scale of 0-10): How much money is this player making? How many years are left on his contract?

4) Poor Effort Factor (scale of 0-10): Is the player giving his best effort? Or does he not give a flying flip? Is he in shape?

5) On-field Act Factor (scale of 0-10): How does the player carry himself on the field? How does he act when he does something right? How does he act when he fails? Does he maintain his dignity? Does he demonstrate an understanding that everything isn’t all about him?

6) Off-field Act Factor (scale of 0-10): What does he say to the press? Is he self-pitying? Does he blame everyone else for his failures? Does he seem to be aware that his performance is subpar? If so, does he take responsibility for that or is it not his fault?

7) General Perceived Harm Factor (scale of 0-10): How many losses can you attribute to this player’s suckiness? Remember that time when he made that error? Remember that time when he struck out with the bases loaded when all he needed to do was get a ball out of the infield or hit a slow roller? Remember that time he blew that save? He’s KILLING US, AM I RIGHT??

8) Specific Perceived Harm Factor (scale of 0-20): Did he fail miserably in a critical moment that will haunt your dreams as long as you live? Did he give up a crushing, World Series-changing home run to Scott Spiezio? Did he give up a season-blowing grand slam to Steve Finley? Did he have a less-than-stellar start in the final game of the 1993 season (even though it wasn't his fault that he was mistakenly made the starter for this game instead of Scott Sanderson)? Did he turn a Tony Pena lineout into a triple that ultimately cost the Giants the 1987 NLCS?

9) Heroic Deeds Factor (scale of minus 90-10) Has he performed heroic deeds in the past which help mitigate his failures now? Did he hit a clutch game-winning home run that one time? Did he knock Russell Martin on his keister? Did he WIN THE WORLD SERIES? The greater the heroic deeds, the lower the HDF.

Add up all the numbers and we’re left with a metric scale of 100 by which we can accurately measure our hatred for different players who are failing the Giants and FAILING US.

******************** SF *** UF ** $$ * EF * On AF * Off AF * GPHF * SPHF * HDF **** TOTAL

Miguel Tejada ~~~ 10 >> 7 >>> 3 >> 5 >>>> 9 >>> 2 >>>>> 8 >>>> 1 >>> 9 >>>>> 54

Aaron Rowand~~~ 8 >>> 5 >>> 9 >> 1 >>>> 3 >>> 2 >>>>> 3 >>>> 0 >>> 2 >>>>> 33

Barry Zito ~~~~~~~ 6 >>> 7 >> 10 >> 1 >>> 4 >>> 1 >>>>> 2 >>>> 1 >>>> 3 >>>>> 35
Jose Guillen ~~~~ 10 >>> 7 >>> 1 >> 8 >>> 7 >>> 7 >>>>> 7 >>>> 0 >>> 10 >>>>> 57
Bengie Molin a ~~~~ 3 >>> 3 >>> 4 >> 8 >>> 1 >>> 9 >>>>> 1 >>>> 0 >>> 4 >>>>> 33
Tyler Walker ~~~~~ 8 >>> 1 >>> 0 >> 5 >>> 1 >>> 0 >>>>> 4 >>>> 1 >>> 6 >>>>> 26
Edgardo Alfonzo ~~ 6 >>> 8 >>> 8 >> 8 >>> 6 >>> 5 >>>>> 6 >>>> 0 >>> 6 >>>>> 53
A.J. Pierzynski ~~~~ 8 >>> 9 >>> 6 >> 8 >> 20 >> 10 >>>> 8 >>>> 0 >>> 10 >>>> 79
Armando Benitez ~ 10 >>> 9 >>> 8 >> 8 >> 10 >> 10 >>>> 9 >>>> 1 >>> 10 >>>> 75
Salomon Torres ~~ 6 >>>> 5 >> 0 >>> 3 >> 3 >>> 2 >>>>> 2 >>>> 10 >> 6 >>>>> 37
Candy Maldonado~ 2 >>>> 4 >>> 2 >> 3 >> 2 >>> 1 >>>>> 1 >>>> 15 >> 5 >>>>> 40

Next, I’ll be translating these Hate Factor metrics into WAR. Then we’ll really be on to something.

...

* Disclaimer: I don't really hate anybody. Not even A.J.

This FanPost is reader-generated, and it does not necessarily reflect the views of McCovey Chronicles. If the author uses filler to achieve the minimum word requirement, a moderator may edit the FanPost for his or her own amusement.

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I hated Benitez more than I’ll ever hate another Giants player.

Mark DeRosa, still existing.

by oldjacket on May 28, 2011 6:21 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

Don't know about that.

Of the top of my head, Kevin Mitchell. Granted, it’s all for off the field stuff (most of which, as far as I know, wasn’t pursued by the courts).

VAE PVTO DEVS FIO

by Bhaakon on May 28, 2011 7:20 PM PDT up reply actions

Why the fuck do you hate Kevin Mitchell?

Don’t say cutting off Doc Gooden’s cat’s head!

My mind ain't nuthin' but a total blank, I think I'll just stay here and draaank - Merle Haggard

by NuschlerFace on May 28, 2011 11:23 PM PDT up reply actions

Straight from wikipedia

After being released for the last time, he was arrested in 1999 for assaulting his father during an argument.6 Back in the minor leagues as manager of the Sonoma County Crushers in 2000, he was suspended for nine games after punching the opposing team’s owner in the mouth during a brawl.7

In 2010, Mitchell was arrested for alleged misdemeanor battery at the Bonita Golf Club in Bonita, California.8

The only reason the cat story has legs is because Mitchell’s somewhere between Milton Bradly and Ron Artest on the sports crazy scale.

VAE PVTO DEVS FIO

by Bhaakon on May 28, 2011 11:58 PM PDT up reply actions

He gets a pass on all of those from me because you don’t know the circumstances of any of them. The ghost of Marvin Gaye sadly agrees with me about the father assault. I have no problem with Mitchell punching the other team’s owner either. What the hell is he doing on the field during a brawl? Did Bill Neukom run out on the field last year when the Giants and Phillies had that bench emptying thing in the playoffs last year? The only sports owner I know that would do something like that is Mark Cuban, and I would have no problem with a rival player clocking him for doing so. As for the golf club thing, doesn’t sound like a big deal.

Buster Posey: Let's enjoy him before he goes to the Yankees because he wants to win the World Series. Wait, what???

by rxmeister on May 29, 2011 6:54 AM PDT up reply actions

I was at the Crushers game when Mitchell went ape shit and even as a preteen, I couldn’t stop laughing. I was also at another game where Mitchell was playing…he handed me his bat after his AB and then was kind enough to sign it for me after the game. I like him :)

by pdxdublove on May 31, 2011 10:09 PM PDT up reply actions

Excellent!

This is the first genuine attempt that I know of to actually QUANTIFY suckiness and I think that it comes pretty close to hitting the mark — though naturally, everyone will have their own opinions/qualifiers.

Let me try:

Aubrey Huff:

SF: 6
E of S (It’s not explained, but I assume that a high rating would apply to players that were NOT expected to suck and are therefore a greater disappointment): 8
$$: 6
EF: 2
On AF: 2
Off AF: 2
GPHF: 8
SPHF: 0

Total: 34

But here’s where your system has room for improvement: TGWTWS. And Aubrey Huff was a huge huge part of that. This has to be a huge mitigating issue that needs to be factored in in a way that would not apply to anyone else on that list. Well, it would be a very small mitigating factor for Molina, Rowand, and Zito and a miniscule one (if that) for Guillen.

Anyway, we might call that the TGWTWS factor and use it — when appropriate — to award credits instead of charging demerits. Huff gets a (10) then on the TGWTWS factor and his total suckiness falls from 34 to 24 — though perhaps the TGWTWS factor depreciates over time as 2010 fades into the rear view mirror.

Then too, there are occasions — especially for younger or less experienced players — when it might be appropriate to consider an Upside factor.

Brandon Belt would certainly have registered on the suck meter the last time that he was up with the Giants, but really, a lot was asked of him; he didn’t look bad while he was sucking (it was only the results that were sucky) and he is perceived as having tremendous upside and being not that far removed from a time when he WON’T suck at all. He’s the perfect example of a player with sucky numbers who would benefit greatly from an Upside Factor.

As an aside, early season Bumgarner would also have registered on the suck meter. Now he doesn’t suck at all; he’s just unlucky. But early season Bumgarner would have benefited greatly from BOTH the Upside Factor AND the TGWTWS Factor.

Brandon Crawford caught lightning in a bottle last night, but he’s in over his head. It’s fairly safe to predict that he will soon register on the suck meter. He will gain no benefit, of course, from the TGWTWS factor. Deciding on his Upside Factor — and indeed whether he actually HAS one — is going to be the tricky part in rating him.

by Grizzlie Antagonist on May 28, 2011 7:59 PM PDT reply actions

I think you make a good point about Huff, and I think that’s the reason everyone hates Tejada. He wasn’t a part of the world championship team, in fact he was part of the team that fought the Giants until the end, and as a result he gets no pass. Juan Uribe has been terrible for the Dodgers, but if he was still here doing that for the Giants, we’d all talk about all the big hits he had last year, and how the Giants wouldn’t have won it without him.
In fact, we should be booing Sabean for signing him, and Bochy for continuing to play him. I thought Tejada had some tough luck earlier this season, and some hard hit balls were getting caught, but lately his bat has shown no life.

Buster Posey: Let's enjoy him before he goes to the Yankees because he wants to win the World Series. Wait, what???

by rxmeister on May 29, 2011 7:00 AM PDT up reply actions

Yes, with Tejada, it’s getting beyond the point of “He’s a veteran; let’s let him play his way out of his difficulties.” His suckiness may well be a result of a real and incurable incompetence.

Watching Huff in his first at-bat today made me wonder if this system could be tweaked further. Another little ground ball to second base.

There’s a BORINGNESS about Huff’s suckiness — there’s no variety to it. He’s not using all sides and dimensions of the field to make outs. It’s ALMOST always a matter of weak taps to the right side of the infield. Should there be a “boringness” factor?

Or better still, should there be a “fundamental” factor? Or a “stubbornness factor”? I’m not a batting coach, but I have a generalized understanding that repeatedly pulling weak infield taps is symptomatic of trying too hard to pull the ball when one might — with a little more discipline — be able to hit line drives to the opposite field instead.

In other words, Huff’s problem might be relatively easy to correct and yet he hasn’t corrected it. Hence, a “fundamental” or “stubbornness” factor. He just popped out to shortstop, though, as I was typing this, somewhat undermining my argument.

by Grizzlie Antagonist on May 29, 2011 12:14 PM PDT up reply actions

Thanks

Your assumption is correct about “E of S”. I didn’t explain that very well. Actually, I think it’s essentially the same thing as what you call the “Upside Factor”. In fact I’m going to change “E of S” to “UF”. To me, it’s almost the same thing—OK, it’s different in that one can say Brandon Belt has a 9 UF, but his E of S is only 3 because I’m not expecting him to do all that well right now. But when Belt is batting with bases loaded and takes a called third strike, UF is going to accurately quantify my rage way more than E of S is. Also, it’s just a lot easier to recognize and quantify UF. In other words, trying to quantify “How much did you expect Tejada to suck?” is a little bit abstract. But “What is Tejada’s upside?” Simple—DUDE WON AN MVP; 10.

I can see your point about TGWTWS. I would make that a broader factor to encompass not only something like winning a World Series, but other heroic deeds performed in the past. I would call it a “Goodwill Factor”. No heroic deeds = 10. TGWTWS deeds = 0. So for Huff, the GF would of course be 0. But what about someone like Eugenio Velez? He was part of the World Series team, but he didn’t contribute all that much. I was about to give him a 7, but then I remembered this:
..

..
That drops him to a 2.

Thank you Edgar Renteria, for hitting the ball three feet higher.

by tobias on May 29, 2011 8:30 AM PDT up reply actions

The thing about this play

is that if you change the rules, it will still be ok. Velez is just sliding into the base, and Martin is just trying to catch the ball.

Get well soon, Buster.

by Tortured on May 29, 2011 10:09 AM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, but before the season started, NOBODY expected Tejada to win another MVP now or in the future. Nobody expected him to even be a Giant after 2011.

It’s understood that Tejada’s MVP is from the past when he was younger and juiced. There’s no upside to Tejada — only expectations for 2011 that he isn’t meeting. It’s understood that Tejada’s value to the Giants is based ENTIRELY on what he is or is not doing in the 2011 season.

Brandon Belt, on the other hand, is regarded as someone who might win an MVP or several of them for the Giants some day — just not in 2011. That’s the difference IMHO between ES and UF.

by Grizzlie Antagonist on May 29, 2011 12:02 PM PDT up reply actions

please have a rec on me, thanks,

aj and armando 1 and 2, no doubt

Trade Sabean/jk...Overthrow the Ydorks...
I am not a "real" fan without season tickets-The Lacob Rules

by Regulus on May 28, 2011 11:13 PM PDT reply actions

I didn’t see the replay, but I heard the other day that AJ missed a foul popup with almost caused the ball to hit George Bush. If it had actually hit Bush, I would have been forced to re-evaluate my feelings on him.

Buster Posey: Let's enjoy him before he goes to the Yankees because he wants to win the World Series. Wait, what???

by rxmeister on May 29, 2011 7:02 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

There also probably has to have a “Replacement Factor” where the guy is compared to the guy that was previously in his position. This way, a guy who is pretty good would seem to suck if he replaced a guy who was awesome.

by Wolvkil23 on May 29, 2011 1:47 AM PDT reply actions

The Replacement Factor can work in the other direction as well. Take Aubrey Huff, as an example. If you think Aubrey is blocking Belt (again, IF), then his suck becomes more egregious as he is sucking AND blocking a top prospect. That said, I cannot hate Aubrey because TGWTWS.

In the end, America will be remembered for three things: the Bill of Rights, jazz, and baseball.
Proud parent of Javier Lopez: southpaw, poltergeist, haunter of dreams.

by cornball on May 29, 2011 6:58 AM PDT up reply actions

This is true...

If Aubrey scores 34 points on all the other factors, I will then give him a TGWTWS factor of -34.

Thank you Edgar Renteria, for hitting the ball three feet higher.

by tobias on May 29, 2011 9:14 AM PDT up reply actions

That’s a large invisible factor for Jose Guillen’s suck

go rowand

by lincypoo i wuv u on May 31, 2011 12:12 PM PDT up reply actions

The key point to this chart is that

Miggy is BY FAR the most hated player currently on the roster.

Even Huff, who most of us would agree has 20-25 pts in the first three columns this year, isn’t even close to Tejaja for complete suckitude. Some of it is because of Miggy’s complete lack of self-awareness with his spotlight/claw after seeing-eye dribblers, his astonishment that his flyball isn’t clearing the bleachers and ends up in the shortstop’s glove, and his general I-can’t-believe-I’m-not-an-allstar-since-I-quit-the-steroids attitude.

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means" - Inigo Montoya

by ToddCommish on May 29, 2011 1:18 PM PDT reply actions

This

I despise how he stands in the batters box for no less than three seconds after striking out, almost as if he wont accept it. I saw him in the box for 10 seconds after ending an inning during the Marlins series. Seriously, some hate going his direction.

by D-T on May 31, 2011 6:59 AM PDT up reply actions