Comments on: 2009 O’s Retrospective: Ty Wigginton http://camdencrazies.com/2009/11/14/2009-os-retrospective-ty-wigginton/ The happenings of the Baltimore Orioles. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:53:25 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Andrew @ TLC http://camdencrazies.com/2009/11/14/2009-os-retrospective-ty-wigginton/#comment-153 Andrew @ TLC Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:37:00 +0000 http://camdencrazies.com/?p=747#comment-153 A couple of things: 1) I was expecting "The Fightin' Fat Male Stalker", so cool on you for delivering a solid factoid. 2) Ty will forever be etched into my brain as the reason Spring Training doesn't matter. I got the chance to see him in Ft. Lauderdale against the Dominicans, and he was CRUSHING the ball...and then as soon as opening day came around he just stopped doing anything at all. 3) A couple of months ago I heard KLaw on the radio talking about Mark Reynolds and the strikeout record, and he mentioned how "some teams" actively worked to cut down on their strikeouts (I presume that the idea was, in an ideal world, putting the ball in play or homering 100% of the time would give a hitter at least a batting average of .300+ just based on BABiP) and it didn't work out for anyone. I wonder if the Orioles were one of these teams - and if they go back to looking for a pitch to drive instead of trying not to strikeout? 4) There is definitely something to think/worry about this offseason when it comes to hitting lefties in the AL East. There's just too many really, really good lefties starters around, and it's reflected in how guys like Wiggy suddenly stopped hitting left-handers. On the other hand, Luke Scott and his platoonic reputation went out and did pretty darn good against lefties this year, so maybe I'm full of crap. But I suspect that in order to win in the AL East, you need to hit the left-handers one way or the other (and the Orioles didn't in 2009). A couple of things:

1) I was expecting “The Fightin’ Fat Male Stalker”, so cool on you for delivering a solid factoid.

2) Ty will forever be etched into my brain as the reason Spring Training doesn’t matter. I got the chance to see him in Ft. Lauderdale against the Dominicans, and he was CRUSHING the ball…and then as soon as opening day came around he just stopped doing anything at all.

3) A couple of months ago I heard KLaw on the radio talking about Mark Reynolds and the strikeout record, and he mentioned how “some teams” actively worked to cut down on their strikeouts (I presume that the idea was, in an ideal world, putting the ball in play or homering 100% of the time would give a hitter at least a batting average of .300+ just based on BABiP) and it didn’t work out for anyone. I wonder if the Orioles were one of these teams – and if they go back to looking for a pitch to drive instead of trying not to strikeout?

4) There is definitely something to think/worry about this offseason when it comes to hitting lefties in the AL East. There’s just too many really, really good lefties starters around, and it’s reflected in how guys like Wiggy suddenly stopped hitting left-handers. On the other hand, Luke Scott and his platoonic reputation went out and did pretty darn good against lefties this year, so maybe I’m full of crap. But I suspect that in order to win in the AL East, you need to hit the left-handers one way or the other (and the Orioles didn’t in 2009).

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