I'll just spend an entire segment of the show attacking guys who happen to recognize that he was bad last year and this spring training.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

and then use the approach of Josh Donaldson as refutation. While, in that same taped Donaldson segment Mark De Rosa said that he had never seen a player use or a coach teach Donaldson's approach in his 16 years of playing professional baseball.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I feel like I heard someone say that they were taking tips about hitting from their agent.

I don't even buy Heywards speech being significant in any way, I'm sure a few people spoke and since Heyward is pretty much the only guy that sucked, the players exaggerated his importance.

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Kinda like the Dancin' Catcher?

Yes. Donaldson said he took info from his agent but I think the guy played in MLB.

The truth about baseball technique is that, in most instances, there is more than one way to skin a cat.

However, the ignorance of Dan and Jason is in both not understanding the guys who were analyzing Heyward nor the Cubs hitting coach (a well traveled guy of no particular renown).

Then, of course, you get the over inflation of how hard the science is behind defensive metrics. 2+2=4 is a repeatable outcome for every single person who calculates the equation. Defensive metrics use subjective factors and therefore may not be repeatable irrespective of the observer. That doesn't mean they are invalid but don't pretend they would stand the test of the scientific method.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Has anyone asked Hayward if he has practiced bunting for a hit? He can add some points to his BA with about 12-16 bunt hits a year.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Agree 100%

Was it the greatest speech in the history of team sports, given the magnitude of the situation? I'm not saying it is, but it has to be up there.

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The Cubs will probably dump Matt Szczur because of that guy. Now there was a guy who was inspirational AND could hit a little.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Heyward's play has sucked no doubt. The on field interviews after game 7 players were bringing up Heyward's team meeting,...I don't think they were trying to cover up for his bad performance. Watching last nights Reign Men (or whatever it was called) only called greater attention to that meeting. I don't put a ton of stock in it....but it did happen.

All that said...you know what still pisses me off? Go back and look at Heyward's at bat in the top of the 10th in game 7. It was pathetic. There was one out and the Cubs had a great chance to add more runs (ducks on the pond). They were already up by 2 at that point....but damn if they didn't give up a run in the bottom of the inning and of course let the Indians bring the winning run to the plate. Heyward struck out and looked extremely bad. I don't think the comments the players made after the game were meant to cover that or soothe his feelings.

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Proud to be UNVERIFIED.

Heyward - the Steve Blass of hitting.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Genius Joe probably told him to get out fast so they could get to the inning's bottom half and lock it down.

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Still, pretty impressive that a guy who was struggling so much with the bat could have so much impact on a World Series title.

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let's not let this devolve into a Heyward thread. This thread is about D and J spending a segment not defending Heyward from those people whom might question him.

I don't think the particularly care about Heyward. They care about where Heyward criticism will lead. This really was just another segment of water carrying.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Excellent post....I remember that collapse. It was shocking.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Heyward will be under a microscope this year. If he sucks, and he might, and you have guys like Happ, Almora, and others looking for more playing time....It could become a "thing".

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Proud to be UNVERIFIED.

Heyward is irrelevant to my point

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Does that mean towards "racism", criticism of Theo, or both?

What , to criticize Theo for the signing? It wasn't a good signing even without last years shitfest from him. Everyone knew they overpaid . That's not exactly breaking news .

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

I would love for Heyward to put up Szczur's numbers.

criticism of Cub management in general.

Always protect the queen.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.