Comments on: Cubs hire Rob Deer as assistant hitting coach

By: shynessismyelguapo

shynessismyelguapo — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:31:23 +0000

Hey, LA Angels fan…would you concider Dave Duncan a good pitching coach?
I mean, he’s so highly regarded that some major news outlets (NY Post, ESPN) have written that he should be in the Hall of Fame.

…and he pitched zero innings in his career. He was such an awful pitcher that he was a catcher!

Also consider Leo Mazzone, another well regarded pitching coach who never made it to the majors.

By: willclarkgameface

willclarkgameface — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:13:10 +0000

I love this. It’s as if the Cubs had a hard time hitting .220 on their own. Go Cubbies!

By: philliesblow

philliesblow — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:22:25 +0000

And those who can’t teach, administrate.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 01:34:11 +0000

No!!!!

By: coryfor3

coryfor3 — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 01:12:31 +0000

Yeah- as a Cubs fan I want Rob Deer’s philosophy on hitting used. Knock it out of the park or go sit down. I guess Adam Dunn isn’t available yet.

By: cur68

cur68 — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 00:58:06 +0000

Teach kindergarten do you? Well, you must feel right at home around here some days then.

By: cowboysoldiertx

cowboysoldiertx — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:47:10 +0000

I have coached youth sports for 5 years, and across basketball, soccer and football teams have only ever lost twice! In baseball over 3 years my teams won 12 games combined. I was always way better growing up at baseball than the other sports. But I can teach the other sports better than I played. Get what i am saying?

By: losangelesfan

losangelesfan — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:27:51 +0000

Trachsel stunk. The ’99 Cubs gave up the most runs in team history for a single season. He went 8-18 with an ERA over 5.5 But, I guess if you think Deer is the best choice for hitting coach, why not make Trachsel pitching coach? They’re both awful.

By: uwsptke

uwsptke — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:25:01 +0000

Hopefully they sign Russell Branyan as a pet project for Deer. That would be all sorts of awesome. Both are true disciples of the Three True Outcomes (3TO) – Walk, Strikeout or Homerun.

By: sparty0n

sparty0n — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:52:05 +0000

I don’t think that comment is derived from elementary teachers. I think it is directed more at the college level….. which now that I think about it, is pretty accurate.

By: genericcommenter

genericcommenter — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:29:41 +0000

You are commenting on a site on which commenters regularly call someone with a .288 OBP a “guy who gets on base” and guys who hit hit 20-30 HRs with OBPs in the .360s and up “guys who only hit home runs and strike out all the time.”

That said, good luck getting through to them.

By: shynessismyelguapo

shynessismyelguapo — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:00:20 +0000

Astute point. What would a guy who started 417 games at the big league level know about pitching?

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:49:31 +0000

I was just being a smart ass. I teach as well. (not kindergarten, thank god)

By: 18thstreet

18thstreet — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:45:18 +0000

The people who like to say this — do any of you know any teachers? I mean, any at all? My daughter’s in kindergarten right now, and I adore her teacher. My mom was a teacher. My aunt was a teacher.

I have no idea who came up with this slogan, but it’s a huge insult. It’s also not true.

By: losangelesfan

losangelesfan — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:09:58 +0000

Deer? Hitting instructor? Who’s next? Steve Trachsel as pitching coach?

By: contraryguy

contraryguy — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:50:32 +0000

Kingman never went into coaching that I can recall. Pete Incaviglia, maybe?

By: Gordon

Gordon — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:30:40 +0000

He’ll be the James Lipton of hitting.

By: shynessismyelguapo

shynessismyelguapo — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:13:55 +0000

Oh, and his OPS+ is ahead of….

….wait for it….

Michael Young.

So, next time your friend says he should be MVP, just remind him that he’s a worse hitter than Rob Deer.

By: shynessismyelguapo

shynessismyelguapo — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:09:37 +0000

Deer wasn’t actually a horrible player. He had power, could draw some walks…

His career OPS+ was higher than that of Miguel Tejada, Adam Jones, Carl Crawford, Jose Reyes…Granted, those guys have other things they bring to the table, but they are generally regarded as pretty good hitters throughout the course of their career.

He was no great shakes, but he was an above average hitter for much of his career and is not nearly as awful as the comments on here make him seem to be.

Oh, and his 109 OPS+ is much higher than that of Milt Thompson, who served as the hitting coach for the best offensive team in baseball.

By: pearsonw

pearsonw — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:06:47 +0000

The jokes also ignore the fact that batting average is a fairly terrible way to measure a hitter, especially a big slugger, that Rob Deer walked in nearly 13% of his career plate appearances, and had an OBP over 100 points higher than his career batting average and hit a lot of home runs, and that thanks to those walks and home runs, was an above-average hitter for his career (110 wRC+) despite all the Ks and low average. Seems odd to call a 12-year major league career in which a guy was an above-average hitter “underwhelming.”

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:06:20 +0000

OOPS: Deer

By: shynessismyelguapo

shynessismyelguapo — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:03:20 +0000

There is one key differece: Kingman couldn’t draw a walk to save his life.

Deer hit 16 points lower over the course of his career, yet posted an OBP 24 points higher.

Kingman posted an OBP below .300 a whopping 6 times, culminating in his bizarre final season, in which he hit 35 home runs and posted an OPS *below* .700.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:00:58 +0000

See previous story about the Nolan Ryan cookbook.

By: DJ MC

DJ MC — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:00:55 +0000

I agree with you completely, Aaron, about judging the quality of a coaching hire. Rob Deer was one of my favorite players as a kid when I was getting into the sport (he struck out a lot, just like me!).

I still have to say it, though: Rob Deer as a hitting coach? Seriously? Him? Isn’t that like hiring Anthony Young as your pitching coach or Ron Gant as your third-base coach?

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:59:53 +0000

Jinx!

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:58:30 +0000

Hey, those who can’t, teach — right?

By: bobulated

bobulated — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:58:24 +0000

“Swing as hard as you can, either hitting homer (rarely) or striking out (mostly)” coach was too long to put in the press release.

By: pinkfloydprism

pinkfloydprism — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:58:05 +0000

I never agreed with it, but I guess it fits here… those who can’t, teach.

By: temporarilyexiled

temporarilyexiled — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:55:07 +0000

Dave Kingman next?

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:53:11 +0000

Dear is also familiar with being in the headlights.