I just tried to make it through the official Angels' site's "Angels Inbox" feature where "fans" ask Lyle Spencer questions and he gives his opinion.
So I am cruising through the column and hit this speed bump, penned by Spencer, in reply to a missive concerning the Angels' catching situation:
A lot of fans are down on Mathis, judging by what I'm reading, but he has the ability to be a first-rate catcher and is a better hitter than he has shown. He was confidently finding his way when he fractured his wrist early in the season, a major setback for Mathis and his team.
How many inanities and untruths exist amidst those two sentences:
•A lot of fans - UNTRUTH - Every fan with the exception of the chicks who think they got a shot at his jock is down on Jeff Mathis.
•Judging by what I'm reading - INANITY - dude, do you watch the games, do you follow this frickin' team? Come on, it is one thing to be on the throne of neutral, unaffected judgment, but Jeff Mathis has been cheered exactly one time in his Angels career - a walk-off hit in the '09 ALCS.
•He has the ability to be a first-rate catcher - UNTRUTH - there are are no similar situations in the history of baseball where a player of Jeff's stunning mediocrity ever rose to the level of "first-rate" anything.
•A better hitter than he has shown - INANITY - it is humanly impossible to be a better anything than you have shown when the act of "showing" is the entirety of your professional performance. When a stripper takes it all off, it is impossible for her to be more naked. Once a ballplayer has a few seasons under his belt, he is about as good as he is going to get. When a baseball player's stats are examined after he has amassed 1,000+ Plate Appearances (Jeffo has 1,074) and his OPS+ is 53 and on a downward trend during his Age-27 season, you are either lying or stupid if you say that he is a "better hitter than he has shown"
•He was confidently finding his way - INANITY - he was lucky to be catching a stellar pitching staff to impress his manager into sacrificing offense at his position for adequacy behind the plate.
•A major setback for Mathis and his team - UNTRUTH - The Angels went 30-25 without Mathis catching after having gone 7-7 prior to fracturing his wrist. How did the Angels do in their next 55 games with Jeff on the roster? They went under .500 to 62-63.
So that makes three inanities and three untruths in two sentences. And it was just one small part to one answer to a fan's question, but there not a demonstrably arguable point anywhere in it. These fans deserve a cogent accuracy. The "team store upsell" sugarcoating (which really IS the forté of all the MLB team sites) does not have to come at the expense of, uh, reality...
0 recs | 41 comments
but i thought.................
MATHISROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
mathisrocks5 - November 1, 2010
What were you doing up at this hour? You had school in the morning.
Did you get a lot of candy last night?
I keed I keed.
sheisalovelyladyandmyapologiestoher - November 1, 2010
"But through all of this, Jeff Mathis remained premium."
44FAN - November 1, 2010
Mathis-"A better hitter than he has shown"?
Has Lyle ever seen a Mathis AB? And why are us fans down on Mathis, Lyle? Maybe because we’ve seen Mathis fail so many times and seen him not meet the lowliest of expectations. Get a clue dude.
halofolife - November 1, 2010
Is miss Bengie.....
Christoffer James V Ferreira - November 1, 2010
yah, to think we let him go because we had some great 'prospects'
when was the last time we missed the playoffs, hmmm, possible connection?
Wally's World - November 1, 2010
You shouldn't, we have Mike Napoli.
snowhor - November 1, 2010 via mobile
But Jeff was once bitten by a radioactive spider, which gave him his CERA super-powers
Quad Fin Rider - November 1, 2010
I believe the name of the spider was Weaver-Santana
A very rare spider that throws the ball well. While the other catcher caught scrubs and and deadly spider called Kazmir
Sinatrasratpack - November 1, 2010
Talk about a day late and a dollar short
A Weaver-Santana Spider would have been a great Halloween costume!
Commander_Nate - November 1, 2010
Ugh. Well, Spencer IS a premium writer.
Liked him before this, though.
Clutch - November 1, 2010
on a more important topic i got banned from LSB for...............
saying “TIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!” effin dicks lol
KB_24 - November 1, 2010
I dont like LSB but
you deserved to get banned, troll.
BryanHarvey'sMoustache - November 1, 2010
Jeff is a bum
DAD OF VLAD - November 1, 2010
I read this too
Although I could not believe Lyle’s comments regarding Mathis, I do think that he generally does a good job reporting on the team.
Brody - November 1, 2010
I like Lyle
But yeah, Mathis isn’t very good. Wilson is better. He’s our third-string catcher.
Kernel - November 1, 2010
"...if the Angels wanted to bring back a former star, Garret Anderson might be a better alternative" (than Edmonds)
This was another little eye-opener in Spencer’s article. He is kidding, right?
angelslogic - November 1, 2010
The Angels will bring Anderson back though...
To throw out the first pitch.
ryanfea - November 1, 2010
sorry
too lazy to attend
DAD OF VLAD - November 1, 2010
And, I think the photo attached to your post Rev is
a metaphor for Mathis’ chances of being an integral part of the Angels line-up this year. Am I “in the ballpark”?
angelslogic - November 1, 2010
We are far too nice
Mediocrity implied averageness. There is nothing average about Mathis. We would be better off allowing our DH to hit for him instead of the pitching staff.
SalmonStream - November 1, 2010
Lyle is just trying to put a positive spin on things...
Sure, it was a dumb comment but MLB.com is all about being positive and I agree with the other posters here, Lyle is usually pretty good, if not kinda saccharine.
BryanHarvey'sMoustache - November 1, 2010
Saccharine is one way to put it.
He brings no truth, candor or insight to the table. Ever. Folks like Lyle because he’s easygoing and positive, but the guy really isn’t trying very hard. He’s recycling three-year-old cliches. From the article:
Jeff Mathis is a “first rate” catcher who’s just caught five seasons worth of bad breaks.
Garret Anderson is decent offseason pickup because he is “younger (than Jim Edmonds) and might be rejuvenated by a return home”. (Nevermind that he is still “home” in Los Angeles, and turns 39 next season.)
Scott Kazmir just needs to “regain confidence” and “feel for his slider” to regain form. (Never mind the 5mph decline in his fastball).
Carl Crawford should be the club’s number one target first and foremost because he’s “clutch”. (Nevermind that he disappeared in the playoffs, and had an OPS 20pts lower than his averages in RISP situations 2007-2009. “Clutch” is a feelin’, man!)
The guy talks a neverending stream of superficial bullshit. Yeah, he’s a nice guy — but his insights are Whickeresque at best. Put someone in the gig that’s hungry, and won’t lie to his audience for the sake of an easy pander.
Turks Teeth - November 1, 2010
I have someone in mind for that job ; )
RexTookMyStash - November 1, 2010
Dad of Vlad?
~MMP~ - November 1, 2010
LOL
angelslogic - November 1, 2010
Beleive it or not, cluch is a statistic listed for every player on Fangraphs.
44FAN - November 1, 2010
its about time you post this Rev.
I read it the other day and was like seriously?? What the hell!
First he basically writes that this off season the Yankees are gonna get who ever they want while the Angels sit back and collect the scraps.
Second he writes how awesome Mathis is and is on his nuts and defending him for being bad offensively and defensively.
Third he says we should send Conger back to AAA for half a season. We’re not gonna yo-yo Conger like we did B.Wood and how much worse could he possibly be then Mathis?
I got really pissed off reading this article so I’m glad I got to vent :)
(!ts_a_C.A._thing) - November 1, 2010 via mobile
Spence is just trying to prepare us
for when Soth has him listed as starting catcher April 6
(“Dadgum Shotgun!”)
Raaddad - November 1, 2010
Yep. Dadgum is here to stay.
For the life of me I don’t know why, but that “premium” dude ain’t going nowhere. Scioscia’s man love for Mathis is baffling if not completely insane at this point.
halofolife - November 1, 2010
Fun Facts
Mathis’ OPS Ranking (at least 200 PAs)
Consistency!
Fan Since 1981 - November 1, 2010
damn
you gotta have some skill to do that.
phoenix15 - November 1, 2010
I do not buy
these so called “stats.”
the guy is an athlete, just look at his body type.
2pintsofbooze - November 1, 2010
and 41st in 2008 was Jose Molina (of the Yankees)
Wow, we know how to mold these guys.
SalmonStream - November 1, 2010
I'm beginning to second-guess Soth's supposed superior knowledge of catchers and their talent.
angelslogic - November 1, 2010
At least Molina
actually contributes plus defense.
dmhead - November 1, 2010
stats lie - Jeff Mathis' mom
DAD OF VLAD - November 2, 2010
•A lot of fans - UNTRUTH - Every fan with the exception of the chicks who think they got a shot at his jock is down on Jeff Mathis.
And those chicks are going down on Mathis.
red floyd - November 1, 2010
This is funny
because I remember reading comments (numerous, by the way) in this site saying that they couldn’t wait for Mathis to come back after his injury. He was supposed to be the one to bring us back to 1st place in the AL West, but the prophecy didn’t come true, and here we are.
By the way, I’ve never ever ever liked Mathis.
ze3 - November 2, 2010
Scratch that
Wrong site, ha!
ze3 - November 2, 2010
Lyle Spencer is the eternal optimist
and sometimes that gets the better of him. I wonder what he will write when Mathis is non-tendered?
True Grich - November 10, 2010
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