Mike Piazza's Conversion To 1B

[Crash Course]

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-spmets033693895mar03,0,5614358.story?coll=ny-mets-print

Not exactly a great start out of the blocks, no? Think he can do it?

[Makofan]

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-spmets033693895mar03,0,5614358.story?coll=ny-mets-print

Not exactly a great start out of the blocks, no? Think he can do it?

Sure he can! Didn't Greg Luzinski play some first base? I remember Johnny Bench didn't do too well at 1B, but they waited till very late in his career to move him IIRC

[SmedIndy]

They tried to make Bench a third baseman - and Luzinski was going to play first but the Phils moved Willie Montanez there, so they stuck Luzinski in left.

I think almost anyone can learn to play first adequately.

[Crash Course]

I think almost anyone can learn to play first adequately.

Dude!
Did you ever see Gene Richards play 1B?
Willie Mays?
Ralph Kiner?
Dale Murphy?

I won't even bring up Dick Stuart. It is not that easy.
Just ask the Big Hurt!

[Golden Bear]

Piazza is a better fielder at the catcher position -- even now, with age-related declines in his skills -- than he will ever be at 1b, or any other position in front of the plate you put him at.

There's a reason he was put at catcher in the first place.

He might -- might -- do well enough to be adequate at 1b defensively, but the effort to learn the new position will detract from his offense. Note how fatigued he said he was.

Moving Piazza is a bad idea.

[SmedIndy]

ALMOST anyone. Key word.

GB - But if they have a better alternative at C defensively and no other alternative at 1B, why not move him?

[Golden Bear]

GB - But if they have a better alternative at C defensively and no other alternative at 1B, why not move him?

Given that set of assumptions (and that's pretty true to the Mets' actual situation) there's no reason not to, IF the position change won't adversely affect Piazza's offense.

My hunch is it will. We'll see.

[SmedIndy]

It may - it may not. I think first is much less stressful than catcher, though.

[KCBOOMER]

DH, anyone?

[gyb13]

whatcha saying, boom? start the piazza for soriano rumors?

[Golden Bear]

It may - it may not. I think first is much less stressful than catcher, though.

Sure it is, once you learn to play it. First basemen have a much lower incidence of defense-related injuries than catchers, and fielding the position is much less taxing.

Of course, when you're doing something unfamiliar to you, that's when you're more likely to get hurt, too.

There's two problems with this:

1. Piazza has never played the position before.

2. Piazza is fairly unsuited to playing the position well.

He can catch throws from the other infielders, but that's the easy part. He may even be good at scoops from the catching experience. The problem is his feet. I would expect his lateral movement to be next to nil, and his range will be poor on pop-ups and bunts. And he'll still have a rag-arm; 1b throw to all bases and field relay throws from the OF.

So, if he overcomes all the problems of switching, he'll still be a lousy first baseman. But it'll be hard to learn the position when his defensive skill set is so poor. And all the effort will distract him mentally from hitting, as well as take time from batting practice, etc.

I sense I'm repeating myself, and I think Smed and I have agreed on a "we'll see" sort of stance, so I'll stop.

[Crash Course]

Of course, when you're doing something unfamiliar to you, that's when you're more likely to get hurt, too.

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-spmets043694991mar04,0,6073110.story?coll=ny-mets-print

G-Bear, will you go to Vegas with me?

[Golden Bear]

Jeez, this rather makes you a little sorry you were right.

[Golden Bear]

So does this.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-spmets123751933apr12,0,5523576.story?coll=ny-sports-headlines

[nyy26wc]

Of course, when you're doing something unfamiliar to you, that's when you're more likely to get hurt, too.

Sometimes, when you're doing something unfamiliar to you, you're more likely to get hurt.

But, sometimes, when you're doing something so familiar to you, you go more on autopilot, which results in something minor being taken for granted, which leads to an injury.

[Crash Course]

Disagree.

Sports 101

Repetition is the mother of skill.
Skill breeds confidence.
Confidence leads to success.

[nyy26wc]

Disagree.

Sports 101

Repetition is the mother of skill.
Skill breeds confidence.
Confidence leads to success.

Life 101

Confidence means thinking more of your skills.


Now, often, that's a good thing. The confidence enables one to achieve more. But, it also needs to taking chances and risks that one wouldn't otherwise take. That's often good. It leads to accomplishments that one wouldn't otherwise have had. But, it also inevitably leads to some setbacks.

All I'm disagreeing with is the certainty that more experience and confidence definitely reduces risks. I'm just saying that it is not always the case.

[Crash Course]

Confidence means thinking more of your skills.
I could make the case that it's actually over-confidence.

[Golden Bear]

Everyone has the right to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.

Fact: Mike Piazza was off to a fantastic start at the plate.

Fact: Mike Piazza was injured in his first full game at 1b on a routine play because he didn't know or hadn't mastered the proper footwork to play the position.

If this injury is severe: Fact -- the Piazza at 1b experiment is a disaster!

[Crash Course]

Personally, I think Glavine set him up with that throw. NY media reports that Glavine doesn't like Mikey. It could have been a set up. :stinker:

[Golden Bear]

I know you're just being playful, but if Glavine dislikes Piazza, he probably doesn't want him to catch, but he does want his bat in the lineup when he pitches. Given this, and Glavine's a smart guy, Glavine want Piazza at 1b to be a success.

Sometimes (usually) a bad throw is just a bad throw.

[Makofan]

I was a durn good centerfielder. One day I was pressed into emergency service at second base and got involved with a collision at first base with a base runner while covering first on a bunt play. I ended up going to the hospital with a concussion, and proceeded to play badly for the next few weeks. I think familiarity with the position would have avoided the injury.

I think that Piazza's injury can be chalked up to unfamiliarity with the position, which is a shame. I always want players to do well.