| Valentine-Youkilis |
Mon, 16 April 2012 07:13  |
 Rob_Veno
Messages: 4129
Registered: July 2005 |
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Probably nothing but Valentine is a bit of a spiteful guy...little back and forth between the two and Youk sits the bench today
1. Mike Aviles (R) SS
2. Dustin Pedroia (R) 2B
3. Adrian Gonzalez (L) 1B
4. David Ortiz (L) DH
5. Cody Ross (R) CF
6. Ryan Sweeney (L) RF
7. Nick Punto (S) 3B
8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia (S) C
9. Darnell McDonald (R) LF
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| Re: Valentine-Youkilis |
Mon, 16 April 2012 10:34  |
ER_Sports
Messages: 2997
Registered: July 2005 |
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This certainly doesn't seem like a positive situation for the Red Sox, can't wait to hear Curt Schilling chime on on this one...
Follow Erin Rynning on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ersports1
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| Re: Valentine-Youkilis |
Wed, 18 April 2012 08:28 |
Plus 323
Messages: 44
Registered: April 2012 |
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There's a few angles to this, in my opinion. First off, Valentine has always been a guy who is never short on voicing his opinion, and he's always been somewhat full of himself.
Second, you have the eternally simmering cauldron that is the Boston media. If Valentine so much as walks sideways with that mangled leg of his, it's breaking news.
Third and more thought provoking, is the main point of contention which is Youkilis. Granted, he is 33 years old, at which point you'll start to see some regression in speed and skill. I think back to 2008-09 when he was raking. He was one of the best RH hitters in the game.
I had a long discussion with a colleague of mine last year regarding the effect of PED's on guys who are still playing. MLB implemented the crackdown after A-Rod was outed. What we noticed and agreed upon thereafter was the sharp decline in speed and movement in all extremities in general. I always thought if one wanted to explore some comparitive analysis, all you had to do was go back 3 years or so and find images or video on a guy, and visually compare that to what they look like presently. A key indicator was always the size of a guys head, not to mention the overall slimmed down body composition.
A-Rod is the poster boy for extremity decline. Guys like Youk, Johnny Damon, and most recently Ryan Braun are definitely wearing smaller helmet sizes than they were 3 years ago. Look how much thinner Mark Texiera is no versus a few years back. I'd estimate at least 85% of the players in MLB were on some kind of shit before the crackdown.
Personally, I think the x-factor in all of this is the elimination of greenies. Guys were able to get out on the field day in and day out thanks to those, and they are sorely missed. I've been told that guys nowadays are getting scripts for ADD symptoms, which perks them up somewhat, but gone are the days when there were 2 pots of coffee in MLB clubhouses. One black, and the other with a green tint..Leaded or unleaded if you will.
Finally, I think a more glaring issue is if Valentine keeps running his mouth, those guys could wind up tuning him out, which could be problematic.
[Updated on: Wed, 18 April 2012 10:48]
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