Chris CrockettTCFB---Pennsylvania Edition
July 6th 2009 13:14
Happy belated 4th of July to everyone! I've been away at a family reunion in Pennsylvania since Thursday but now I'm back and ready to hit on a few topics that came up or came to mind over this past weekend. What a great weekend overall!
Considering we were in Phillie country, a bunch of us were going at it over who was a better second baseman...Chase Utley or Dustin Pedroia. To nobody's surprise we had everyone from Boston except me, say that Pedroia was the better overall player and most of the PA guys weighing in leaned toward Utley. Shocker! Of course with me assuming the role of contrarian out of my Boston family and friends I had to defend my case. I obviously had no physical numbers at my disposal at that time. I went with the fact that I believed they were basically a wash defensively and that I believed Utley had more power and equal ability to hit for average with Pedroia... Well here's the 162 game averages over their careers. Pedroia is into his 3rd FULL season now and Utley is into his 5th FULL season.....
Utley.... .298 batting average, 29 HR, 109 RBI w/ .528 SLG%
Pedroia.... .307 batting average, 12 HR, 70 RBI w/ .442 SLG%
Each guy averages about 15 SB per season.. so that is a wash. Defensively I would say they are a wash as well. Maybe Pedroia is slightly better defensively but not markedly. Seems like it's an easy decision to make once you see the numbers. Utley is clearly the better ball player.
Here's a couple of other things that I realized over this great weekend spent with family and my 'Entourage' of best friends that I brought to PA along with my wife and step-sons.....
*I like beer. It's never let me down(well most of time it hasn't) and for that I have soft spot in my heart for Bud Light. I work out hard to stay in shape so I can enjoy my BL's. However, 'Jägerbombs' still won't come near my lips! Still disgusts me as much as ever!!! Also a note to self: Maybe restrain from riding a couple of the biggest roller coasters you've ever seen until the fog from a couple of extra BL's wears off from the night before. Made it through but was indeed a little shook up at the get-go! (see photo at top of post.. that is the 'Talon' at Dorney Park in PA)
*My competitive nature runs in the family--hard core! Endless Ping-Pong matches with my mother (who is a hell of a player still) that drew nice crowds by the table due to how seriously we were going at it and trash talking. Yes, I'll be a man and admit that I lost a few games to my mother. She still has her touch, but who'll forget that 29-27 tiebreaker after tiebreaker after tiebreaker... slugfest we had? Haha..
*Most of all, I realized the fact that when my family gets together for a time like this past weekend in PA, the 'fun factor' can't be beaten. I am very proud to be a part of this family of ours. I was so happy to have my wife and step sons as well as my best friends experience it for the first time. Thanks to Aunt Mil and Uncle Don for hosting an 'encore' of what were some of the best times of my life as a young kid when we came to PA for every 4th of July. Doing it all over again at the age of 33 couldn't have been more fun. Watching my step sons and my cousins' kids running around and doing the sack races like we all used to do and having an overall great time, was in a word--awesome. Thank you. I hope you realize what this meant to a lot of people in the family. The way you brought us all back together in that fashion, one more time, was very much appreciated.
Upcoming on the blog: My take on 'Sheed Wallace joining the C's.. Some Boston fans crack me up when it comes to this stuff.. Also Trivia Tuesday tomorrow..
(thanks to Myrtlebeachbum for that great pic of Dorney Park's Talon ride)
Chuck Hanf
Two Cents From Beantown
| 51 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Joey B
You make a good point and argument for Utley as the top 2B in the Big Leagues, but I am going to make the same argument for Pedie that I make for Bobby Orr regarding these matters:
If you had a team of Gordie Howes, a team of Mario Lemieuxs, a team of Wayne Gretskys, and a team of Orrs, and they played a four team tournament, the team of Orrs wins - not just because Bobby was better; because he played all out, all the time.
The same goes for Pedie. Besides, in a game between Earth and Mars for control of the galaxy, I've got Pedie in my line-up playing 2B, but he's batting 7th because Jeter is in the 2-hole - and Pete Rose is leading off!
Later...
Comment by Chuck H
TCFB
Thanks for commenting.. Happy 4th to you and the fam as well and you are right, family is everything. We can agree to disagree on the Utley/Pedroia issue. I think if Utley was here in Boston playing everyday you might come around! Your argument with #4, #99, #66 and #9 was quite impressive though. I like it. I also like your Rose hitting leadoff and Jeter in the 2-hole. Rose came up too over the weekend in PA and it was pretty much unanimous that he should be a HOF'er, which I agree with as well..
Comment by Josh Gans
If you're comparing Pedroia and Utley, you should also check Utley's numbers after his first three full seasons in the league and compare them based on their progress at the same point in their career.
After his first three full season (2005, 06 and 07) Utley's average numbers in the same categories were .310/27/103/.544, which makes him look even that much better in comparison to Dustin.
Numbers don't lie, but I'd still have to say Pedroia is the better player than Utley for two reasons. One, Pedroia plays in the American League and two, Pedroia plays for Boston.
Comment by Chuck H
TCFB