Haudricourt seems to be an insecure, unlikeable guy, and that’s what Ned gets to deal with after every game.

I think “Haudricourt” and “Ned” are interchangeable in this sentence.

Don’t go back and write again about things they’ve written and said they’re done with. :)

I think is the problem… even in the case with BadgerBlogger he deflects it to the blog and gives a half a$$ excuse, (can we use that word without the $ by the way on this blog?) that his boss said it was okay to link to other blogs.

I was going to post an email exchange I had with him yesterday, but want to bring this matter to a rest. I think we all know that he is defensive and arrogant, although I couldn’t get him to admit he has ever made even a slight mistake.

You make a pretty bold statement about him personally.

I have to say it is kind of odd when the rant-a-thon is in process, some people boldly declare that he is a blatant whore shilling for the team and doesn’t ask hard questions, yet you think maybe he is unlikable for asking hard questions.

You seem to be a big fan of Yost, but as far as sounding nice and all on WTMJ, what did you expect? Its a glorified extension of the team Brewers PR department.

1. This is a tangent, but why do we really care if Yost is crusty with the press? I see this listed by the Ned-bashers all the time, and for the life of me, I don’t know why it matters.

If he handles his pitching staff, makes good lineup choices, makes fundamentally sound decisions during games, and the players play hard for him, who cares?

(Note: I am not saying that all of these things apply or don’t apply to Yost, but rather to the generality of the criticism.)

2. My biggest beef with regards to the baseball press is that frankly, many of them don’t really know their stuff. I hear things nearly every day from established broadcasters that any casual reader of TheHardballTimes, Baseball Prospectus, or the Baseball Abstract could tell you is just factually untrue. I heard someone the other day talking about the usual nonsense about how making contact was the #1 prerequisite for a #2 hitter…nothing about OBP or even the fact that lineup construction is overrated in terms of generating runs.

Would you accept a doctor that was not up to snuff on the most effective way to treat cancer? Would you hire a mechanic to work on your car that doesn’t understand modern diagnostic tools?

You don’t have to buy into every sabermetric concept nor discount the clubhouse intangibles to at least inform yourself about what is out there. If I am assigning some guy for my baseball beat at a paper, the first thing I am doing is plunking them down with a few well selected books so that they at least have a fundamental understanding of the game, something that some established beat writers don’t have. Just because Tommy Lasorda says something doesn’t mean it is correct (ask Fernando about pitcher abuse).

Even those reporters that do know their stuff (of which there are many of course) occasionally have a sort of arrogance towards the common fan. However, realize that the days of the beat writer being the sole source of info are long gone and access to the clubhouse is not what it once was. There are so many streams of info out there that it makes Jeff’s opinion on whether Ben Sheets should be signed just as valid as Hardricourt’s. I think the baseball writer’s sometimes have a hard time accepting this.