Athletes say the darndest things: Bill Hall
by Hyatt on Jul 26, 2009 8:34 AM CDT
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PrintToday's JS has a feature piece written by Witrado on Bill Hall's thoughts on his struggles. This entire thing is just quote gold. Some wonderful snippets:
"I feel like with the way things are going, they don't have any confidence in me. I feel like I can do nothing to help this team right now."
Funny, every time you come up, I think the same thing.
"It's really hard to progress," Hall said. "You can ask anybody in here, my BP swing is good. But when I'm not having an opportunity to do it in a game - I might not get one at-bat for a week, then I have to face a guy like Johan Santana, it makes it that much harder. I have no timing, no sense of recognition. It's not like the cage.
I don't even know where to begin on this one.
"It's disheartening knowing that it's going to be another week to 10 days before I get another opportunity to play. I feel like I'm getting judged on every at-bat right now no matter who it's off, no matter how long it's been since I've gotten a chance to play. If I don't have a good at-bat, I feel like I'm pushed more to the back of the barrel. It makes me put a lot of pressure on myself. It's tough to play like that.
"Yeah, I feel like it's unfair."
When asked if he knows where to go from here, Hall says "no" and remains lost.
"More so than baseball players, we're still men," Hall said. "To be put in those situations, you kind of don't feel treated like you're a man, not knowing your role on the team. I don't have a designated role.
"So there's a lot of uncertainty. It's hard to prepare yourself to play when you don't know what's going on."
Great attitude there Bill E. Macha rebutted his thoughts pretty well in the article. Here are Macha's thoughts:
"He's part of the team still," manager Ken Macha said. "But there's other guys that have performed better, so I have to put the best lineup out there.
"He's had quite a few at-bats and the opportunity to put his name in the lineup. . . . Casey McGehee and Counsell have gone out there and done it.
"This is a game of production, and if we don't produce as a team and win games, I'm not going to be working."
Thank you for saving me the time Ken.
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I am liking Ken Macha more and more everyday.
by Saberilliterate on Jul 26, 2009 8:38 AM CDT reply actions
Gotta love people with common sense. I only imagine Yost’s quote, in response to this would have been, “Yeah! You know….(Hall) been playing hard, ya know? ….?”
End of the day, Billy you’re playing baseball. All the while you’re being paid an awful lot to do so. I couldn’t care at this point if he’s being asked these things all by the media, and it wiggles out of him, but Hall needs to shut the mouth and stop taking things too seriously.
Best quote from all this was, “Yeah, I feel like it’s unfair.” Bill, I feel like it’s major league baseball, produce or you’re back in the minors. You’re not getting the time to prove yourself because the time you’ve had to do so was there, now it’s gone, and you’re only still with the team because of the whopping disappointment of saying, “Yeah, designate him for assignment. Yeah, the one with the big contract. Yes, I agree. Major whoops.”
PensBurgh penalty - Lavender - 2 Minutes for Excessive Stanley Cup Raising.
Can they end him down
to AAA? Or at least try? If he wants to put the money where his mouth is, and get more ABs, he’d accept the assignment. Or he could refuse it and continue sitting on the bench. His choice.
What was with Kendall's shaved head?....looks like a fist with eyes.
scsteve (Pirates fan)
Correction: Jason Kendall IS a fist with eyes.
Derek (Brewers fan)
Just DL him for something
Give him a week off and 20 days to rehab.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
They Can't...
Just ‘send’ him down. They can DFA (designate for assignment) him. He would then have to be placed on waivers…which there’s no doubt he would pass through. But then he’d have a choice of accepting that assignment (to AAA) or becoming a free agent. Should he choose free agency, the Brewers would still be on the hook for his salary…and some other team could sign him for 500k…pretty much like we did with Mike Lamb last year.
by TheBurningRom on Jul 26, 2009 1:31 PM CDT up reply actions
At what point do we consider Billy a sunk cost and just toss his ass to the curb. We don’t need to give him another 9 mil just to ride the pine and bitch to the press.
That's my point
Since we’re paying him no matter what, he could
1. Sit – doesn’t hurt the team on the field, but doesn’t get many chance to work on whatever issue he’s having
2. DFA, Accept an assignment to AAA – doesn’t hurt the Brewers, might hurt the Sounds, but at least gets regular ABs and chances to work on his stuff
3. DFA, become a free agent – becomes someone else’s problem.
2 & 3 seem like better options than the status quo (1)
What was with Kendall's shaved head?....looks like a fist with eyes.
scsteve (Pirates fan)
Correction: Jason Kendall IS a fist with eyes.
Derek (Brewers fan)
Hmmmm...not sure I'd agree...
1.) He’s already sitting most of the time.
2.) Gamel is playing 3rd in Nashville…so Hall wouldn’t get any more PAs down there anyway.
3.) If we DFA him, we still have to pay him…this year AND next year. Might as well keep him around for that price…at least he makes a decent defensive sub.
by TheBurningRom on Jul 27, 2009 8:07 AM CDT up reply actions
Gamel could test his play at RF though, where we could build more depth in and make Corey Hart a good trade option.
Orrrrrrrr....
We could leave Gamel at 3rd, where he’s been halfway decent so far in the bigs…albeit in a small sample size….and not think that it would ‘give us more depth’ than we already have in RF…with the ton of OF prospects we have. And, quite frankly, Hart would have to hit about 6 home runs in his next 3 games to make him a ‘good’ trade option. I think he’s been available in trade for quite a while…but nobody wants a blonde Jeff Francoeur.
by TheBurningRom on Jul 27, 2009 1:11 PM CDT up reply actions
How is it a poor attitude?
He is saying it is tough to prepare when you are under so much uncertainty. He isn’t saying he isn’t preparing, just that it is difficult. Beat up on him for his performance, but the attitude quip is just dumb.
by Getting Yosted on Jul 26, 2009 1:49 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Umm its poor
because he’s saying the “uncertainty” is coming from not playing regularly.
"You have no honor!" - McClung to Fukudome
I don't understand
He’s not playing regularly, and he’s uncertain about when he will play, and saying it’s tough to prepare for whenever he does get to play is a poor attitude?
I don’t get it. I guess he should say he’s ready to sit on the bench every day or something.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
He's whining about not getting to play
despite blowing every time he actually does play, hence poor attitude.
"You have no honor!" - McClung to Fukudome
Um, no
He’s say its hard to deal with uncertainty. Which for most people is pretty easy to understand.
If he were an attitude problem, why was he the first person to greet and celebrate with Braun on the dugout steps after his HR yesterday? Typical attitude problems find a corner of the dugout, or even the clubhouse if they aren’t playing and stay there regardless of what is happening with the team.
Hating Bill Hall doesn’t give you license to say dumb shit.
by Getting Yosted on Jul 26, 2009 4:35 PM CDT up reply actions
Um yes
He said its unfair and hes not being treated like man….
"You have no honor!" - McClung to Fukudome
Here's the quotes I have a problem with:
“It’s disheartening knowing that it’s going to be another week to 10 days before I get another opportunity to play. I feel like I’m getting judged on every at-bat right now no matter who it’s off, no matter how long it’s been since I’ve gotten a chance to play. If I don’t have a good at-bat, I feel like I’m pushed more to the back of the barrel. It makes me put a lot of pressure on myself. It’s tough to play like that.
“Yeah, I feel like it’s unfair.”
And:
“To be put in those situations, you kind of don’t feel treated like you’re a man, not knowing your role on the team. I don’t have a designated role.”
Basically, he’s acting like this just happened to him for no apparent reason. He’s on the bench because he’s been outperformed by 2 guys who were seen as bench players when the year began, not to mention Gamel before he was sent down. Want to know what your role is Bill? It’s to sit on the bench until you get a chance and then produce when you get that chance. It’s not to complain and whine and wish things were different, let alone suggest that somehow you’ve been treated unfairly. You’re being treated the same way McGehee was earlier in the year when he could barely get an at bat. Now he’s playing more than you are because he’s earned more playing time, something you haven’t done.
I feel sorry for him, but this is ridiculous. As far as I’m concerned he’s got two jobs right now: perform when he gets the chance and shut up otherwise. How hard is it to figure out that when they come to you for quotes a subject like this the right answer is no comment? Or I’m not playing well so I’m not getting much time? He had a decent night the other night, and if somehow manages to string a few nights like that together, then I’m sure he’ll get more time. But complaining about not knowing what his “role” is amounts to unproductive whining. McGehee had enough professionalism to keep his mouth shut. I don’t see why we should expect any less out of Hall.
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Jul 26, 2009 5:27 PM CDT up reply actions
Hall is a better option than McGehee
When the team is ahead and needs to protect a lead, he should be playing over McGehee. Hall is the best defensive option late in games at 3B on the team, the two aren’t even comparable. Counsell shouldn’t be that option, because when he isn’t starting the team needs him to rest that day except for maybe a PH appearance. Hall knows this, but he isn’t saying it publicly. He isn’t starting any pissing matches, just saying that he should be given a defined role. Late inning defensive replacement is a role that he can fill. Who knows, giving him that role just might get him out of his own head when he’s at the plate.
And all of the tea leaf readings of his words don’t change the fact of his actions during a game. He is not sulking, or disappearing into the clubhouse. He’s staying on the bench, doing what he can to celebrate the success of the team. It might seem like a low bar, but it is one someone with an attitude problem doesn’t get over. Watch closely the next time McGehee hits a HR, and if Hall is there to congratulate him as he comes to the dugout.
by Getting Yosted on Jul 26, 2009 8:29 PM CDT up reply actions
I'm not reading tea leaves.
I’m reading his words. And if he’s not sulking in the clubhouse, good for him. Am I supposed to congratulate him for doing what he’s supposed to do? If he’s got enough sense to be a good team mate in the clubhouse and the dugout, which seems probable given how much his team mates appear to like him, then he should have had enough sense to keep his mouth shut instead of whining in the press. Even Gamel had enough brains not to do that.
And whether he should or shouldn’t be a defensive replacement in late innings isn’t the point of the post or my comments on it, though since you brought it up, that “role” as it were only makes sense if we’re winning late (an increasingly rare phenomena) and if Counsell isn’t the guy playing 3rd that day.
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Jul 26, 2009 8:50 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
Really
He’s on the bench because he’s been outperformed
That was you, wasn’t it? I gave you a scenario where Bill Hall outperforms McGehee, and at this point in Counsell’s career Hall is probably a better option defensively. And you said it to show what an attitude problem that Hall guy was, demanding playing time when he wasn’t being outperformed and could help the team. The nerve of that jacka$$. Doesn’t he know he’s hated and nothing he does will change that fact, so he should just be rude to all the journalists so he can be accused of having an attitude problem by refusing to talk.
Thankfully you at least acknowledged how well his teammates appear to like him, which is a pretty strong indication that he doesn’t have attitude issues and that this specific criticism of Hall is pretty dumb.
by Getting Yosted on Jul 26, 2009 10:18 PM CDT up reply actions
If you've paid attention...
… to my comments on Hall over the course of the last two years (asking a lot, I know) you’d know that I never questioned his popularity among his team mates. As near as I can tell (and all of us are just really guessing) he appears to be well liked. That apparent fact doesn’t excuse these assinine and delusional comments that he’s been treated unfairly.
And yeah, he has been outperformed by McGehee. You picked out, accurately enough, a roughly 2 inning window every 3 or 5 games or so when a case can be made to justify giving him playing time. Do you think that’s what he meant when he talked about getting an opportunity to play? I don’t. My guess is you don’t either. You keep using the word “dumb” or, even classier, “dumb shit”, to define the positions of those who disagree with you. If you really think that what Hall meant was that he should be used as a defensive replacement for McGehee late in games where the Brewers have a lead, then you should take a look in the mirror the next time your looking for an appropriate target for those phrases.
What’s more, even if that’s exactly what Hall meant, he still shouldn’t have said it to a reporter. He should have said it to Macha and then kept his mouth shut.
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Jul 26, 2009 10:51 PM CDT up reply actions
Dammit.
I crossed the line in that second paragraph. Still think I’m right, but I shouldn’t have said what I said.
I’m done here, I think. It was fun, for a while.
Hope someone keeps calling backtocali on his BS. At least until KL comes to his senses and bans him.
Bye all.
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Jul 27, 2009 12:17 AM CDT up reply actions
"I guess he should say he's ready to sit on the bench every day or something."
There were lots of alternatives available. No comment, for one. I just have to take advantages of my opportunities, for another. Of course I want to play, but other guys have played better than I have lately, for a third. There are about a hundred better ways to have dealt with the questions than suggesting he’s being treated unfairly.
Does any of it matter to anyone but some of the fans? Probably not. There are plenty of players on the club that seem to like him and I’m sure they understand his frustration way better than I do and thus don’t have much of a problem with his comments. That doesn’t make him any less clueless about how he finds himself in his current position or any less foolish for expressing his thoughts to the press.
by Ted Simmons Speed Camp on Jul 26, 2009 11:02 PM CDT up reply actions
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