Who Said It?

by Eric Simon on Dec 10, 2009 11:14 PM EST

UPDATE: Kudos to the 18% of you who knew this quote came from former Mets GM Steve Phillips. It might make you feel a little better to know the context of the quote: he said it in defense of Jeromy Burnitz, whom he was about to acquire from the Brewers.

I'm closing the comments on this one because I don't want to queer the results. Will reopen later.

"It's not just about strikeouts in a vacuum. If a player strikes out but he also walks, he's a functional hitter. I tend to look more at on-base percentage and slugging percentage than I do just flat strikeouts."

Poll

Who said it?

Theo Epstein

70 votes

Omar Minaya

28 votes

Andrew Friedman

21 votes

Steve Phillips

64 votes

Bobby Valentine

64 votes

Billy Beane

91 votes

338 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

OK, admit it

Who voted for Omar?

by supermets on Dec 10, 2009 11:18 PM EST reply actions

I did.

Although I think whoever voted for Beane, Friedman, or Epstein was worse. For one, Eric wouldn’t care if it was one of those guys. Two, I think those three look at more than just on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

"For $11.4 million you can actually get a good player. But of course this is one of the things foolish organizations do: They complain that they can't afford good players after spending millions of dollars on not-good players." --Rob Neyer

by boom_roasted on Dec 10, 2009 11:59 PM EST up reply actions

We knew it had to be a trick question

I figured it’d be Omar given how stupid everyone here thinks he is.
But Steve Phillips being the answer to a quote that makes sense really is the ultimate trick question.

by GoReyesGo on Dec 11, 2009 12:18 AM EST up reply actions

Uhh

Hire Steve Phillips?

by James Kannengieser on Dec 10, 2009 11:19 PM EST reply actions

I voted Phillips

and cheated first by googling the quote.

"I see the job in bigger terms. Paperwork, that’s false hustle... Know what I’m sayin’?"

by Evan_S on Dec 10, 2009 11:23 PM EST reply actions

Same here.

"Blinding ignorance does mislead us. O! Wretched mortals, open your eyes!"
Gil Hodges IS a Hall of Famer.

by Brooklyn Dodgers Mets Fan on Dec 10, 2009 11:29 PM EST up reply actions

I voted...

then realized I should just google the quote. I was pissed when I found out I was wrong.

by boom_roasted on Dec 10, 2009 11:55 PM EST up reply actions

I figured it wasn't Beane/Epstein/Friedman

Cause they don’t seem to tell much about their strategies. But anyway Steve Phillips for team president?

by Gina on Dec 10, 2009 11:24 PM EST reply actions

got this one without cheating

for whatever thats worth

by KeithsMoustache on Dec 10, 2009 11:31 PM EST reply actions

I figured it was a quote from the winter meetings

So I picked Epstein. Obvious wrong answer was Omar. Figured everyone and their dog knows Beane’s philosophy. Bobby V. wouldn’t be making comments right now. I couldn’t remember who Friedman was. Figured Phillips was avoiding any type of press right now. I googled after I voted and found out it was quote from an article talking about that wonderful Burnitz trade.

by Brittannia on Dec 10, 2009 11:33 PM EST reply actions

I've suspected for a while that Phillips was a lot smarter than he looked

I’ve heard him mention Defensive Efficiency Rating (basically team BABIP allowed) as a measure of defense – he didn’t even mention errors – and I haven’t blatantly disagreed with anything he’s said on ESPN for a while.

by vivaelpujols on Dec 10, 2009 11:36 PM EST reply actions

...unless you consider anything he says about Carlos Beltran

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Dec 10, 2009 11:48 PM EST up reply actions

or david wright

or basically any mets player that doesn’t suck.

by Gina on Dec 10, 2009 11:52 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah, I voted for Phillips but I didn't know for sure that it was him

I just figured Beane and Friedman and Epstein wouldn’t feel the need to say something like this, and the way it was worded didn’t sound like Omar or Bobby. Only Phillips seemed to make sense, aside from the fact of course that it seemed like too advanced of an idea for him, though the way it was worded made it sound like someone who wasn’t too comfortable with the concept

by Joamiq on Dec 11, 2009 12:16 AM EST reply actions

I was torn between Bobby V. and Phillips

for some reason I thought the quote was about Mo Vaughn, but I guess Burnitz makes sense too – I figured it was from around that 2002 off-season. I went with Bobby V., and then googled it and immediately regretted it.

"[The Giants] beat us down. We were beat by a grown-man team, a team we want to be like one day. They came in here and took it to us. Out-manned us, out-gunned us. ... It wasn't even close." - Raheem Morris, 9/27/09

by cjmulrain on Dec 11, 2009 1:34 AM EST reply actions