James Ann Arbor: The Braves have Drew in right field guy. Just to clear that up.
Rob Neyer: (3:59 PM ET ) Oh, I knew that. I meant . . . err . . . first base! Robert Fick’s not good, and they could really use somebody else there. Also holes at third base and catcher, and we don’t know how many games Drew will play. Essentially, the Braves are going to score many fewer runs in 2004 than they did in 2003.
Yeah, I wasn’t even reading the chat, but I saw Andy’s comment on here, so I decided to post about Drew. I think that’s the first time that someone has responded to my comment/question before on espn, which is kinda sweet.
You guys need to get off Rob’s ass. He’s still better than 99 percent of the “mainstream” baseball writers out there (he’s getting ripped up over at Primer, too, by the way). Besides, in these chats, he’s pretty much answering questions on the fly and doesn’t have a whole lot of time to do research (I’m not sure if Rob does his own typing or if he dictates to an ESPN.com flunky, though).
People freeze up from time to time, like when the great Bob Goulet forgot the words to the Star Spangled Banner before that Ali fight in the 60s…. but I think we have established that Rob doesn’t pay as much attention to the Braves as some of us think he should … not that that’s a sin or anything…
Yeah, I agree about getting off Rob’s ass. He’s the only person that writes for ESPN.com that’s not a jackass named Jayson or Peter. It’s messed up because this criticism comes right after he ate his words he wrote earlier in the year, and admitted that he was wrong about the Braves’ dynasty over.
He’s still better than 99 percent of the “mainstream” baseball writers out there (he’s getting ripped up over at Primer, too, by the way).
Makes me wonder if you have read his column in the past year, because he is clearly, clearly not. He used to be, but these days he doesn’t even seem follow the game. Half his columns these days are to correct brain dead errors from earlier columns. There is a school of thought out there that says this is Rob’s new plan to reduce by half the number of column ideas he has to come up with.
I agree that Neyer’s stuff isn’t as consistently good as it was two years ago, but he’s still far from a hack.
He’s also got a lot more on his plate these days: he’s writing books and I think he got married and took in a stepson in the last year or so. Plus, all writers eventually run out of fresh ideas.
Still, I like Rob’s writing over a lot of the other stuff out there. He doesn’t try to overload you with stats and spreadsheets (I love Baseball Prospectus, but reading Keith Woolner and Michael Wolverton’s stuff sometimes makes my eyes glaze over) and he has a deep respect for baseball history.
But to me, what separates Neyer is his accessibility: he’s the only ESPN.com person I’ve ever emailed with a question or comment and gotten a response within a few hours. And as you alluded to before, he’s not afraid to admit his mistakes…
That is true, I e-mailed Rob with praise and he responded back to me with gratitude.
I think it’s a little harsh to say half of his columns are corrections for other columns. The biggest thing that makes him stand out from other ESPN.com writers is the fact that he doesn’t claim to have “insider information” the way Peter Gammons and Jayson Stark do. Although he has friends that are the GM of a perennial playoff team(Billy Beane) who is always active in pulling off unpredictable trades, and… whatever it is Bill James does for Boston. Stark and Gammons have beaten the dead A-Rod-Manny trade horse, backed over it with their cars, and set it on fire, but Rob Neyer has barely even addressed the subject, probably knowing how it’s gotten old with everyone that isn’t involved with the trade.
I haven’t read content on ESPN.com long enough to sense any kind of decline in Rob’s columning, if that’s a word, but I can’t see too much to complain about, considering how much crap Jayson Stark and Peter Gammons are full of.
check out this major brain fart from rob neyer’s chat:
Bob (Rockville, MD): I see Millwood decided to stay with the Phils. Do you think this makes them the clear favorite in the NL East?
Rob Neyer: (3:14 PM ET ) At this moment, yes. But let’s wait and see who’s in right field for the Braves before we put any money on the Phils.
either he hasn’t been paying attention or he knows something we don’t. the later seems unlikely.
How could he have missed that? Unless he thinks Chipper is moving to third, and nobody seems to think that anymore.
I dunno. I wish I could keep my job while not paying attention to its subject.
Ahh, and to make matters worse:
James Ann Arbor: The Braves have Drew in right field guy. Just to clear that up.
Rob Neyer: (3:59 PM ET ) Oh, I knew that. I meant . . . err . . . first base! Robert Fick’s not good, and they could really use somebody else there. Also holes at third base and catcher, and we don’t know how many games Drew will play. Essentially, the Braves are going to score many fewer runs in 2004 than they did in 2003.
Does he actually think we have Fick on tap?
Andruw’s new place of worship! Great headline, there, Mac. He was only 19, they made him do it!
Yeah, I wasn’t even reading the chat, but I saw Andy’s comment on here, so I decided to post about Drew. I think that’s the first time that someone has responded to my comment/question before on espn, which is kinda sweet.
I think Rob’s been kidnapped and replaced by Joe Morgan.
You guys need to get off Rob’s ass. He’s still better than 99 percent of the “mainstream” baseball writers out there (he’s getting ripped up over at Primer, too, by the way). Besides, in these chats, he’s pretty much answering questions on the fly and doesn’t have a whole lot of time to do research (I’m not sure if Rob does his own typing or if he dictates to an ESPN.com flunky, though).
People freeze up from time to time, like when the great Bob Goulet forgot the words to the Star Spangled Banner before that Ali fight in the 60s…. but I think we have established that Rob doesn’t pay as much attention to the Braves as some of us think he should … not that that’s a sin or anything…
Yeah, I agree about getting off Rob’s ass. He’s the only person that writes for ESPN.com that’s not a jackass named Jayson or Peter. It’s messed up because this criticism comes right after he ate his words he wrote earlier in the year, and admitted that he was wrong about the Braves’ dynasty over.
He’s still better than 99 percent of the “mainstream” baseball writers out there (he’s getting ripped up over at Primer, too, by the way).
Makes me wonder if you have read his column in the past year, because he is clearly, clearly not. He used to be, but these days he doesn’t even seem follow the game. Half his columns these days are to correct brain dead errors from earlier columns. There is a school of thought out there that says this is Rob’s new plan to reduce by half the number of column ideas he has to come up with.
I agree that Neyer’s stuff isn’t as consistently good as it was two years ago, but he’s still far from a hack.
He’s also got a lot more on his plate these days: he’s writing books and I think he got married and took in a stepson in the last year or so. Plus, all writers eventually run out of fresh ideas.
Still, I like Rob’s writing over a lot of the other stuff out there. He doesn’t try to overload you with stats and spreadsheets (I love Baseball Prospectus, but reading Keith Woolner and Michael Wolverton’s stuff sometimes makes my eyes glaze over) and he has a deep respect for baseball history.
But to me, what separates Neyer is his accessibility: he’s the only ESPN.com person I’ve ever emailed with a question or comment and gotten a response within a few hours. And as you alluded to before, he’s not afraid to admit his mistakes…
That is true, I e-mailed Rob with praise and he responded back to me with gratitude.
I think it’s a little harsh to say half of his columns are corrections for other columns. The biggest thing that makes him stand out from other ESPN.com writers is the fact that he doesn’t claim to have “insider information” the way Peter Gammons and Jayson Stark do. Although he has friends that are the GM of a perennial playoff team(Billy Beane) who is always active in pulling off unpredictable trades, and… whatever it is Bill James does for Boston. Stark and Gammons have beaten the dead A-Rod-Manny trade horse, backed over it with their cars, and set it on fire, but Rob Neyer has barely even addressed the subject, probably knowing how it’s gotten old with everyone that isn’t involved with the trade.
I haven’t read content on ESPN.com long enough to sense any kind of decline in Rob’s columning, if that’s a word, but I can’t see too much to complain about, considering how much crap Jayson Stark and Peter Gammons are full of.