1) Last year was only the second time in the last six years Keith Lockhart helped his team. Gosh, who was the team he only helped once in five seasons?
2) In commenting on the teams that got new stadiums in the last 12 years, they left out the Braves.
I hate it when people take shots at Keith Lockhart. He was arguably one of the most reliable pinch hitters the Braves ever had.
Keith Lockhart has a career OPS+ of 82, which means that his park-adjusted on-base percentage plus slugging is 82% of league average. He was also a liability in the field because he had the range of a stone. Dan, do you have numbers on Lockhart’s pinchhitting? I don’t recall it as being particularly good.
ESPN has three-year splits. As a pinch-hitter from 2001 to 2003 he hit .233/.333/.367. Ugh. Career (this from SI.com) .248/.337/.344. Double ugh. It’s a tough role, but he wasn’t GOOD at it.
It is worth noting that the way the Braves got a new stadium was rather unusual. Without the Olympics, the Braves might still play in Fulton County Stadium.