Milledge's Postgame Comments

by Chester J Lampwick on Aug 18, 2009 10:07 PM EDT Comment 24 comments

So I flipped back after the game and I only caught the end of his interview but he made a comment that I found strange (the following is my paraphrase of it):

"I'm here learning until they want me to start producing" and then he shrugged and said "until then though I'm learning"

I missed the question so I may have taken this completely out of context but I found it to be a strange comment. Did anyone else see this? Or does anyone know what he's talking about?

I'm not Billy Wagner and I definitely don't have a problem with the way Milledge plays the game, I just found this comment to be very odd.

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They might be planning to breed him, in which case he probably meant “reproducing”.

....You'll be able to spit nails, kid. You're gonna eat lightning and you're gonna crap thunder....

by chodan11 on Aug 18, 2009 10:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I thought Jose Tabata’s wife was in charge of the breeding program. . .

It kind of works

I made most of my life decisions at a Foghat concert... I stand by them.

by Chester J Lampwick on Aug 18, 2009 10:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't remember the exact question

but it was something about what kind of pressure he felt in his 3rd “new beginning” in Pittsburgh. He was simply saying that the Pirates organization want him to work on getting better, rather than on his numbers. He talked about his new commitment in the weight room and in defensive practice.

The tools are there and the attitude seems to be coming around. If he puts it all together we may have a very special on our hands.

by McCutchenIsTheTruth on Aug 18, 2009 10:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Oh that’s disappointingly innocuous.

Guess I was taking it totally out of context then.

I made most of my life decisions at a Foghat concert... I stand by them.

by Chester J Lampwick on Aug 18, 2009 10:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah it sounded much worse by itself. Basically he was trying to say that he’s been working very hard but he worded it terribly.

by thefutureisnear on Aug 18, 2009 11:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He seemed very genuine about trying to improve. I think he’s just very uncomfortable with interviews considering his image problems in the past.

by thegreatchris on Aug 18, 2009 11:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

If “learning” is code for hitting home runs, I’m down with the learning.

by Gorkys n' Beans on Aug 18, 2009 11:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’d settle for a “dont swing and foul off a pitch when Cutch is already on 3/4ths of the way to 2nd” from Lastings. He could bat .000 for all I care. If Cutch is stealing 1 base per game, or getting a chance to, I’d be fine with it.

But that’s why he’s out of the 2 spot, i guess.

by H2O on Aug 19, 2009 1:00 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't See The Problem With This Guy!

Maybe just way too much was expected from him. If I were in ‘The Show’ and hit my first homer? Hell, I’d not only high five the fans but I’d be kissing the wives of the players as well!

by tjc on Aug 19, 2009 1:13 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Give the guy....

a fricking pass, he’s had 70 at bats, said all the right things and clearly wants to do the right things.

by dtoddwin on Aug 19, 2009 3:16 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’m pretty excited about him. Not that it means anything, but how much do you think the kid weighs, he’s listed about the same as me, I’m 24 and 6’ 205 and he looks a hell of a lot stockier than I am.

by bishopmp1 on Aug 19, 2009 8:59 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I'd like it.....

if someone would articulate more fully for me my everyone is so down on Milledge.

I’ve heard he doesn’t take good routes to balls—I haven’t seen it. I’ve heard the announcers quote JR as saying he sometimes catches the ball with his glove sideways rather than straight up. He uses two hands and I haven’t seen him drop a catchable ball. I’ve never seen him throw to the wrong base or miss the cut off man

He’s had 64 plate apperances. MVP has had 180 and nobody wants to credit him with much because of his history. Milledge has a very credible resume for his age, but people (including the idiot Smizik who said he has, not 5 tools, but no tools) are already burying him. Why the rush to crush? He’s fricking 24!!

by dtoddwin on Aug 19, 2009 10:57 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I live in St Louis and am too cheap to buy out-of-town games, so the only times I’ve actually seen him play was that 3-game set against the Cards and he took bad routes on a couple balls in that series (doubles by Schumaker and Holliday, as I recall) and looked generally kind of inept out there.

But the main thing for me is that his career UZR numbers are horrifying…I’d love to think that he’s an average glove out there but all the evidence points the other way.

by maguro on Aug 19, 2009 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He was micast as a CF...

which is part of the reason his UZR is so bad. Although I have to admit I’ve watched every game this year and he is a below average defender right now, occassionally taking bad routes, throwing to the wrong base, etc. That being said, to quote Dtoddwin, he’s frickin 24!! This kid has a ton of upside.

I think the reason most people are down on him is because they are typical “what have you done for me lately” Pittsburgh fans. You know the ones who were calling for Rothlisberger to be benched last year in favor of Leftwhich. I’m not talking about you maguro just generalizing the typical Yinzer. They’ll turn on anyone who gets into a little funk. Milledge was traded for a popular player and all they see is the .220 + BA. They can’t see the forest for the trees. Been a lot of boos for Doumit lately. Formerly a popular player who is now struggling. I seem to remember a lot of fans wanting to run Bay out town after 2007. You know, the same one’s who cried last year when he was dealt.

by Slick1 on Aug 19, 2009 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, that’s all I was really saying…he’s just not a good defender right now. I think his hitting will come around over time, but I don’t think he’ll hit enough to overcome really bad defense, so he needs to fix that aspect of his game.

Watching him play the outfield, he reminds a bit of Lee Lacy, who was a great athlete but never really could become a good outfielder even though he had a long, productive career as a utilityman. It was always an adventure to watch Lacy try to track down a ball.

Hope he can get it sorted out, it would be great if he could be productive in LF for the next few years.

by maguro on Aug 19, 2009 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think that he's at least...

…a bad defender through poor technique, rather than a bad defender through poor tools.

Guys with bad technique sometimes improve, but slow guys are always slow.

by Vlad on Aug 19, 2009 4:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Smizik Is A Tool!

In another article he states that this current team is the worst in 50 years. Come on! What about that collection early in the decade that celebrated not losing 100 games!! But you have to admit Smizik is Favre-like. He just won’t retire and go away.

by tjc on Aug 19, 2009 11:20 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Worst in Pittsburgh, or all of baseball?

Because if it’s the latter, I’d be interested to see him try and build a case for us as worse than the 2003 Tigers, or the 1969 Padres, etc.

Even if it’s franchise-exclusive, I think 2001 and 1985 were both clearly worse, with many others being debatable as well.

by Vlad on Aug 19, 2009 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Totally Agree

I can’t stand Smizik. I read the article/blog/whatever he writes now, about Milledge in which he throroughly ripped him. Saying he has not five but no tools. It was just about the worst thing i’ve ever read; not to mention that the guy is 24, with only a handful of games under his belt with the Bucs, and he just came off an injury that sidelined him for two months. And then i read some of the comments below and you would have thought Smizik was Jesus Christ the way they were praising his “insight”. What idiots.

by thefutureisnear on Aug 19, 2009 4:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Milledge looked awful in his first couple of games (and I said as much), but it’s ridiculous to try to pass off that he is a “no-tool” player.

by Gorkys n' Beans on Aug 19, 2009 4:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Let me just jump in here and say that I’m a Lastings Milledge fan. I don’t care what shoes he wears or who he high-fives after a homerun. I’m definitely not some old-school baseball guy who thinks young players should neither been seen nor heard.

I just thought that the comment was very strange and wondered what context it had happened in. It turns out that I took it completely out-of-context and it was harmless and I wish Milledge the best in the future.

I made most of my life decisions at a Foghat concert... I stand by them.

by Chester J Lampwick on Aug 19, 2009 1:15 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

A least he's trying

Take a look at this.

http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090819&content_id=6506994&vkey=news_pit&fext=.jsp&c_id=pit

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Aug 20, 2009 7:03 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

That Helps Clarify His Statement.

PixburghArn, thanks for the link to that article. It appears that Lastings is a willing and motivated student in doing all the extra work to improve all facets of his game. He probably meant that management is more concerned with providing the proper instruction to cultivate all his talents than they are with his immediate production at the plate. Plus, other teams have treated him akin to being a pariah on their club. It’s difficult at best to be comfortable in the field without the support of your ball club. Finally, this can almost be construed as a lost year because of his premature demotion to the minors and the injury. I still see a lot of great things coming from this guy.

by tjc on Aug 20, 2009 12:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs