Pete Rose Vs. Jed Lowrie & Brett Lawrie Vs. Tazmanian Devil

[DOUGHBOYS]

There are theories shared by many that there i never too much information. This is especially true with most fantasy baseball players. If BABIP or FIP or FIPx pops up, we want to read about it.
We want to elauate the process.
We want to put its numbers to use and see if it works for us.
We are an industry driven by numbers.

When baseball was starting to be played Nationwide and becoming a professional sport, the only numbers that mattered to most folks were runs and hits. Runs, in that was how the game was won. Hits, in that it was hard to score runs without hits, and without runs, games could not be won.
Before the live ball, a home run was considered either lucky or a product of a brute swing. Brute swings were not in fashion. Making contact with the ball so that fielders would have to make a play with inferior or no gloves at all was the strategy of the day.
RBI's as a stat did not exist. Neither did 'caught steaing' or even if it was a real stolen base or not. The point was, somebody advanced. If they got caught, it was just another out.
Then came live ball and the Babe.
Baseball hasn't changed since.
We love the numbers. Give us our brutes! Give us the RBI !
Let us know that Pete Rose sucked as a stolen base guy. Because he did, you know.
He got caught stealing 149 times. He only stole 198.
Tim Raines stole 808 bases. He was thrown out less than Rose, 146 times.
I'm not picking on Rose here. I think Pete Rose is one of the greatest singles hitters of all time
Actually, I'll end up doing the opposite about Rose. Fantasy-wise, we want a player like Pete Rose on our roster.

You ask, why do we want a horrible base stealer on our team?
Let me tell you.
Pete Rose had average speed.
Well, he had average speed as we looked at him. In Rose's own mind, he was faster than others thought. He has such a one way wired brain that he thinks he's faster than he is.
A SuperMan mentality.
Brett Lawrie has it too.
More on him later.

If comparing Rose's speed to that of a current player, we can match Rose up to Jed Lowrie. Lowrie has average speed.
The difference being that Lowrie KNOWS he has average speed.
Over Lowrie's career, he has stolen six bases and been caught stealing twice.
Granted, Lowrie's career span is a lot shorter than that of Rose. Still, the point is made that Lowrie knows that something bad may happen if trying to steal.
For a fantasy owner, we want the stolen base. It is one of five very important offensive categories.
Pete Rose was not afraid to fail. Sure, he probably did his team a disservice in getting thrown out so many times. But, in his mind, the gain was worth more than the penalty. Lowrie does not see it that way.
As a fantasy owner, we lose little by the Rose method. Maybe a run scored here and there. We want our base runners to at least give it a go. Even with just average speed. The pitch may be in the dirt or mishandled by the catcher.
We will take a bad base runner like Pete Rose over a good base runner in Jed Lowrie every day of the week.

Don't be thinking that a guy like Brett Lawrie who has buckshot for brains and a thought process like Rose is a good pick. Lawrie has more than the Rose complex. Maybe more than the SuperMan complex.
Lawrie is the worst modern fantasy player to draft.
He thinks he's invincible.
Till he's not.
Then, fixed, he again thinks he's invincible.
A horrible cycle for his owners.
Don't bother drafting Lawrie till he can steal 20 bases without running into a fence, a wall, or all out.
Lawrie is to baseball as the Tazmanian Devil is to Bugs Bunny. Fun to watch for awhile, but in the end, like Taz vs. Bugs, Lawrie's no match for the day to day grind baseball brings.

My point being that sometimes there is good in bad. A failing of a lot of ratio's and Numerish insights.
Don't take numbers as they are. Think about them and think how they'll be applied on the field.
Brian Dozier wants badly to be the Twins lead off hitter. Since Aaron Hicks failed, the floor has been thrown open to any capable Twins hitter.
Alas, they have none and eventually, Hicks will reclaim the job if learning how to hit a curve ball.
Dozier wants the job because, like Rose, he is not afraid to fail during the pursuit of being the Twins lead off hitter.
His vitality increases on the field. He swings a little harder. He's tried to steal more bases.
He's stolen seven, got caught six.
Ron Gardenhire may not like that. But, at least Dozier is trying.
And we like him, because for us, trying is a lot better than complacency or playing it smart.