CUBS sign Edmonds why?

[west coast orange and black]

ltg: I'm sorry to tell you he timed most of those dives.

sure looked that way to many. me included.

[OleMissCub]

ltg: I'm sorry to tell you he timed most of those dives.

sure looked that way to many. me included.

me too. He was a tremendous outfielder, but I think he also had a LARGE deal of showman in him.

[Bothrops Atrox]

ltg: I'm sorry to tell you he timed most of those dives.

sure looked that way to many. me included.

The truth is somewhere in the middle. Edmonds is certainly overrated as a fielder. His speed was average, but his jump was exceptional. I saw a training video on a local network where without looking, Edmonds would run to the ball after he heard contact made. He was pretty close to the ball each time. Of course I can't speak for the biased editing of the video. If it was legitamate, it was incredible. His arm was well above average, and as a competetor, I don't think he would often (well, usually, at least) risk extra base hits diving for balls he could catch easily. I know he did it some, but "most of the time"? I doubt it. His plethera of over the-wall homerun robbing catches were pretty impressive as well. I can't see how he would stage all of those catches. I would agree that relatively speaking, as a hitter, he was better than his peers than as a fielder. As a fielder, he is certainly below Hunter and Jones by a good margain, but still well-above average.

By the way - the pretending to be hurt everytime he made a diving catch or used to run into the walls used to drive me crazy. The same way he used to dive away from balls down the middle of the plate to get balls called. He was definately a showman.

[Love The Game]

He probably meant that in terms of circus catches. Mays made quite a few of those too, I'm sure.

mons

Mays had the type of showmanship that the fans enjoyed watching, he had a certain charming flair. Edmonds, to me, was an annoying player to watch.

[SamtheBravesFan]

mons

Mays had the type of showmanship that the fans enjoyed watching, he had a certain charming flair. Edmonds, to me, was an annoying player to watch.

Seems like it all based on appearance and perception then. I don't really know what else to say to that then.

[lovethegame]

For the record I am and was first Lovethegame
Kinda surprised that spacing allowed another on board but hey ,welcome
I admire Edmonds career but see no point in damaging another psyche like the Cubs are prone to do
Pie can be covered by this lineup until he gets his bearings and Edmonds, while admirable, is through

[StanTheMan]

If you can do THIS

Edmonds - catch in Philly.jpg



or THIS at full speed in the NLCS, on a ball which was smoked and practially PAST him.....

Edmonds- THAT catch.bmp

Then how can ANY of your other diving catches ever be questioned???? How many times have you watched Edmonds dive for a ball and "just" miss it by an inch or two? Extremely rarely..... and if he WAS timing his catches to dive and get a ball in spectacular fashion on what should be a routine play, there should be FAR more instances of him timing it wrong by .0001 second, resulting in a missed ball. I for one can think of only a few times, and those seemed to be at full speed. NO one has timing so good they can time balls to dive after for YEARS, and not miss a ton of them. The wind, one bad step halfway to the ball, weather, bad or wet turf... I just don't but it. Too many variables.... and the great catches were as good as any CF of the 90's or 2000's.

You also don't play as shallow as he did if you want to turn the routine into a "web gem." He played that shallow because his instincts allowed him to do so. Running after well hit balls with his back to them, head down, looking up later to find the ball again and make the play, etc etc etc.

He's the best defensive Center Fielder of his generation... period. Better all around than Hunter, better arm than Griffey.

Sure, his clubhouse attitude was not the best at times, but I don't let that cloud my judgement of his abilities with the leather. He seemed to be rather non-chalant at the plate at times as well, but again... separate issue for me.

[rockin500]

he had a great catch tonight

[John Shoemaker]

Great catch. I think the Cubs are happy they picked him up.

[Love The Game]

If you can do THIS

[ATTACH]42882[/ATTACH]



or THIS at full speed in the NLCS, on a ball which was smoked and practially PAST him.....

[ATTACH]42883[/ATTACH]

Then how can ANY of your other diving catches ever be questioned???? How many times have you watched Edmonds dive for a ball and "just" miss it by an inch or two? Extremely rarely..... and if he WAS timing his catches to dive and get a ball in spectacular fashion on what should be a routine play, there should be FAR more instances of him timing it wrong by .0001 second, resulting in a missed ball. I for one can think of only a few times, and those seemed to be at full speed. NO one has timing so good they can time balls to dive after for YEARS, and not miss a ton of them. The wind, one bad step halfway to the ball, weather, bad or wet turf... I just don't but it. Too many variables.... and the great catches were as good as any CF of the 90's or 2000's.

You also don't play as shallow as he did if you want to turn the routine into a "web gem." He played that shallow because his instincts allowed him to do so. Running after well hit balls with his back to them, head down, looking up later to find the ball again and make the play, etc etc etc.

He's the best defensive Center Fielder of his generation... period. Better all around than Hunter, better arm than Griffey.

Sure, his clubhouse attitude was not the best at times, but I don't let that cloud my judgement of his abilities with the leather. He seemed to be rather non-chalant at the plate at times as well, but again... separate issue for me.

He has made a lot of legitimately good catches. The one tonight was very good. Its not that hard to time a diving catch, especially when you've been playing ball for over 30 years like Edmonds. You are a Cards fan and a homer, you're biased. I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true. You know it as well as I do. Just protecting one of your guys. I would probably do the same.

[Love The Game]

For the record I am and was first Lovethegame
Kinda surprised that spacing allowed another on board but hey ,welcome
I admire Edmonds career but see no point in damaging another psyche like the Cubs are prone to do
Pie can be covered by this lineup until he gets his bearings and Edmonds, while admirable, is through

Sorry about the name thing. It was my first choice and let me have it so here I am. We have something in common, we feel the same about the game.

[SamtheBravesFan]

I have to side with cardsfanatic on this one. If he did that all those times to specifically showboat, not only does he have to time his jump right, but he also to figure out where the ball is going to be in an instant. That's a lot to do in a span of a second. I don't think anyone is capable of doing that without missing a lot of balls.

[Zagi-CRO]

I think they acquired him only for a bench.

[rockin500]

I have to side with cardsfanatic on this one. If he did that all those times to specifically showboat, not only does he have to time his jump right, but he also to figure out where the ball is going to be in an instant. That's a lot to do in a span of a second. I don't think anyone is capable of doing that without missing a lot of balls.

he made catches harder on himself not because of a flair for the dramatic, IMO. He made them because he thought he had the speed to. He doesnt play a very deep centerfield, so he has to run further to catch those deep flies.

[SamtheBravesFan]

he made catches harder on himself not because of a flair for the dramatic, IMO. He made them because he thought he had the speed to. He doesnt play a very deep centerfield, so he has to run further to catch those deep flies.

Right. That's what I said. He had to dive for a lot of balls because he's a step or two slow. I remember seeing a show talking about Edmonds (I forget what it was) where someone brought up Cleon Jones, and said that he didn't have to dive for balls because he was so fast. Naturally, those who dive for balls get more attention, but still. The question is: did Edmonds dive for balls specifically to get more attention, or did he dive for balls because he had to to catch them? I'll side with the latter option.