Jerry Manuel's 'Bag' of Tricks

It is young Ike Davis's second appearance in the hallowed cyber-pages of Batter Chatter this week, though this one is not based on merit whatsover. Ike has been a miserable 1 for 13 with 6 Ks in Phoenix, and skipper Jerry Manuel suspects it's because Davis, a native of Scottsdale, is trying to impress his friends and family in the crowd at the D-backs' Chase Field.

SNY guy Gary Cohen related last night how Manuel said the young slugger was out of sorts this week. "Ike is trying a little too hard to impress," said Manuel, according to Cohen. "He's swinging at the rosin bag."

'Swinging at the rosin bag' sounded like a classic Jerry Manuel ad lib; if you haven't watched Manuel's post-game interviews, they're delightful. He's a fun mix of hepcat jazzbo and funky English professor, with a knack for quirky language.

The phrase suggests that Davis perhaps ingested some of that peyote our American deserts are famous for, which threw his hitting intuition slightly out of whack.

In fact, swinging at the rosin bag is an established expression, piped up Cohen's boothmate, Ron Darling. "It's an old baseball term," said Darling. "It doesn't matter what the pitcher is throwing up there--he's swinging."

Indeed, this past spring, Cubs farm director Oneri Fleita said this about prospect Starlin Castro:

"He was never really a guy who went up there swinging at the rosin bag,'' Fleita said. "He had plate discipline."

Back in 2005, when the Angels were back in Anaheim, then-DH Jeff DaVanon told the L.A. Times he was no longer making like a boxer and hitting the bag.

"I started walking more last year because I stopped swinging at the rosin bag," DaVanon said.

The Mets lost in 14 last night. Davis struck out thrice, but took heart in sending a rosin bag to the edge of the warning track in right-center, where it was caught by Justin Upton.

[image: equipmentbag.com]

Strasburg a 'Sensational', 'Spectacular' 'Stunner'

Sportswriters need some new terms to describe Stephen Strasburg, says word ref Delia Cabe on Boston.com. "Wunderkind" is overdone when talking about the Nats', well, wunderkind, she opines in her "All the Cliches Fit to Print" essay.

Cabe writes:

Wunderkind. Did you hear about Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg? A wunderkind. Also, some bloggers, a convicted real estate mogul, conductors, musicians, writers, ad infinitum. You’d be surprised how many wunderkinds there are out there.

C'mon, are the baseball pundits out there really that lazy and simple-minded? I mean, Batter Chatter would never fall into the trap of spitting out the same hackneyed terms used by mediocre sportswriters who are biding their time until their Chapt. 11 owner offers them a buyout.

Er, in fact, we did. In a post a few weeks ago about people describing Strasburg's repertoire in video-game terms, we said this:

Today of course marks the Major League debut of wunderkind pitcher Stephen Strasburg, and the MLB Network is capitalizing on the monstrous interest in the Nationals' #1 pick by showing the game tonight...

It seems Strasburg is simply too much of a wunderkind to describe him any other way: his age, his ability, his Germanic surname.

Dictionary.com defines "wunderkind" as "1. a wonder child or child prodigy. 2. a person who succeeds, esp. in business, at a comparatively early age."

Certainly both apply to Strasburg.

Then over to Thesaurus.com (will my children ever know what an actual reference book feels like?), where the suggested synonyms include: brain*, child genius, curiosity, enormity, freak*, genius, intellect, marvel, mastermind, miracle, monster, natural, one in a million, phenomenon, portent, rare bird, rarity, sensation, spectacle, stunner, talent, whiz kid, whiz*, wizard, wonder, wonder child. (The * denotes informal usage.)

We promise to not use wunderkind to describe Strasburg, who turns 22 next month, in these cyber-pages for a period of not less than 18 months--at which point Strasburg may still be a "wunder" (meaning "wonderful," according to Google's German-to-English translation), but most certainly will not be a "kind" (a "child", per Google Translate).

ESPN.com scribe Rick Reilly uses a loose translation of wunderkind in his name for Strasburg, "The Superkid."

Another baseball writer cliche made Delia Cabe's list: embattled. Among the "embattled" folks kicked around in the media these days are BP boss Tony Hayward, of course, Lindsay Lohan, GOP chairman Michael Steele, and Mets skipper Jerry Manuel.

Manuel of course was embattled before the Mets' recent hot streak, though dropping a pair this week in Puerto Rico likely has Jerry back in the 'battle.


[image: Yahoo]

Manuel Labors For Right Word Regarding Bad Ollie

I swear, sometimes this blog just writes itself.

Mets skipper Jerry Manuel was chatting with reporters over the weekend about what's really the only downer in Metsville these days--Ollie Perez's refusal to go to the minor league Buffalo Bisons to learn to become a major league pitcher again. ("The buffalo in the locker room," deftly quipped NY Timesman Joe Lapointe.)

The Mets avoided a sticky situation by putting Perez on the disabled list. The move raised some eyebrows, because no one seemed to know that Perez was injured.

Manuel, however, said the team's front office deserved better than skepticism that it was playing a little dirty pool.

Writes the Times:

Manuel acknowledged that the timing of Perez’s injury would raise suspicions, but he defended the legitimacy of the injury, going so far as to coin a new word.

“In my years that I have been here, the Wilpons, Saul Katz, Omar Minaya, they have had similar situations where they could have used what I would say would be a less integrious option,” Manuel said, referring to the Mets’ management. “But they never chose that.”

It's not surprising for ballplayers to make up new words (or "strategery"-minded presidents, for that matter); you'll recall that Roger Clemens said former friend Andy Pettitte likely "misremembered" Clemens doing juice. Of course, Clemens was called The Rocket, not The Rocket Scientist.

It's less common for bookish, jazz-bo managers in chem professor glasses to make them up.

I just hope the Mets continue their victoriginous ways.

[image: zimbio.com]