Jose Reyes Batting Title

[sox83cubs84]

I'm surprised that nobody's mentioned the stunt John Kruk pulled in 1995 with the White Sox. He cracked a single, ran to first, and was immediately replaced by a pinch runner. He immediately retired, thereby ensuring that he would retire with a .300 career average

Dave Miedema

[TNTtoys]

Alot of players sit out entire games at the end of the year.

Very good point. You all know I am a die-hard Mets fan, but the fact that I play fantasy baseball allows me to keep close watch of other teams...

A curious case is Paul Konerko of the White Sox. Given the fact that so many things went wrong for the team this year (i.e. Adam Dunn, Ozzie Guillen's departure, etc.), Paulie remained the most consistent bright spot. Without distraction, he continued to put up his usual 30 HRs, 100 RBIs and .300 BA.

Very oddly, he wrapped up the last weekend series of the season hitting .300 on the nose. With 3 games to go (Mon, Tues, Wed), and at home nonetheless, Konerko sat out every game, despite being healthy.

As Justin mentioned, this type of thing happens all of the time (and in some cases like the one above, to a bigger degree). What I see is that it often goes unnoticed. I for one was annoyed that the starting 1st baseman on my fantasy team sat out these final three games, but how did the home fans feel? We're not talking about a player playing part of a single game and then pulling himself out; we're talking about the star of the team sitting out three games in a row...

[Titans74]

I'm surprised that nobody's mentioned the stunt John Kruk pulled in 1995 with the White Sox. He cracked a single, ran to first, and was immediately replaced by a pinch runner. He immediately retired, thereby ensuring that he would retire with a .300 career average

Dave Miedema

It's probably not been mentioned because not many people these days truly have detailed knowledge of the sport. They only know what ESPN tells them per segment.

[apfriz]

Maybe Im an idiot but I dont see the connection between Kruk and the topic at hand...(Reyes pulling himself for enhanced chance of clinching title)

Did Kruk brake some crazy record??? Was he the first person to retire with a .300 average ?? Hardly....

Did he do it late in the season with his team in a pennant race?
hardly.....

Kruk was good gritty player who played the game hard, that showed great adversity returning from testicular cancer, and has given much back to the fans and the game...

Did Kruk disrespect the game ? please
The fans? doubtfull, almost everyone loves the krukker and many mention this moment as one of the things they LIKED about him !

My opinion of Reyes is like most on the thread, this is one of the cheapest watered down batting titles ive seen....126 games? and then has the stones to take himself out of the last one??? comical
It would have been much easier to watch / accept if Reyes grinded out the schedule with 158 games played 700 abs and pulled this stunt...at least he would have legitimately earned it....what he did is simply garbage
in my mind...

and the rationale that its the first mets batting title??? really?
is THAT how you want it? Michael Strahan style?

[legaleagle92481]

Maybe Im an idiot but I dont see the connection between Kruk and the topic at hand...(Reyes pulling himself for enhanced chance of clinching title)

Did Kruk brake some crazy record??? Was he the first person to retire with a .300 average ?? Hardly....

Did he do it late in the season with his team in a pennant race?
hardly.....

Kruk was good gritty player who played the game hard, that showed great adversity returning from testicular cancer, and has given much back to the fans and the game...

Did Kruk disrespect the game ? please
The fans? doubtfull, almost everyone loves the krukker and many mention this moment as one of the things they LIKED about him !

My opinion of Reyes is like most on the thread, this is one of the cheapest watered down batting titles ive seen....126 games? and then has the stones to take himself out of the last one??? comical
It would have been much easier to watch / accept if Reyes grinded out the schedule with 158 games played 700 abs and pulled this stunt...at least he would have legitimately earned it....what he did is simply garbage
in my mind...

and the rationale that its the first mets batting title??? really?
is THAT how you want it? Michael Strahan style?

If Reyes batting title is watered down, what do you think of Joe Mauer's batting tittles? Joe played 140, 146 and 138 games in batting title seasons. He had 181, 176 and 191 hits respectively. Reyes had 181 hits and more at bats than Mauer had in any of his three batting title years. Yes, he is a catcher but shortstop is no picnic defensively either and after catcher is probably the most taxing defensive position. Nomar won two batting titles and played 135 and 140 games those years. Josh Hamilton played 133 games last year and won. Chipper Jones played 128 games when he won his with a whopping 160 hits.

[sox83cubs84]

Maybe Im an idiot but I dont see the connection between Kruk and the topic at hand...(Reyes pulling himself for enhanced chance of clinching title)

Did Kruk brake some crazy record??? Was he the first person to retire with a .300 average ?? Hardly....

Did he do it late in the season with his team in a pennant race?
hardly.....

Kruk was good gritty player who played the game hard, that showed great adversity returning from testicular cancer, and has given much back to the fans and the game...

Did Kruk disrespect the game ? please
The fans? doubtfull, almost everyone loves the krukker and many mention this moment as one of the things they LIKED about him !

My opinion of Reyes is like most on the thread, this is one of the cheapest watered down batting titles ive seen....126 games? and then has the stones to take himself out of the last one??? comical
It would have been much easier to watch / accept if Reyes grinded out the schedule with 158 games played 700 abs and pulled this stunt...at least he would have legitimately earned it....what he did is simply garbage
in my mind...

and the rationale that its the first mets batting title??? really?
is THAT how you want it? Michael Strahan style?

Hey, I like the Krukker too, but this wasn't just "retiring with a .300 BA". It was knowing you had a career .300 BA, intentionaly removing yourself from the game, and retiring before the game was over in order to be credited with a desirable personal career statistic. I also wonder if the Sox would have fared any better in '95 with a full season out of Kruk instead of losing him in midseason by his own choice in order to look better in the Baseball Encyclopedia?

Most of Kruk's carrer and post-career moves have been fine with me (I really enjoyed him on The Best Damn Sports Show, Period in the late 1990s). But, on this call, he really blew it.

Dave Miedema

[apfriz]

Hey Dave, I understand to a degree what you are saying, but maybe I dont think what he did compares to Reyes??

I think you and I can come up with many many examples of players who 'stuck around' to get a milestone.....300 wins, 4 - 500 hr, I dont think what kruk did was any different than that...

It seemed like Glavine stuck around FOREVER to get 300 wins....

I guess in the end what I see differently in Kruk's case is that he didnt take up a roster spot to hang around for a milestone, or do what reyes did to put his name in the books....

Perhaps we just dont see eye to eye on this one which is fine too, that is what makes baseball great ! the debate and discussion over different situations and how they are handled...greatest game out there...

.....still cant stand reyes though......lol

[apfriz]

Eagle,

I wasnt so much debating that he won while only playing 126 games...
(hamilton won the title by close to 30pts! and he was hurt in sept, he didnt pull himself to enhance his chances)
I am aware that players have won over the years playing fewer games

My beef with him is that he ONLY played 126 games AND pulled himself OUT ON TOP OF THAT....

I will lay my cards out and admit I hate Reyes, so perhaps my opinion is skewed, he has so much talent that he wastes....he's hot dogging, he is constantly hurt, probably too lazy to stretch, but again, i might be unfair as i dont care for him much...

Being said, I stand my opinion of what he did as bush-league...