Monday, July 21, 2008

Max Kellerman's Monday Musings Vol XIX - Yankee lineups, Media and the Importance of Teaching by Review

Today's Max Kellerman and Brian Kenny show was baseball-centric (as it should be in July) although it did have its fair share of social commentary, as this thinking man's sports show usually does.

There was quite a bit of discussion about Yankee lineups and the possible ways to to keep Jorge Posada in the game. In so doing Max and Brian discussed whether it made sense to use Molina at catcher (taking advantage of his gun of an arm) or to play Posada at catcher (capitalizing on his bat). The interesting wrinkle was that the decision whether to DH Posada or let him catch had ramifications for the outfield as it would impact on whether Melky Cabrera or future HOF Brett Gardner would be patrolling the outfield. Later in the day the Yankees announced that Posada was being placed on the disabled list, thus mooting the discussion. Still, the discussion was interesting at the time.

The show also featured a number of media related observations. Max said that Heath Ledger would win the Academy Award for his role in the recent Batman film. There was also a conversation about how Justin Timberlake "did an excellent job with the ESPYs." I do not recall who made the observation, and I did not watch the ESPYs so I really can't comment on the job that Justin Timberlake did as a host. Its odd to hear the name Justin Timberlake and sports in the same sentence, let alone to think that he did a good job hosting an awards show that relates to the past year in sports.

Another media observation that was right on the ball was the overuse of the word catalyst by the press. I don't think that this is a recent occurrence, but I wholeheartedly agree that the media tends to over dramatize an individual player's value and will pump him up as the "catalyst" that causes the team to perform.

Of course there was some Mets talk (as Max observed they are in first place so they should be discussed). Brian Kenny noted that since Jerry Manuel took over the Mets, they have an average of +1 run differential per game. Max and Brian split the credit for this, commending both Dan Warthen and Jerry Manuel on the jobs that they are doing.

In relation to Warthen, I think that Brian and Max correctly identified that Mike Pelfrey has improved since he started working with Warthen. However, they did not go far enough in assessing the gains made by the pitching staff since Rick Peterson's "ten minutes" ended. Yes, Mike Pelfrey has improved -- I heard an interview with him on 660 AM where he specifically credited Warthen and his attitude towards pitching. Pelfrey was careful not to disparage Peterson, even when asked questions that were set up to evoke a negative response. But what was not discussed by Brian and Max is the impact on the bullpen since Warthen became the pitching coach. During the last month or so: Heilman has made 18 appearances giving up earned runs in only 3 games and not yielding a home run; Scott Schoenweis' has made 12 appearances giving up earned runs in only one game; Joe Smith has made 12 appearances and only gave up earned runs and home runs in two games; while Duaner Sanchez has made 15 appearances during that time span, giving up earned runs in only one game and no HRs. While Pelfrey has certainly improved under Warthen's tutelage, the bullpen's renaissance since Peterson was let go just cannot be ignored.

The observations about Jerry Manuel also merit mention, both for the insights by Max Kellerman and Brian Kenny into the way that Jerry conducts himself with the team as well as the way that these thoughts are grounded in Torah though. (In my opinion, every Kellerman show has an element of Torah thought, but like my posts in general, that is just my opinion).

In discussing Jerry Manuel's approach to managing the team, it was observed by Max Kellerman and Brian Kenny that Manuel is a teacher who sits down with the players both before and after the game. In so doing Manuel both teaches the player how to excel and then later reviews with the player what worked and did not work. Not surprisingly, Max's reference to the concept of the need to review in order to cement one's knowledge is a cornerstone of Jewish thought. Indeed, the Gemara in Chagiga 9b talks about the significance of reviewing things that were learned because the level of retention increases from merely reviewing the concept one more time. There are also myriad stories in the Talmud of students who reviewed concepts forty times or implored their teachers to review the concepts forty times or more, so that they would be able to retain their knowledge. (Examples include Keusbos 22b where Rav reviewed a concept 40 times; Kesubos 50a where Rav Yosef reviewed something forty times and thereafter it was like he had it in his pocket and Pesachim 72a and Berachos 28a where matters were reviewed forty times to assure retention).

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