March 26, 2007
Highs and Lows
Paul Sullivan discusses the problems the Cubs face moving from Arizona to Chicago, and the chilling effects on hitting.
So while Cubs hitters have looked relatively sharp this spring, the turn of the calendar from March to April can lead to a sudden change of direction.
Ramirez wasn't the only Cubs hitter who struggled last April, when the Cubs ranked 11th in the National League with a .256 average. Jacque Jones and Juan Pierre also started slowly. Though all three finished with decent numbers, the Cubs fell 8- games out of first by May 13.
While Sullivan is most concerned about the weather, there is also the elevation effect. Phoenix is 1100 feet above sea level, Chicago, 580 feet. The higher you go, the better the ball travels.
Posted by David Pinto at
08:35 AM
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Offense
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Sullivan is an idiot.
First of all, if the Cubs offense struggles due to weather/elevation, so will the teams they play.
Second of all, the Cubs have the deepest offense than they have had in years, if not ever.
Third, if Sullivan wanted to act like an actual reporter, he would have given us Ramirez, Jones, and Pierre's spring stats last and compared them to this year, and then looked at least year's April stats to see how they compared to the spring stats.
But Sullivan is too lazy to write an actually useful article.
The difference in the density of the air between 1100 and 580 feet is not going to affect how far a fly ball travels by a significant margin. Far more of an influence is the wind in Wrigley, which can take a "fer shur" home run and knock it down into shallow center field, or a routine fly to right and blow it out of the park.
Spot on dave,
He just found the same, tired ass article Sully writes every year before the season starts. Just the names and numbers get swapped out....But thanks to global warming, we had an 80 degree day in Chicago today. Works for me, and it'll work for DLee, too. No, the reasons those guys didn't hit last year have nothing to do with the elevation of Mesa, Az.
