Let’s Hear It for Chris Chambliss
By
Amanda
Posted at 12:05 pm
John Fay has a story in the Enquirer about the effect that hitting coach Chris Chambliss has had on the Reds since he joined the club in 2004. Fay's story focuses on patience at the plate with a special emphasis on walks.
I liked this table that appeared in to story showing the Reds' National League Ranking in some important offensive categories:
| Year | AVG | R | 2B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SLG | OBP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 15 | 13 | 16 | 6 | 13 | 11 | 16 | 13 | 14 |
| 2004 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 16 | 9 | 9 |
| 2005 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 1 | 4 |
| 2006 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 1 |
I think the walks are great, but I think there's even more to it than that. It's impossible not to notice how the Reds trip over hitters these days, how questionable players come to the Reds and almost magically find their stroke.
Also impossible not to notice how well the Yankees have done since they fired Chambliss in 2000.
So let's hear it for Chris Chambliss and for the Reds for keeping him around. I love to see them do things right.
Pay the man!
The walks are great, in and of themselves (because they’re baserunners, and Not Outs). But even more, they’re a symptom of the right approach. The Reds hitters (even Phillips, it’s starting to appear) draw walks not becuase they’re looking for them, but because their approach is to look for the pitch they can drill. If it’s not there, they end up walking. If it is… see, First in Homers.
Another interesting thing about that table… The Reds have had the best offense in the league over the past two years (runs scored). They’ve also been near the top in the league in extra base hits, walks, obp, slg, etc. And yet they’ve remained near the bottom in strikeouts. Strikeouts aren’t good things, of course, but their importance is tremendously overrated.
But yeah, I think you may be right about the Chambliss effect. The Yankees offense hasn’t exactly fallen apart since he left, but there were a lot of stories about how much of a difference he made with Adam Dunn when he came over to the team…and you’re also right that a lot of hitters do seem to have a renaissance when they’re with the Reds. Randa, Aurilia, and perhaps now Hatteberg and Phillips. Maybe Chambliss is the Leo Mazzone of hitting coaches? 🙂
-j
It’s a perfect combination of Chambliss and the maturing of some very good young hitters. The Reds have a lot of talented bats in their lineup – Dunn, Kearns, Lopez, EdE, and Phillips all were highly touted hitting prospects in the minors. Chambliss is the right man at the right time for this team. He’s taught them to use their talents wisely, and the results are undeniable.
Also, as has been pointed out, some older players have also been successful under Chambliss. Look at players like Larue and LLM. Neither were all that great before Chambliss came along and made them into a powerful duo. Richie was on his way out of baseball before coming to the Reds. And if Hatteberg weren’t on the “every other year” plan already, I would assume that Chambliss turned his game back around too.
Really what I like about this offense, and what I imagine Chambliss has instilled in them, is the mindset to work the pitcher. I was frustrated on Sunday because there exactly any long at bats by the Reds. But I noticed it because this team is really good at making the pitcher work to get them out. That leads to more pitches by the pitcher and more importantly, a larger possibility of mistakes. And the Reds hitters have been taking advantage of those mistakes all year long.
Thanks for the comments, gents. Sounds like we all agree that Chambliss rocks. Now if only we could find his counterpart for coaching…actually, it’s kind of hard to find too much to complain about with the Reds right now. “Longevity,” perhaps, since the biggest fear for many of us is that this can’t last.
in the next collective bargaining agreement baseball needs to get more creative with what teams can trade. for instance, the twins should be allowed to offer us a spot start or two from johan santana for a weekend retreat with chambliss for justin morneau. Let the invisible hand of the market figure it out!
Hiya WMP. Nice to hear from you again.
I think that’s a great idea. I’d like to see the Reds try out some of those 80s Astros uniforms; maybe they could just borrow them for a weekend in exchange for Gapper?