August 4, 2021
During a recent press conference, a reporter asked one question that would set off Nashville Bluebirds manager Daniel Labrie, Jr. like never before.
"On a recent podcast one of the BBA GM's said that when looking at Nashville you have to wonder where the good players are, and that the Bluebirds' success has been nothing but smoke and mirrors. Care to comment?"
A visibly upset Labrie, Jr. started with "Comment? Comment? Yeah...I'll comment alright."
He continued. "Where do I begin? The lack of respect for this team is maddening to me. Where are the good players? Do you have eyes? Can you see?"
"We have the #1 bullpen in the Frick. Manuel Orozco was somehow our only All-Star, but he's not the only stud out there. Lorenzo de' Medici has been awesome all year. Francisco Barrera has a 0.55 ERA. Yes, I said 0.55, fellas. Ash Davenport has come up as a rookie and has a 0.86 ERA. We picked up Bert Hugill off waivers and he's only put up a 1.28 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in 15 games. Now we added Kidanu Cherono who in his first three games has two saves and a 1.08 WHIP. No good players??"
"Our starters are no slouches either. Chin Kim is 9-3 with a 4.27 ERA. Eru Likiliki is 10-8 with a 4.92 ERA. Josh Brown is 10-5 with a 4.69 ERA. We picked up Hao Kun and he's been pretty good too, despite a 5.29 ERA he has a rotation best 1.24 WHIP and is 5-2 in his 9 starts."
"The guy who has been key to the whole staff is Ta-heng Hor. He's started and relieved and has been awesome at both. IN 27 games (12 starts) he's 5-3 with a 3.74 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. No one wanted this guy."
"Let's move on, shall we? Anyone want a catcher who is hitting .301/.356/.551 with 16 HR and 60 RBI and a 2.4 WAR? How Alberto Rodriguez wasn't an All-Star is a bit perplexing."
"No good players??? Ernesto Sousa says hi. .337/.384/.642 with 19 HR and 55 RBI. A .642 slugging doesn't classify you as good? William Wood has 27 HR, 68 RBI and a 2.1 WAR. Not good? Gipper Kengos has a 2.1 WAR, 138 hits and is batting .311."
"They concede Kidane Ata is a good player. They say he's our one good player. His 2.2 WAR offensively is second to Rodriguez. His pitching hasn't been that good this year but we know that a lot of that has to do with the .404 BABIP."
"We platoon a lot, so maybe that's why we don't get the respect. Look at the middle infield. Francisco Otero and J.J. McQuade have a combined 2.2 WAR- that's the same as Ata's offensive WAR. Jesus Yan and Sam Wade at second base have a combined 1.4 WAR. Good enough for me. Plus we have a rookie at third base in Tony Frost that is just getting his feet wet but will be a star."
"You forget about Alonso Olvere because he's been injured for a while. Remember he was batting .316/.351/.526 with 12 HR, 46 RBI and 1.1 WAR. How do we replace him? Just by calling up another kid by the name of Stephen Lord who has hit .311/.395/.622/1.017 with 6 HR and 18 RBI in 74 at-bats."
"Smoke and mirrors? More like a MASTERFUL collective effort of putting pieces together into a team. Baseball is still a team game, right?"
"So, would I care to comment? You're damn right I would."
Labrie, Jr. then left the podium to a rousing ovation by a group of players that has collected throughout his tirade.
