Quote:
Originally Posted by Lex Luthor
I've been a hardcore Royals fan since Opening Night of 1969. I vividly remember when Cedric Tallis traded Joe Foy for Amos Otis and Bob Johnson prior to the 1970 season. I watched Amos Otis's entire career with the Royals. I think I'm qualified to comment on your observations regarding Amos Otis.
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as did I and likewise....
I have no personal axe to grind against Otis. Your glasses were much rosier than mine. Stats can be very deceiving. The 20 pts higher when men were on base what I saw in his career came when the game was lost or the season was lost . No pressure and much easier to hit and he did but when it was a lost cause the majority of the time(the ol padding the stats). This was OTIS most of his career !!!
He just never lived up to the 5 Tool Hype in clutch play most of his career UNTIL the 80 WS where he really came through when needed the most.
His defense, base stealing and speed were never a question in my mind. And why when Brett began to really evolve in his game
was such a breath of fresh air because he was totally a clutch player the majority of the time. Brett was not near the natural athlete Otis was and Brett will tell you that. Brett will tell you he was not a natural fielder nor hitter and had to work his arse off. Of the five tools Brett would tell you he was not a natural of any one of the 5 where Otis was just based on athletic ability alone. The only tool that came natural to Brett and that is essential for any player to live up to his potential and speaking philosophically here was
his love for the game. Now I am not going to question Otis's love for the game but rather I think he put to much pressure on himself.
At the time he came up with the Mets he was touted as the next Willie Mays much like Mercer being touted as the next Mickey Mantle in that same time period. Who would want that put on them ??? I felt sorry for both guys. But Otis like Mercer lived with that curse and when Cedric brought Otis to KC, Otis also brought that psychological curse with him IMHO. But when the 80 WS came around Otis produced big time and I give him credit for that series.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lex Luthor
I do remember that some of the less-knowledgeable fans used to criticize Otis. It's a shame you have such a warped view of him.
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Come on Lex enough with the backhanded pretentious condescension here, you are above that. We have enough of that in the bloviating narcissistic bitter "Dunkin Donut Potato Boy" from Idaho
