D.J. LeMathieu wins batting title by sitting out final games instead of playing like a man.

The Rockies' D.J. LeMathieu won the NL batting title by one point over the Nationals' Daniel Murphy. LeMathieu went into the weekend at .348, just ahead of Murphy's .347.

But instead of manning up and playing his final two games, LeMathieu sat out to preserve his lead, since Murphy is injured and couldn't move ahead of him.

LeMathieu also sat out Wednesday and Thursday, and left Friday's game a few innings in after going 0-2.

So he played half of one game of the final five games to win the title, despite not being hurt or needing to be rested for the playoffs.

I think that was kind of cowardly and not very sportsmanlike, especially since Murphy was out injured and couldn't compete against him.

What do you think about LeMathieu purposely sitting out 4.5 of the final 5 games to preserve the batting title?

In contrast, Ted Williams went into the final day of the 1941 season with a .3995 avg, which would have been officially round up to .400.

It was a double header and Williams quickly got a couple hits to raise his average above .400. Did he sit out the final game of the double header to preserve his .400? Of course not. He went an amazing 6 for 8 in the double header and raised his final season average to .406.

Yes, not a fan of it...

Ryan

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There isn't even a comparison. Ted was a man's man and you don't see much of that today in our candy assed PC society.

DJ was on my fantasy team this year and was great all year for me, all his other owners and rockies fans alike. Even though I had already lost and didn't need him this week it was really disappointing to see. I'd be interested in how much him sitting out games was influenced by him, management and ownership. I know sometimes the management and ownership wants to try to salvage something from a bad season in the standings by having players win awards or statistical titles to try and move some extra merch. Regardless of who was the driving force it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

What a wuss

Well his agent probably made him do it. If you are pro/against unions as an employee that will make him more money.
Batting titles are hard to come by.

DJ played in more games and had more at-bats

George_Calfas said:

DJ played in more games and had more at-bats

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That's different than protecting your stats that you or your manager controlled. Not health realted.

Ryan

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Yeah I don't know how he'll be able to look at that award sitting on his mantle and not think about how he got it and the what-ifs had he played this week. Seems like it would cloud my happiness for winning it, if it were me.

RStadlerASU22 said:

That's different than protecting your stats that you or your manager controlled. Not health realted.

Ryan

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Click to expand...

Days off and time on the DL are part of the baseball grind.

End of the day DJ played in more games and had more at-bats; FACT. So he did not play in meaningless games in the final weekend. Now had he played in less games and had fewer at-bats AND took the weekend off to protect the lead that is another thing. Also, if Murphy had as many ABs and games played maybe he would have overtaken DJ or been behind him.....tough to whine when one guy did more.

George_Calfas said:

DJ played in more games and had more at-bats

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DJ plays at Coors Field and his splits were .391 home / .303 away. He's a "Coors Field" batting champion, and I'm not impressed by a player that doesn't want to play.

gracecollector said:

DJ plays at Coors Field and his splits were .391 home / .303 away. He's a "Coors Field" batting champion, and I'm not impressed by a player that doesn't want to play.

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I would have to agree with this. Sitting out games to win a statistical award seems like a bad move. I'm sure if they were playing for a spot in the post season he would have sat him as well?

This is no different than tanking...

George_Calfas said:

Days off and time on the DL are part of the baseball grind.

End of the day DJ played in more games and had more at-bats; FACT. So he did not play in meaningless games in the final weekend. Now had he played in less games and had fewer at-bats AND took the weekend off to protect the lead that is another thing. Also, if Murphy had as many ABs and games played maybe he would have overtaken DJ or been behind him.....tough to whine when one guy did more.

Click to expand...

Days off at the end of the season to protect an award are not part of the grind, its basically the opposite. We will just have to differ on opinion here.

Ryan

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I've really enjoyed watching D.J. play the last couple of years here in Denver and appreciate the solid play he has brought to the Rockies but I agree with those who didn't like him sitting so much to preserve the batting title. I haven't seen whether or not he had a bonus riding on it or not, so maybe there was some financial incentive (and in his defense, he "only" made $3M this year). Anyway -- I guess I'm not offended by it, but I'd rather he played this weekend. If he'd wanted to play (regardless of anything Weiss said), he would've been out there.

I understand the point G_C is making but at the end of the day this was poor sportsmanship and not the best way to win an individual award.


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Austin said:

The Rockies' D.J. LeMathieu won the NL batting title by one point over the Nationals' Daniel Murphy. LeMathieu went into the weekend at .348, just ahead of Murphy's .347.

But instead of manning up and playing his final two games, LeMathieu sat out to preserve his lead, since Murphy is injured and couldn't move ahead of him.

LeMathieu also sat out Wednesday and Thursday, and left Friday's game a few innings in after going 0-2.

So he played half of one game of the final five games to win the title, despite not being hurt or needing to be rested for the playoffs.

I think that was kind of cowardly and not very sportsmanlike, especially since Murphy was out injured and couldn't compete against him.

What do you think about LeMathieu purposely sitting out 4.5 of the final 5 games to preserve the batting title?

In contrast, Ted Williams went into the final day of the 1941 season with a .3995 avg, which would have been officially round up to .400.
It was a double header and Williams quickly got a couple hits to raise his average above .400. Did he sit out the final game of the double header to preserve his .400? Of course not. He went an amazing 6 for 8 in the double header and raised his final season average to .406.

Click to expand...

I think LeMahieu should have played out the year.

I remember not sure the year 03 maybe. Another DJ could have sit out with a chance to win the batting title in the AL but played and didnt win it. Have more respect for someone who played.

Money and awards....isn't what any sport these days is about? He can add 2016 NL batting title to his resume and nobody can question it. He is making peanuts compared to what Murphy is making so why the hell not!

It's easy for us to judge him. But I know for a fact that if my employer told me to take a week off with pay to ensure that I would win the employee of the year and receive a huge bonus, I would gladly accept it. Plus, no one remembers second. Congrats DJ!