Friday, February 13, 2009

Wow, Jim Was in Rare Form Yesterday...

From Dan Steinberg's Live Blog of the Dunn presser:
3:10: Jim Bowden: "The one thing that was proven this offseason is this organization is first-class, this organization is dedicated to getting to the top."

3:12:
The negotiations, Bowden said, were long and excruciating. "Thank goodness for Ambien," he added, "so I could get some sleep." Only Bowden.


Bowden has known Dunn since the latter was 18 years old. The one thing Bowden couldn't figure out, he said, was how Dunn married so far over his head. Then he gave Dunn's wife roses and kissed her on the cheek, wishing her a Happy Valentine's Day from Adam. And yeah, he was right about the "over his head" thing.

Then he praised Dunn's on-field performance enthusiastically, while taking a subtle shot at his strikeout numbers.

3:17:
Dunn just donned a 32 jersey, as did his son. Now the son is on Bowden's lap. He doesn't look too happy.


3:28:
Boz asked Bowden about Dunn's running and fielding.

"When the ball's hit to left field, I go get a cup of coffee, I don't watch," Bowden joked. "Put a stop-watch on him. He can run....The only thing we can't change is the strikeouts, that comes with him. It happened with Reggie Jackson, it happened with Harmon Killebrew. It's ok."

3:30: And a final question about whether Dunn could help out the Redskins.

"I did that with Deion once, I prefer not to do that again," Bowden said. "We'll just stay with one sport, thank you."
I think we can officially say Jim hit for the cycle of insufferable JimBo obnoxiousness. First, we get Jim, the belly-crawling, boot-licking sycophant ("first class organization..."). Then, we get a double-shot of awkward, cringe-inducing inappropriateness ("Ambien, kissing Dunn's wife"). He follows that up with a couple classic, over-the-top player comps ("He's Reggie Jackson! He's Harmon Killebrew! Lou Gehrig! Babe Ruth! Abe Lincoln! Jesus Christ!!!"). And finally, completing the cycle, he gives us a big dollop of conspicuous celebrity name-dropping ("Prime Time ... Prime Time ... Prime Time").

An historic day for sports in DC, indeed.

6 comments:

Grover said...

Steve-

Bowden is obviously an ass, but frankly, Reggie Jackson and Harmon Killebrew "aren't over the top" comps. Well, Killebrew, maybe. But there's less than ten point separating Dunn from Reggie in career OPS+, and if Dunn has two or three more years at the same level of performance he has shown over the past give years, he'll catch him.

redleg2420 said...

Take this from a Reds fan...Dunn is no Reggie Jackson!! Wait until the Dunner comes up with 2 men on and 2 outs with the game on the line...and he looks at strike 3. If there is a love affair with Dunn in DC, it won't last long.

Steven said...

Forget the clutch factor stuff. To say that Reggie Jackson is a fair comp you have to ignore era and park adjustments AND ignore defense. Reggie wasn't a wizard in the field, but he wasn't the butcher Dunn is.

Mike said...

B-R does post both Jackson and Killebrew as comparable players to Dunn through age 28.

A broader, if squirmier, view may be that of PECOTA, which compares Dunn to (among others) Pat Burrell. If part of that comparison is based on fielding numbers, it ain't too far off.

James Bjork said...

The syncophantic component of Bowden's schtick is no doubt why you will not likely be able to retire the name of this blog anytime soon.

El Rey said...

Let's be honest, I think all of us would like to give Dunn's wife a kiss and roses although it is creepy for Jimbo to act this way. Dunn's wife is a cutie.