"long-term mediocre major-league pitchers"

Wed Sep 24 18:09:27 UTC 2008

At 12:52 PM -0400 9/24/08, ronbutters at aol.com wrote:
>My understanding of "mediocre" is something like 'not up to
>average'.  This is more or less confirmed by the American Heritage
>definition: "ADJECTIVE: Moderate to inferior in quality; ordinary."

Note that "moderate...in quality" and "ordinary" are not
interchangeable with "inferior in quality" or "not up to average".
There's a range of application here.

>I'd say that "18 years, 9 different teams, lifetime 74-67, ERA 4.16"
>is extradordinary even when compared to most other major league
>baseball players, many of whom last less than one season. So this
>particular player, in my book, does not qualify as "mediocre" or
>even particularly ordinary.

Just to see if I was being idiosyncratic or unfair, I tried googling
"Kent Mercker" + mediocre.  From the first page of hits:

The problem is that as mediocre as Mercker has aspired to be for the
last couple of years,...
[from a BaseballProspectus web analysis for the 1999 Red Sox]

Kent Mercker, mediocre reliever and professional tattletale...
[from a blog on the 2004 Cubs]

I guess in that sense, Mercker is an upgrade; but I'd just as well
have Reyes or Thompson or Tavarez pitch in these situations that call
for leftys rather than adding a mediocre left-hander. [from a blog on
the 2005 Orioles]

His [K.M.'s] fantasy value gets a boost from a few extra saves, but
his numbers will otherwise be pretty mediocre.
[from a fantasy blog on the 2006 Cincinnati Reds]

Another postings cite his "mediocre" work, talents, or status as a
member of the Indians, Red Sox, etc.

At least if my judgment is off, I'm not alone!

LH

>I would be more inclined to agree with Larry that "mediocre
>major-league pitcher" could apply to one of those pitchers who has
>not been in the majors for "longtime." Even then, though, it makes a
>difference whether or not one takes "major-league" as a restrictive
>or nonrestrictive modifier. I took Larry's phrase to mean 'mediocre
>pitcher who spent a long time in the majors' and not 'pitcher who
>was mediocre by big-league standards'. Pitchers who make it to the
>big leagues for any oength of time at all are pretty likely to be
>something better than "ordinary" or "mediocre" when compared to all
>professional pitchers.
>
>As for how to tell who is a "long-time mediocre Ivy league
>professor," Larry is totally wrong that there are not fairly
>reliable stats. They are called "c.v.'s." And they give one a pretty
>good idea of which professors are ''mediocre players who have
>nonetheless spent a long time in the majors." These are the folks
>who are not-so-politely referred to by their col leagues as "dead
>wood" and "departmental mistakes." Unlike professional baseball,
>universities have something called "tenure."
>
>At 1:22 PM +0000 9/24/08,
><mailto:ronbutters at aol.com>ronbutters at aol.com wrote:
>>"longtime mediocre major-league pitcher" is an oxymoron
>>(unlike >"longtime mediocre Ivy-league professor"--please note that
>>I am NOT >suggesting that Prof. Horn is anything but brilliant)
>
>No more of an oxymoron than "NBA small forward", referring to
>basketball players ranging from 6'4" to 6'10" or so. "Mediocre",
>like "long", "small", etc. etc., is a relative scalar adjective
>whose extension depends on the comparison class. Are you saying it's
>oxymoron to refer to the Kansas City Royals as "a bad baseball team"
>because if they were in a different league (e.g. the Atlantic Coast
>Conference) rather than in the American League they might go
>undefeated? Mercker, by most definitions, has been a
>middle-of-the-pack pitcher, and hence mediocre qua major-league
>pitcher, while (in part because of being a southpaw) hanging around
>forever. 18 years, 9 different teams, lifetime 74-67, ERA 4.16--in
>my book, that makes him a mediocre journeyman--nothing personal,
>although for all I know he'll be superb at vodka conversion. And
>yes, there are indeed longtime mediocre Ivy league professors, even
>at Yale, whether or not that includes present company. Luckily, it's
>harder to confirm this by looking a t the career stat sheet.
>
>LH
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
>To: ronbutters at aol.com; ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Sent: Wed, 24 Sep 2008 9:50 am
>Subject: Re: notable quotable on post-retirement plans
>
>At 1:22 PM +0000 9/24/08,
><mailto:ronbutters at aol.com>ronbutters at aol.com wrote:
>>"longtime mediocre major-league pitcher" is an oxymoron
>>(unlike >"longtime mediocre Ivy-league professor"--please note that
>>I am NOT >suggesting that Prof. Horn is anything but brilliant)
>
>No more of an oxymoron than "NBA small forward", referring to
>basketball players ranging from 6'4" to 6'10" or so. "Mediocre",
>like "long", "small", etc. etc., is a relative scalar adjective
>whose extension depends on the comparison class. Are you saying it's
>oxymoron to refer to the Kansas City Royals as "a bad baseball team"
>because if they were in a different league (e.g. the Atlantic Coast
>Conference) rather than in the American League they might go
>undefeated? Mercker, by most definitions, has been a
>middle-of-the-pack pitcher, and hence mediocre qua major-league
>pitcher, while (in part because of being a southpaw) hanging around
>forever. 18 years, 9 different teams, lifetime 74-67, ERA 4.16--in
>my book, that makes him a mediocre journeyman--no thing personal,
>although for all I know he'll be superb at vodka conversion. And
>yes, there are indeed longtime mediocre Ivy league professors, even
>at Yale, whether or not that includes present company. Luckily, it's
>harder to confirm this by looking at the career stat sheet.
>
>LH
>
>>
>>------Original Message------
>>From: Laurence Horn
>>Sender: ADS-L
>>To: ADS-L
>>ReplyTo: ADS-L
>>Sent: Sep 24, 2008 12:30 AM
>>Subject: [ADS-L] notable quotable on post-retirement plans
>>
>>I don't know if he invented the line, but longtime mediocre
>>major-league pitcher Kent Mercker has been widely quoted on the web
>>and now TV for his elegant response last week as to where he thought
>>his career would be heading now: "I'm starting my new
>>profession--turning vodka into urine."
>>
>>LH
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society -
>><http://www.americandialect.org>http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>
>>Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society -
>><http://www.americandialect.org>http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org