Bill Hall has Lasik!

[sgtcluels]

Gone are the days of messing with his contacts?

 

All went well, here's to hoping he can now see how far out of the zone a pitch is, and not swing at it.

[MarquesJohnson2000]

Maybe they cut that part of his eye out.

[splitterpfj]

Bill had talked about this during spring training, he said he'd be getting it done.

[hawing]

The S.O. and I were just pondering on Friday (on the way back from the clubhouse sale) whether Bill was really going to have the Lasik as he'd stated during the 2008 season. Now we know.

 

It seemed to serve Jason Kendall well enough...

[BrewCrewForever]

Good point hawing, it worked for Kendall so it just might help out Hall to. I sure hope, I don't know if Hall could ever put up his 2006 numbers again but if he even put up his 2005 numbers while platooning at 3B with Lamb I would be ecstatic.

[logan82]

Well let's hope it does more for Hall than it did for Kendall. Kendall was still one of the worst hitters in MLB last year.

[rluzinski]

Good point hawing, it worked for Kendall so it just might help out Hall to.

 

Kendall pretty much nailed his pre-Lasik projection, so I'm going to have to say that it had no obvious effect.

[lukevan]

Who knows though, it could help Hall more than it did Kendall, plus Kendall could've been helped by Lasik and regressed due to age. Hall seemed to have more trouble the last couple seasons seeing that ball on the outside corner. I wouldn't bank on this making a significant difference though.

[brettac1]

Phew. So much for needing a 3B. Hall + Lasik + Lamb = .900 OPS.

[ILuvDaBush]

The drum beat for the Bill Hall Bandwagon. Bill Hall has Lasik. So can we begin to expect 35+HR?

[WV Brew]

Kendall caught a ridiculous amount of games for somebody of his age. It undoubtedly affected his hitting the second half of the year. Someone can post the splits but he was certainly better than the '07 Kendall until fatigue kicked in. Hopefully, it may be of some use for Bill Hall. Not hoping for too much though.

[Roderick]

Yost either loved Kendell or hated him, because he played him every single game. I would say that would tax your hitting quite a bit.

[monty57]

Amen, WV & Roderick. If Macha gives Rivera a few games now and then, I'd expect Kendall to be a little better this year. As far as Hall, the Lasik can't hurt. For the most part, I don't have many problems with my contacts, but they can give a person trouble now and then, and it could have had some affect on his hitting on any given day. I wouldn't expect much though, as his vision with contacts shouldn't be much different than vision with Lasik.

[sgtcluels]

Can Bill Hall pitch? I know the question was asked before, but there's an opening in the rotation now!

[TooLiveBrew]

Kendall 2008 month-by-month batting lines (BABIP in parentheses) --

 

.294/.365/.388/.753 (.321)

.218/.313/.287/.600 (.232)

.312/.379/.403/.782 (.324)

.169/.267/.225/.492 (.190)

.287/.350/.351/.701 (.329)

.202/.295/.298/.592 (.203)

 

 

I'm no expert, but given that Kendall demonstrated that he was still capable of at least getting on base at a good clip for 3 months of the season, I'd have to wager that lightening his playing time load would lead to better offensive performance. With all the wacky up-&-down numbers, imo his season line (.246/.327/.324/.651; BABIP .265) does a good job of displaying his value in 2008. I agree with logan's & rluz's point that Lasik will probably not make much of a change (if any) in Hall's production.

[logan82]

I agree that Kendall played way to many games last year. How much it would improve his stats? I don't know, but I doubt it would hurt. July looks horrible. He even had a week off to rest that month.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I'd like to see Hall try his new eyes on a different team.

[Turnbowsaves24]

I hope Billy gets his swing back because he really need him now. Let's hope he improves drastically!

[logan82]

I think Hall will improve drastically next year not because of the Lasik but because of the platoon.

[Fatter than Joey]

What if they transplant his eyes with those of a serial killer?

[sgtcluels]

That might work out ok for us too. I'd assume his contract has an out clause in case of serial killing.

[Fatter than Joey]

Kendall pretty much nailed his pre-Lasik projection, so I'm going to have to say that it had no obvious effect.

 

Kendall said himself it helped him a lot -- Obviously, he still has no power, and he isn't going to start hitting all sorts of HRs because he got his eyes tweaked, but if it helps you stay competitive that is certainly good enough.

[djoctagone]

will billy hall's improved vision increase his chances avoiding a smack in the face by a teammate's batting helmet?