EVIL~! alkeiper

It wasn't that Mesa couldn't handle the pressure. Its just that Mesa SUCKS.

Precisely. My favorite Bill James quote..... "Cecil Fielder claims a listed weight of 261 lbs., leaving unanswered the question of what might happen if he put his other foot on the scale."

Listed weights are dubvious.

He might be fattER, but I don't recall him ever being thinner. His weight has been cited as an issue for years.

Especially for a closer. Not all saves are created equal, and the save adversely effects in game strategy. I think the Dodgers are pissed scared to bring Eric Gagne in before the ninth for fear that he'll lose that streak. All pitchers give up runs at some point. A team like the Mets are more likely to only spot their closer one run. Hence more blown saves. Yes.

Sure you can. The save is an utterly meaningless statistic.

On the converse side, how can I get into football when 90% of its games fall conflict with my work schedule? Baseball is always there for six months. You don't have to watch every game. Its beautiful.

Benitez was always good. Its just the blown saves always got splashed at the top of the highlight shows. No one remembers a flawless inning, but they always remember the screwups.

Sidearm is just that. A pitcher throws the ball at a 3 o'clock angle. I'm not sure of a specific example. Byung Hyun Kim throws somewhere around this angle, perhaps a little lower. A submariner throws underhanded. Chad Bradford exemplifies this type of pitcher. He throws so low at times that his knuckles will scrape the ground on a pitch.

Remember the ball only has to nick the strike zone.

Six places. My apologies. I'll do a little more analysis and number crunching in the future on the subject. Its running late at this point.

I believe Boston has you beat on that, my friend. Al, want to help us out here? I am not sure where to find a team stat on LOB, so we will try a different method here. A team with a lot of runners LOB will have a low number of runs scored for their On Base Percentage. So we will look at where the teams rank in runs scored, and compare their rank in OBP. The Yankees are 9th in OBP, and 15th in runs. Seven places. It seems they are leaving runners on base often. The Red Sox rank 7th in OBP, and 9th in runs. Two places. It seems the Sox are performing to expectations. The Reds are 13th in OBP, and 18th in runs. Five places. Bad, but not as bad as the Yankees. The kings of LOB, however, are almost certainly the San Francisco Giants. The Giants rank 15th in OBP, but an abysmal 27th in runs scored. That efficiency is absolutely terrible. Of course, when you study the team it is easy to spot. Bonds gets walked, and left on base. On the opposite side, the Angels rank 12th in OBP, but first in runs.

There's no set rule. Carter was chosen because they needed a pitcher. Mike Williams was the result of some kind of drunken binge. Fuck saves. They should be abolished as an official stat.

Phillies are now a half game ahead of the Marlins. RS RA Pythagorean W/L Phillies 199 162 .595 Marlins 165 172 .500 The Marlins are finally coming back to Earth.

Personally, I think one or two closers MAX should be on the team. They are simply not as good as starting pitchers.

Doesn't matter as long as the game is competitive. When a team is up 3-0 with a dominating pitcher on the mound, that's generally uninteresting.

As far as Jason Schmidt goes, anyone else worried to see him throw 144 pitches in that effort?

In fairness, Joe Morgan is more savvy than he usually indicates. He stated in a recent broadcast that he reads Bill James' work and agrees with most of it. With the BBTN crew, I have to believe they are actively encouraged to stir the pot. Besides, I doubt their really looking into OPS or anything of the like. I bet players are more likely to vote for A-Rod over Melvin Mora, regardless of the statistics.

In fairness, Joe Morgan is more savvy than he usually indicates. He stated in a recent broadcast that he reads Bill James' work and agrees with most of it. With the BBTN crew, I have to believe they are actively encouraged to stir the pot. Besides, I doubt their really looking into OPS or anything of the like. I bet players are more likely to vote for A-Rod over Melvin Mora, regardless of the statistics.

Lennox Lewis is the exception. Wladimir Klitschko has been bombed his last two fights. Tall fighters are usually terrible, and little more than novelty acts.

When evaluating players, first look at level and age. Hill and German are decent, but at 26 they are not likely to get much better. A 21 year old, however, will likely improve greatly. Also, players who put up great numbers in their second year at a level are not as highly regarded as players who perform well the first time around. For hitters, look at their BB:K ratios. How do they control the strike zone. If they don't hit home runs, do they hit doubles? Doubles power develops as prospects grow. For pitchers, again BB:K ratios are crucial. IGNORE W/L records, and ERA. If you have a question about a specific prospect, feel free to ask. Books like Baseball Prospectus and John Sickels' Baseball Prospect Book are invaluable resources.

Giambi over Tino. Giambi has the edge in OBP and Slugging. Orlando Hudson for backup. Not only is he hitting better, he is a far superior fielder. A-Rod deserves a spot when you consider park factors. Plus his OBP is 24 points higher. Park Factors again. Beltre over Castilla.

Johnson is also the all time leader in K/9 IP (11.16).

The Nomar/Abreu trade looked shitty at the time as well. Byrd/Floyd for Beltran would be terrible. I don't know why Phillies fans are obsessed with upgrading center field. Beltran is not so much better than Byrd as to justify the extra $10 Million he would cost, and that's without throwing Gavin Floyd in the deal.

Like other sports, one might sell the fights to network tv, and make a profit on television advertisements.