EVIL~! alkeiper

Trying to come up with a good example here. Let's say runners first and second. Batter hits a liner to the outfield. The fielder makes a play, the umpire rules it an out, the runners scuttle back to their bases. But the play is challenged, replay shows the ball bounced on the field first. What happens? The runners at this point are in jeopardy. You can't just award them the next base, that's not in the rules. You can't give the ball to the right fielder, restart the play and give him a shot at an out on the bases. Seriously, what happens in that situation? If the baserunners reached base safely, I'd say re-award them the bases. Simple. They didn't. They turned back when the umpire signaled catch.

I think it would have come about before, but it is only now that the technology has really developed to a point where it is feasible from a technical standpoint. I think that is why the idea has really developed traction this time. It used to be that the media would simply call for Don Denkinger's head on a pike. I don't think MLB is truly responsive to the idea. They are using it in the least obstructive manner possible, with the least outlay of manpower possible.

Considering Hardy wrestled tonight, likely BS. I'll close the thread and another can open it if any real information comes around.

Dodgers, sorry.

Trying to come up with a good example here. Let's say runners first and second. Batter hits a liner to the outfield. The fielder makes a play, the umpire rules it an out, the runners scuttle back to their bases. But the play is challenged, replay shows the ball bounced on the field first. What happens? The runners at this point are in jeopardy. You can't just award them the next base, that's not in the rules. You can't give the ball to the right fielder, restart the play and give him a shot at an out on the bases. Seriously, what happens in that situation?

Gothams 7 Bridegrooms 4 WP: Ford, LP: Gordon, Sv: Righetti Spud Chandler redeemed himself, compiling a quality start this time out. The Gothams came back though, scoring four in the eighth to take the lead. Wally Pipp drove in three runs. Yankees 5 Dodgers 3 WP: Hunter, LP: Pettitte, Sv: Rivera Four runs for the Yankees in the second as they held on to win. Earle Combs hit a home run and drove in two RBIs. Highlanders 7 Yankees 11 WP: Duren, LP: Ruffing, Sv: Murphy A duel between the two aces of the 1930s went as well as you'd expect. Nine earned from Ruffing in four innings, while Lefty Gomez allowed six runs in 3 2/3 innings. Roy White knocked in three runs with a bases loaded triple. Six games down. Four teams stand at 3-3. The exceptions are the Dodgers (4-2) and the Gothams (2-4). I will not go into tiebreak scenarios until the last series, there is too much to break down. The league is averaging 5.6 runs per game, the hitters have it all over the pitchers so far. Gothams have a chance to make up ground as they face the Dodgers. Giants battle the Yankees and Highlanders battle the Bridegrooms.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT58QqOmQ_Y Search out Youtube for others, they have quite a bit.

Bridegrooms 10 Gothams 2 WP: Chamberlain, LP: Chesbro, Sv: Griffith The bottom four hitters in the Bridegrooms' order collected two RBIs apiece. Dodgers 18 Yankees 2 WP: Wang, LP: Peterson The Yankees scored 11 runs in the seventh inning, nine off of reliever Dick Tidrow. Bobby Murcer led the attack with five RBIs Giants 4 Highlanders 8 WP: Davis, LP: Hamilton The Giants took an early lead thanks to Phil Rizzuto's (!) three run home run. Graig Nettles tied the game with a three run shot of his own. The Highlanders scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch from Johnny Murphy.

Given his number of baserunners, that's an unusually high number of runs allowed, pointing to some bad luck. A better indicator might be his opponents' batting line, which is 280/352/427. A bit above average, but the Mets will take it at this point.

The Mets have lost a couple big ninth inning leads but otherwise, not so bad. Both the Mets and Phillies have lost seven games they led going into the seventh inning. The Blue Jays have the best bullpen ERA in baseball, and they have lost ten such games. Dodgers have lost nine such games. Leading going into the ninth, the Mets have lost five games. The Dodgers have the best bullpen ERA in the NL, they have dropped three of those.

The problem is that some calls directly influence other action on the field. One of the most controversial calls in history occurred in the 1980 NLCS. With runners on first and second, Gary Maddox hit a low liner to the pitcher. Was it caught or was it trapped? The runners saw the umpire signal a trap, it was ruled a catch. The correct call determines what the runners do, what the fielders do, who is in jeopardy on the basepaths. The fair/foul home run is one of the few situations that does not encounter this problem. The problem though is that it happens so infrequently that it is hardly worth the effort and expense. For the record, if total instant replay where imposed I would demand a replay of the '77 NLCS. Starting at game four with the Phillies LEADING the series 2-1. Davey Lopes was out, damnit.

Gah. Don't worry, the program will compile its own standings.

Randy Savage's baseball career. http://minors.sabrwebs.com/cgi-bin/person....ID=poffo-001ran

That's kind of damning with faint praise.

Kyoko Hamaguchi (daughter of Animal Hamaguchi) picked up her second bronze medal in wrestling.

Billy Wagner is a great example actually. Fourth in the NL this year in saves. Third among active pitchers, sixth all time. You do not think Wagner is a great closer. Yet he has all these saves? It seems either Wagner really is a good closer, or the save statistic does not tell the whole story. Honestly though, do you need the save statistic to tell you if a pitcher is blowing games?

Nope. Believe he reports tomorrow.

Crazy game in Allentown. The SWB Yankees scored seven runs in the top of the tenth inning. The IronPigs have scored four and now have the tying run at the plate. Edit: Steven Jackson to relieve, the Yankees have actually emptied their bullpen. They are literally covering the bullpen mound.

There's really something special about the last lap of the marathon.

I think the save is a pointless stat because really, it says little about the ability of the closer, other than that he is the closer. Compare Francisco Rodriguez to Joe Nathan, who I think everyone would agree is a tremendous closer. Rodriguez has saved 46 and blown five, while Nathan has saved 33 and blown three. Rodriguez's ERA is 2.86, Nathan's is a minuscule 1.05. Nathan has pitched slightly more innings and has better peripherals. Nathan has the track record to back this up. I think it is reasonable to say Nathan is a better closer. If Rodriguez breaks the save record, does that really change any of that? It does not mean Rodriguez is the best closer in the league, it simply means Rodriguez received the most opportunities. The save does not really measure a reliever's usefulness, just a specific situation. To draw an extreme example, look at Jim Konstanty's 1950 season. 22 saves, hardly impressive. But 152 innings (all in relief), 16 wins, the MVP award for a pennant winning team. He was used in a different manner than relievers of today. He was still an extremely clutch pitcher that year. Personally, I'd be hard pressed to find an example of a pitcher who was good at closing games, but had bad supporting statistics. A good closer should have good performance numbers such as ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, etc. A bad closer would have bad statistics. So what does the save statistic really add to any of that?

It certainly produced the second worst hitter in the Tobyhanna Township Little League, that's for certain.

Yeah, 57 by Bobby Thigpen in 1990. It's a bit of a mixed blessing. It's a nice mark, yeah. But in a way it's so utterly pointless.

Yeah, that was Mantaur.

Happ, Jaramillo and Harman, the three currently on the 40 man roster. Right now very few of the prospects are ready to fill a role in the big leagues.

Steve Carlton went 27-10 in 1972, +17 on a team that went 59-97 (-38).