This Week in Baseball 6/9 - 6/15

[Guest Jesus Freaks on Coke]

Buttsecks?

 

The American League is in decline because they employ so many aging hitters who are themselves in decline because they can no longer take the steroids and amphetamines on which they've recently relied. The National League is going to match and surpass the American League until the Travis Hafners of the world are washed out.

 

Oh look, true to form, HERE COME THE YANKEES.

[Guest Smues]

Yeah, pretty much.

 

 

Yeah, pretty much.

 

 

Yeah, pretty much.

 

 

Yeah, pretty much.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Czech, the reason being is that twice in the tenth inning, Utley fielded a ball and threw to Gordon covering first, and they botched the play both times. Either would have been the third out of the inning.

 

As far as American/National League, let's be clear on the difference between hitting and overall quality. The National League is of course going to generally post lesser hitting numbers as a whole, because their pitchers occupy a spot in the batting order. I think the point Dandy is attempting to make though is that the average hitter of the National League is stronger. Take hitting by pitchers out of batting statistics each year, and the NL beats the AL in batting and slugging percentages. Of course you can blame other things for that, like ballparks or pitching.

 

The perception of the American League as the stronger league stands. How much of that is legitimate I do not know. I do believe the difference is slim and not an overriding factor in baseball as some would believe. The reason it popped up in the first place is (I believe) due to the Yankees/Red Sox arms war going into overdrive, and other teams adapting to keep up. The National League does not have such an issue, as no team dominates from year to year.

[Dandy 0]

What I have always heard for the argument of the AL being the more dominant league is the World Series winners of the last several years, and the number of All Star game wins. I find that to be a ridiculous argument.

 

And I wasn't saying take the pitchers' batting stats out for the comparison, I say leave them in and compare this year. Even with the pitchers hitting, the NL is posting better numbers. Besides being .003 behind in batting average, the NL leads in slugging, OBP, OPS, total bases, RBI, and home runs. Granted, they are virtually neck and neck, but the AL used to have much better average stats than the NL. They have caught the AL.

 

If you do what al said and disregard the pitchers' batting stats, the NL is the superior offensive league as a whole this year. Despite being the superior offensive league this year, 7 of the top 10 ERAs belong to NL pitchers.

 

I just find it a dated argument to say, "Oh, he pitches in the NL, whatever."

[Guest Jesus Freaks on Coke]

Steve Phillips backed me up on the roids/speed thing on Baseball Tonight. I'll take my help where I can get it. However, was it just me, or did they keep saying that the Braves were trying to avoid being swept by the Angels? I swear they kept inverting the implications on that.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

- The Dodgers were one of the most uninteresting teams to watch bat for eight innings. Only Detroit's lousy pen made it interesting.

- Being surrounded by Tigers fans during a trademark Todd Jones save attempt was classic. I was there two years ago when Youkillis homered off him in the ninth. Even though he blew the save there and preserved it here, today's was much more of a white-knuckle ride for Tigers fans.

- The eye candy that walks around the park is a great way to pass time before the game and in between innings.

- Even though there was some massive rain for a while, I wound up with a killer farmer's tan after the rains subsided. Ouch.

- I'm still always in awe of how expensive everything at the park is. Ten-dollar parking at best, $4 peanuts, $6.75 bottles of Bud Light, etc. It's no secret pro baseball's just big business, but I can't imagine how much an outing to the ballpark must set the average family back.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

Speaking of pitchers batting, Chien-Ming Wang injured his foot running the bases in today's game. The tests aren't out yet, but it could end up being a season ender. He scored limping home and almost collapsed onto Robinson Cano for support, who was standing near home plate. Girardi and the trainer had to help him to the club house, and reports are that he left the stadium on crutches and got an MRI with pending results.

[Brett Favre 0]

It didn't look like a season ender.