Posted on 08/08/2005 7:17:31 AM PDT by ken5050
Here's where the advantage of playing for the Cards , and that awesome lineup, comes in..Clemens has 4 no-decisions..where he left aftee pitching seven innings giving up NO runs..and three more games where he left with the lead and the BP blew the save..with any normalluck, he's got 5-6 more wins..Pedro has a simialr experience, though NOT as bad as Clemens...I'm not saying you can choose a Cy Young based upin" what if"..but those stats are hard to ignore..
But as I offered, if you object to my mild rants each week..and I do a pretty good job otherwise...and I don't hide my biases..you can do it next week, if you wish..regards.
They have allowed the game to become a subsidized business by taking money from teams with high earnings and giving it to small market teams who, in many cases, pocket the cash. If you can sell a lot of tickets at high prices along with watered down beer and cold hot dogs then that's life. If you can get fans to watch you on TV then all the better. The fact that Yankee and Sox fans love their teams whereas other fans couldn't care less is also life.
The Yankees won all of those World Series with a lot of home grown talent and some good value players. It was only when they started buying players again that they started to fall short of their goal. Smaller market teams like the Cardinals, Marlins, Twins and Royals used to win when they had good farm systems and good veteran players. The Sox won last year with a mix of cast offs and some purchased talent I grant you but they also traded Schilling and Jeff Bagwell out of their farm systems years ago and got one good started for a few years and slob of a set-up man in return.
Also to consider, you can get seats at a game in smaller markets but in markets where there is pressure to win like in Boston or New York, ownership will turn to whoever can pay the tab.
I think that players make far too much money but that's the game.
My first thought was... Wow, you're OLD!
My second thought was...
Baseball is for kids. The teams we love are the teams we remember in childhood. For me, it was the 1977 and 1978 Yankees. A friend of ours was a batboy and gave us autographed baseballs from our favorite players.
I remember the day Thurman Munson died.
It's so tied to those formative years.... I'll always love the Yankees - even if I live 2933 miles away.
Either you base it on stats, or you have to get into such a convoluted statistical analysis of each game pitched, against which teams that it become idiotic.
Anything else is just personal preferences and voting with your emotions.
Squat wants to base it on ERA. Equally good pitchers can have very divergent ERA's depending on the defence behind them and who they pitch to.
Ken brings in the 'lost saves' part of the equation. Someone else will want to bring up strength of opponents ad naseum.
Wins are wins and count (in my opinion) more than any other stat you can name. It's all about winning. No team goes to the post season based on their ERA, only the number in the Wins column.
At least Charles takes 3 factors into consideration. You might want to weight each factor differently, but once again that is opinion.
FYI...the comments about blown wins were made on ESPN radio this morning by Peter Gammons..that's where I heard the stats..
Re your 77-78 Yankees..Billy Martin was a drunk, an embarrassment to the game..as was, Steinbrenner's icessant hiring/firing of him..Munson's death was tragic..any death is..but he was coming off the DL..and he was practising touch and goes with his jet while his team was playing a game...a captain, if he's well enough to fly..should have been in the dugout...Ever read "The Bronx Zoo"..Lyle's book...?..paints a very different pic of the team.. I could go on , and on, and on...how about Dick Howser?...There was a way to treat a class guy, right..and what George has done to Gene Michael is just as bad...want more?
Actually it started when MLB was granted certain preferences that no other business can get, by the government. As long as it is a 'closed club' and exempt from several federal statutes it isn't a 'free market' buisness.
The fact that Yankee and Sox fans love their teams whereas other fans couldn't care less is also life
Whether the Yank's or Sox fans love their teams more or less than say Milwaukee wouldn't make a damn bit of difference, as the market in NY is so much larger the two teams could never be on equal footing.
Smaller market teams like the Cardinals, Marlins, Twins and Royals used to win when they had good farm systems and good veteran players
Therin lies the problem... veteran players. The smaller market teams cannot keep them, as the larger market teams buy them at very high cost. The odds of winning with a very young team are extremely low.
Also to consider, you can get seats at a game in smaller markets but in markets where there is pressure to win like in Boston or New York, ownership will turn to whoever can pay the tab
You lumped the Marlins into 'small markets', the last I heard the greater Miami area was huge. I used to travel to Miami on a monthly basis. I could walk up and get tickets at ProPlayer 5 rows behind home plate any time I wanted. You will have to have very good connections to get a seat like that in Stl.
So to end my screed, if the Yankee fans like the fact that Steinbrenner can purchase all of the good players, fine. Your kids can watch the Yankees play themselves when all of the others are run out of the market.
I agree.
But you don't live here.....
actually, I really hope it is your SECOND favorite fantasy...LOL
Undoubtedly, baseball is less important than . . . ahem.
Let me guess..picking out china patterns...
I'm here now. 52nd and 6th. Going to Remo's for dinner tonight!
WOOHOO!!!
Enjoy....going to the Stadium tonight? Watch "El Duque " shellack his old team...Had I know you were here..I could/would have arranged tickets for you..
No, sadly, it isn't....maybe you can convince her to register at Home Depot..
I'm already registered at Autozone. (yay!)
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