Posted on 09/25/2005 8:19:55 PM PDT by ken5050
Good Sunday evening to you, fellow Freeper baseball fanatics. Great week just past, and an unreal last week to the season upon us..I wanted to get the thread up now, since I may not have a chance to do so tomorrow..The races are wilder, and tighter, than ever..
Badesball has been belly, belly good to me.
You might want to revise your predictions -- Boston faces Toronto this week, and the Yanks Baltimore.
I need a editor......that's what happens when you rush....
Nice job on the individual award pics..good analysis..I trust you'll update/revise for the next week's thread?
I think the White Sox will barely hang on.
Same thing for Mets' David Wright in the NL...
Ken -- for the record -- Millwood is with Cleveland, not Philly. He was previously with the Phillies after coming up with the Braves. Among relievers winning Cy Youngs, two of the most forgettable, at least to me, were Mark Davis and Steve Bedrosian.
Having been to all three Red Sox games I have a few thoughts:
1) Damon does not look good at the plate. The home run he hit was nice but he was otherwise ineffective at the plate.
2) Ortiz looks to be off in his swing as he did little to be effective the past 3 games
3) Tek, Nixon and Mueller had some decent games for them.
4) Pitches per AB were up across the board. Very few outs on the 1st or second pitch. A 7 pitch K is a good out. In the second and third games they forced 30 plus pitches in the first inning.
5) Hanson has a damn good fastball but until he learns a good offspeed pitch that can be relied upon for strikes, he will get lit up. Nice touch by the guys in the dugout who cheered him when he was lifted.
6) Orioles have some good arms in their pen. They will survive without BJ Ryan.
7)The O's miss Brian Roberts a great deal.
8) Jay Gibbons is a less expensive and more productive version of Trot Nixon
9) Matt Clement needs an overhaul. He simply cannot throw strikes and while movement is nice, the word is out to sit back and let him run up his pitch count.
See post 30.
Anyone else make it down for the games besides Nutmeg and ElTianti?
I was there Friday, and I'll be at Camden Yards Tonight. I only live 10 miles south of Baltimore, so I see a lot of games.
The Sox are pretty banged up, but so is everybody else. We can only hope for the best.
Hey Nutmeg, I hope the parking tips I gave you helped out.
We face David Bush and his 13.50 ERA over the last two games tonight. Schill looked sharp in his last outing. We should win 9-3 tonight.
Amen! People don't factor in that every inning your closer pitches is a stress inning. THere is no (or very little) coasting thru a line-up with the comfort of a big lead for a reliever. In a lot of ways, market forces decide the game. You wouldn't make such good pitchers relievers if the job was not critical. Similiar to the "Pithching is 75% (or 90% or whatever) part of the game arguement" - if that was true, Babe Ruth would have never been taken off the mound. How the game uses it's talent dictates the relative importance of positions.
Especially in the case of Ruth, as he was going to be a HOF pitcher and only played once every 3 days the first 4 or 5 years of his career.
Think if he had played every day? He would have 1,100 homers....
AL CY: Colon
AL MVP: I think Ortiz and Manny will split the vote and Hafner will get it.
NL CY: tough one. Pedro is the reason the Mets are still around, while Clemens would have 25 wins with some run support. Carpenter has been fading recently. I think in the end Carpenter will get the award.
NL MVP: Some still are hanging onto Derrick Lee. Maybe if he gets the triple crown, then he gets the MVP, but if that doesn't happen, I think Pujols will get it. Andruw Jones SHOULD get it, but I think Pujols will get it.
They did for me....much better then the $8 general stadium lots behind Raven's stadium.
Thanks.
Be sure to boo A-Rod and BALCO boy for us.
The Yanks send Johnson vs. Lopez tonight. If not for that fluke Matt Lawton homer, Lopez would have won the last duel between these two pitchers. After tonight, it's Mussina vs. Chen, Chacon vs. Cabrera, and Wright/Small vs. Bedard.
Top relievers are paid top dollar per inning. Multiply Rivera's salary by 3 to make his innings comparable to a starter and he makes $30 million a year.
Best money George has ever spent.
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