Baseball Season 2006

[aloofman]

It's early on, yet, and STL seems to have come back to life. This subtle stat I think is significant if they hope to continue.

I can't think of anything in baseball that's harder to predict than the effectiveness of relief pitchers. And when you're talking about a whole staff, it's almost impossible. Only the really big star relievers (Rivera, Hoffman, Gagne for a few years) show consistent effectiveness over time. Most of the others bounce between good years and bad years. The 2003 Dodgers had the best bullpen in baseball by far. The 2004 Dodgers did not, even though they had almost the same group of pitchers.

There's also the fact that the Padres have one of the weakest lineups in the league, and they were playing in one of the most extreme pitchers' parks in the majors. (Those two things are partly related, obviously.) I'm not saying the Padres will make a comeback in St. Louis, only that I wouldn't put too much faith in rookie relievers based on two games at Petco.

And how many times do you plan to roll the dice with Jeff Weaver?

 

[xsedrinam]

And how many times do you plan to roll the dice with Jeff Weaver?

It's a crap shoot with STL's pitching alright. Carpenter, to avoid snake eyes, and then... Being an LA fan, you could fill in a lot of the blanks on how long Weaver is likely to deliver, if at all. His ERA over the last three years is scary enough. 6.29 in LA when traded to STL, then 5.18/5.76. The STL bullpen's ERAs are just as scary.

Yesterday, the relief plan worked superbly. I was relieved to see them yank Flores (ERA-5.62) immediately, after he got tagged for the double. Kinney and Johnson did their jobs to get to Wainwright for the close. But a closer with ERA 3.12 and two years in the majors isn't a loaded dice scenario.

 

[MacNut]

The Twins appear to be running out of gas.

 

[Cooknn]

The Twins appear to be running out of gas.

It appears that way

 

[MacNut]

It's kinda sad that they cant even fill all the seats in Oakland.

 

[aloofman]

It's a crap shoot with STL's pitching alright. Carpenter, to avoid snake eyes, and then... Being an LA fan, you could fill in a lot of the blanks on how long Weaver is likely to deliver, if at all. His ERA over the last three years is scary enough. 6.29 in LA when traded to STL, then 5.18/5.76. The STL bullpen's ERAs are just as scary.

It's like playing a game of "Jeff Weaver: The Two Thrones." (Forgive the POP reference, I've been obsessed lately.) He'll seem good for a while and then the dark side of him will creep in and take over. Then in a later game he'll be fine. Except for one inning when he looked like a September callup from AA Jacksonville. Impossible to tell what he'll be like out there, even if he's pitched well the first few innings.

So here's an idea: let's say he alternates between Jeff and Dark Jeff. With the Yankees and Dodgers, his two sides would switch often. Then he ends up with the Angels and it's all Dark Jeff, all the time. To even things out, Jeff has to stick around for a while. How long is anyone's guess. Or maybe his last game was a fluke and he permanently sucks now.

I can't believe I spent that much time on Jeff Weaver. Side effect of baseball-on-the-brain, maybe. Isn't it funny how we suddenly become experts on teams we haven't been able to watch all season? Now that I've seen a couple playoff games on TV, I feel like I understand why Detroit is coming up short, even though I never saw more than 30 minutes' worth of one of their games until this week. How silly is that? No wonder there are so many dumb color commentators.

 

[aloofman]

It's kinda sad that they cant even fill all the seats in Oakland.

They've never been able to. The A's didn't even draw that well in the '70s when they won three titles in a row. In a way it's a miracle they haven't been moved to another city by now. Replacing the lovely outfield view with a skyscraper of gray seats didn't help.

 

[IJ Reilly]

No wonder there are so many dumb color commentators.

I'd recommend you for the job but you're clearly over-qualified.

 

[MacNut]

Sheffield is out at 1st Bernie Williams in as DH and Giambi plays 1st for tonight's game.

 

[xsedrinam]

I'd recommend you for the job but you're clearly over-qualified.

I waited, but not in vain.

 

[n8236]

The Oakland colliseum isn't meant to be filled. The unfilled seats are reserved for Raider games. I'm guessing the reason why they close it off is because you can't see jack ***** from up there.

Oakland is a sick team, give credit where credit is due

GO A'S! (don't let those stupid Yanks "BUY" another World Series)

 

[aloofman]

I'd recommend you for the job but you're clearly over-qualified.

Thanks, but I have this nagging fear that some of those dumb commentators were once smart, and the job some how dumbed them down. Like how shoving a crayon up his nose caused Homer to chant, "DEE-fense! DEE-fense!"

 

[IJ Reilly]

Thanks, but I have this nagging fear that some of those dumb commentators were once smart, and the job some how dumbed them down. Like how shoving a crayon up his nose caused Homer to chant, "DEE-fense! DEE-fense!"

Practice starting every sentence with the phrase "we talked about" and in short order you too will sound suitably dumbed-down.

 

[Cooknn]

Oh, well. This about sums it up. Justin Morneau: “This isn’t what we came here to do,” Morneau said. “It’s tough. We didn’t play the way we played all year. They outplayed us and that’s why they’re moving on. In a short series, you can’t afford to miss those chances.”

 

[MacNut]

Sometimes I wonder why I waste a season watching baseball if I care more about the game then the team on the field.

Is it asking to much for a team that is making over 200 Million to put some effort into it. If they can sweep a 5 game series against the Red Sox is shouldn't be that hard to ask for them to go after a bunch of rookies.

 

[me_94501]

The Oakland colliseum isn't meant to be filled. The unfilled seats are reserved for Raider games. I'm guessing the reason why they close it off is because you can't see jack ***** from up there.

Oakland is a sick team, give credit where credit is due

GO A'S! (don't let those stupid Yanks "BUY" another World Series)

Yeah, the fact that you can't see half the outfield from "Mount Davis" is why those seats live under a tarp. The rest of the upper deck being tarped was a decision by the owners to try and increase demand and an experiment to see how well a smaller ballpark would work for the A's (the plan for new A's park calls for about 35,000 seats).

The A's did draw around 3 million in 1990.

Anyway, it's about time the A's got out of the first round--it was getting painful!

 

[IJ Reilly]

Sometimes I wonder why I waste a season watching baseball if I care more about the game then the team on the field.

Is it asking to much for a team that is making over 200 Million to put some effort into it. If they can sweep a 5 game series against the Red Sox is shouldn't be that hard to ask for them to go after a bunch of rookies.

Maybe the rookies want it more. The $200 million is not an entitlement.

 

[Cooknn]

Rogers had some serious junk going on tonight. Masterful performance.

 

[Counterfit]

I need to stop calling series. I called a Twins/Yankees ALCS almost a week ago, and look where that has gotten me. Heck, I eve said that the Tigers wouldn't be able to A.) hit (most of) the Yankees starting pitching, and 2.) be able to keep the Yankee bats in check, and it was a damn 6-0 shutout tonight, at the expense of the Large Parcel. I should have called Yankees/White Sox last year.

 

[thedude110]

Is it asking to much for a team that is making over 200 Million to put some effort into it. If they can sweep a 5 game series against the Red Sox is shouldn't be that hard to ask for them to go after a bunch of rookies.

Last time I'm going to say it in this thread, but the Tigers are for real. They're a good team. Their rotation is better than the Yankees rotation, the bullpens are about even, and the Yankees have a better lineup. Yanks didn't lose by lack of effort last night -- they lost to a team that's as good as they are (and a team that, last night, was better).

Do agree that the postseason seems anti-climactic, though. You start following baseball in February, you follow all the way from when it was 25 degrees through 100 degrees and back into the 50s, and where does it leave you? The Twins are gone in just 3 games.

Wonder how it migh have played out with a healthy Liriano.

 

[n8236]

I'm so sick and tired of watching the Yanks play, ya they got a 200+ million salary cap, ya they have a star line up, and ya they've won so many World Series that it doesn't matter anymore.

No disrespect to any Yank fans, they are "America's team" and have a damn hella lot of talent (though I don't expect any less for the money they pay out to their players), but I'm excited they are having team cohesion problems because it proves that there is still hope in others winning the World Series other than them. I can't say $200 million guarantees any team a title, but it damn sure will almost guarantee you one from what I've seen

Ya, it's not their fault they are a rich, but like people, the rich just gets richer It was fun watching the Yanks win at first, but baby Jesus of the Virgin Mary, does anyone else in their division even have a chance w/ the miracle exception of that previous year's Boston Red Sox team lol.

Anyways, i'm rooting for them A's & Tigers

 

[Warbrain]

Last time I'm going to say it in this thread, but the Tigers are for real. They're a good team. Their rotation is better than the Yankees rotation, the bullpens are about even, and the Yankees have a better lineup. Yanks didn't lose by lack of effort last night -- they lost to a team that's as good as they are (and a team that, last night, was better).

Do agree that the postseason seems anti-climactic, though. You start following baseball in February, you follow all the way from when it was 25 degrees through 100 degrees and back into the 50s, and where does it leave you? The Twins are gone in just 3 games.

Wonder how it migh have played out with a healthy Liriano.

I still don't think the Tigers are for real. They haven't proven to me why they are the team to beat. Yea, they beat the Yankees, but a lot of people have. If they can get past the A's, who have shown that they'll fight, then maybe they've got something. But I see the Yanks coming back and kicking their asses tonight.

The Twins had it coming for the last week of the regular season. They began to slow down and not win the games that they normally would've, and you could tell that it was beginning to take it's toll on them. When the A's won those first two games, you could tell that they knew they weren't going to make it. And I don't think Liriano would've made a difference; that A's team is good. I think the A's might make it to the World Series.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I'm not shy about beating up on the Yankees (or their fans) some probably because I grew up in northern New Jersey, rooting for the Mets back when they had a firm grip on tenth place in the NL year after year. Still, anybody outside of the Bronx who rooted for the Yankees was thought to have some sort of social disease. Yankee fans knew they deserved to win every year, even then. I haven't lived on the east coast for a long time, but this sense of entitlement seems to be one of baseball's constants. I guess we'd sort of miss it if it were gone. The only question I've got about the Yankees, spending nearly three times the major league average on salaries, is why they don't win the series every year. If I were a Yankee fan (never going to happen), I'd be asking my front office what they're doing with my money.

 

[MacNut]

I think the Yankees are gonna go younger and cut the payroll next year. No matter what happens this post season.

 

[xsedrinam]

I might join in on the Yankee banter later, if it gets good and heated.

And speaking of the absence of heat: STL pitchers. Jeff Suppan has an ERA of 10.24 vs. SD in '06. Good thing he throws well to 1st base and just picked off Piazza to end the inning with men at the corners.