I just turned on SportsCenter and immediately heard the following gem from Chris Berman:
(Highlight of a guy on the Saints getting tackled)
“…and David Thomas english-muffins his way to the four yard line!!!”
Gotta love any time a breakfast item is used as a verb to describe a football player getting tackled.
I like Jayson Stark and I really like Roy Halladay (I’ve spent many first round fantasy picks on Halladay over the past several years), but I think Stark really went overboard in his latest ESPN.com column.
In the column, which discusses the recent trade of Halladay to the Phillies, Stark had this to say about the former Cy Young winner:
He has been, unquestionably, the best starting pitcher in baseball for the last eight seasons.
I don’t necessarily disagree with Stark about Halladay, but to say that he’s been “unquestionably” the best is grossly overstating the case. When I read this, the first name I thought of was Johan Santana. Here are their numbers from 2002-2009:
Halladay: 130-59, 3.13 ERA, 1260 K, 1710 IP, 1.131 WHIP, 4.10 K/BB, 144 ERA+
Santana: 119-57, 2.89 ERA, 1641 K, 1580 IP, 1.064 WHIP, 4.07 K/BB, 153 ERA+
At first glance, it looks like Santana’s been the better pitcher, although it’s very close and Halladay’s extra 130 innings may be enough to put him ahead. Either way, I think it’s pretty obvious that Halladay is not “unquestionably” the best starting pitcher* of the last eight years.
*It may be possible that Stark is getting cute here, since Santana spent parts of the 2002 and 2003 seasons in the bullpen.
I’ll admit I’m not the most knowledgeable soccer fan, but I love the World Cup. I had written an elaborate post about the France vs. Ireland World Cup qualifier, but scrapped it….
From Rob Neyer, a blog post on freshly-minted Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke’s interest in nerdy statistics.
The key quote from the New York Times, in which Greinke discusses the ultra-nerdy Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP):
“That’s pretty much how I pitch, to try to keep my FIP as low as possible,” Greinke said.”
Awesome.
I was very happy to read this afternoon that Zack Greinke had won the AL Cy Young Award, which means, at least for one year, that the baseball writers voted for the best pitcher in the league, rather than the one with the most wins and/or the one on a winning team. They should be commended for making the right choice. Well, not all of them. Not Steve Kornacki of Booth Newspapers in Michigan.
Rather than voting for Greinke or Felix Hernandez (which would have been the wrong choice, but a defensible one), this clown voted for Justin Verlander and, in doing so, added himself to the list of embarassing “homer” voters that have marred the major award voting over the years.
Here are Greinke’s (25 first place votes) numbers: 16-8, 229.1 IP, 2.16 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 242 K, 6 CG, and a .230 BAA. Kansas City did not make the postseason.
Here are Hernandez’s (2 first place votes) numbers: 19-5, 238.2 IP, 2.49 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 217 K, 2 CG, and a .227 BAA. Seattle did not make the postseason.
Here are Verlander’s (Kornacki’s first place vote) numbers: 19-9, 240 IP, 3.45 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 269 K, 3 CG, and a .243 BAA. Detroit did not make the postseason.
If this were Highlights for Children, we’d ask, “Which of these doesn’t belong?”
By the way, Greinke’s ERA was the lowest in the AL since 2000, when Pedro Martinez posted a 1.74 mind-bender. But that doesn’t impress Kornacki. You know what does? Three more wins and 27 more strikeouts. Oh, and playing for his hometown Tigers.
I guess Kornacki thought that Verlander’s additional strikeouts and wins were a dealbreaker, despite the fact that he allowed 1.29 more earned runs per nine innings than Greinke.
Kornacki should be ashamed of himself and he should never be allowed to vote for another major MLB award again. Also, he should apologize to Greinke.
UPDATE:
Kornacki has posted a feeble defense of his first place vote for Verlander. Here’s the key quote:
“Verlander received my first-place vote because nobody was tougher on the mound with the season on the line for his team.”
It’s really strange. I checked Verlander’s player page on Baseball-Reference and I didn’t see a stat category for toughness. It must be one of those newfangled sabermetric things.
Also, over Verlander’s final five starts (Sept. 14 – Oct. 4), when the Tigers were battling the Twins for the division crown, Verlander, despite going 3-1 over these starts, posted a 4.62 ERA and .280 BAA, which suggests that he was actually much worse when the team’s season was “on the line.” If Kornacki had spent five minutes looking at what actually happened, he would have realized how untenable his position was.
Kornacki also cites the fact that Verlander had more strikeouts this year than any AL pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 2000. He doesn’t mention ERA, though. I guess striking guys out is more valuable than preventing runs.
Check out today’s “Bitter Bill” column from the NY Daily News. He’s got a funny take the punishment handed down on the man who streaked Citi Field back in May.
From ESPN’s story on Chris Carpenter this morning:
Typo, extreme misunderstanding of WHIP, or have the rules of baseball been made obsolete by this Sidd Finch-esque performance?
Those of us watching the Yankees-Red Sox game on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball this past weekend were treated to a vintage Joe Morgan moment. Following A-Rod’s home run off of Jon Lester in the seventh(?) inning, the guys in the booth were discussing the pitch that Lester made, which was really his first mistake of the game, as he had held the Yankees scoreless to that point. Cue Mr. Morgan:
“You can’t pitch a perfect game. No one can.” (Awkward silence) “Except Don Larsen.”
And a bunch of other guys. It’s weird that he used Larsen as his example, when Mark Buehrle pitched a perfect game three weeks ago.
(5.00 out of 5)
(4.80 out of 5) (4.75 out of 5) (4.72 out of 5) (4.71 out of 5)